Coverage of Ltc Lakin matters
McInerney: Eligibility issue “of such magnitude that its significance can scarcely be imagined”
By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
LINK: http://www.wnd.com/index.php/index.php?pageId=197837
A retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general ***who commanded forces armed with nuclear weapons***{emphasis mine} says the disclosure of Barack Obama’s documentation proving his eligibility to be commander in chief is critical not just to the defense of an officer challenging the president’s status, but to the preservation of the nation itself.
The vehement statements came in an affidavit from retired Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney, a Fox News military analyst, that was disclosed today by an organization generating support for Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin.
Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin
Lakin had invited his own court-martial because he is unable to follow orders under the chain of command with Obama at its head unless the president’s eligibility is documented.
A hearing is scheduled in Lakin’s court-martial case Thursday at which a ruling is expected on defense requests for the very evidence that McInerney is citing.
The general, who retired in 1994 after serving as vice commander in chief of USAF forces in Europe, commander of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing and assistant vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, among other positions, said the chain of command issue is critical, since officers are obligated both to follow orders and to disobey illegal orders.
“Officers in the United States military service are – and must be – trained that they owe their highest allegiance to the United States Constitution,” he said in the affidavit.
“There can be no question that it is absolutely essential to good order and discipline in the military that there be no break in the unified chain of command, from the lowliest E-1 up to and including the commander in chief who is under the Constitution, the president of the United States. As military officers, we owe our ultimate loyalty not to superior officers or even to the president, but rather, to the Constitution.”
He continued, explaining, “good order and disipline requires not blind obedience to all orders but instead requires officers to judge – sometimes under great adversity – whether an order is illegal.”
“The president of the United States, as the commander in chief, is the source of all military authority,” he said. “The Constitution requires the president to be a natural born citizen in order to be eligible to hold office. If he is ineligible under the Constitution to serve in that office that creates a break in the chain of command of such magnitude that its significance can scarcely be imagined.”
Lakin is being supported by the American Patriot Foundation, which said the affidavit is for use in Lakin’s trial, scheduled Oct. 13-15, as well as Thursday’s hearing on the evidence to be allowed in the case.
The group said McInerney is the highest-ranking officer yet to lend public support to Lakin.
A recent poll showed that only about 4 in 10 Americans believe Obama’s story of being born in Hawaii.
McInerney’s affidavit “acknowledges widespread concerns over the president’s constitutional eligibility and demands the president release his birth records or the court authorize discovery,” the foundation said.
Lakin’s defense counsel has asked for the president’s school records as well as a deposition from the custodian of Obama’s birth records that may exist in Hawaii.
The hearing is scheduled at 11 a.m. Thursday at Ft. Meade, Md., at the courthouse at 4432 Llewellyn Ave., inside the military base. The court is open to the public.
Lakin is a physician and in his 18th year of service in the Army. He posted a video asking for the court-martial to determine Obama’s eligibility.
He is board certified in family medicine and occupational and environmental medicine. He has been recognized for his outstanding service as a flight surgeon for year-long tours in Honduras, Bosnia and Afghanistan. He was also awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan and recognized in 2005 as one of the Army Medical Department’s outstanding flight surgeons.
McInerney commanded forces equipped with nuclear weapons.
“In my command capacity I was responsible that the personnel with access to these weapons had an unwavering and absolute confidence in the unified chain of command, because such confidence was absolutely essential — vital — in the event the use of those weapons were authorized,” the general wrote.
“I cannot overstate how imperative it is to train such personnel to have confidence in the unified chain of command. Today, because of the widespread and legitimate concerns that the president is constitutionally ineligible to hold office, I fear what would happen should such a crisis occur today.”
He said Lakin is acting “exactly” as “proper training dictates.”
“It is my opinion that LTC Lakin’s request for discovery relating to the president’s birth records in Hawaii is absolutely essential to determining not merely his guilt or innocence but to reassuring all military personnel once and for all for this president whether his service as commander in chief is constitutionally proper.”
“He is the one single person in the chain of command that the Constitution demands proof of natural born citizenship,” he continued. “This determination is fundamental to our republic.
“According to the Constitution, the commander in chief must now, in the face of serious — and widely-held — concerns that he is ineligible, either voluntarily establish his eligibility by authorizing release of his birth records or this court must authorize their discovery. The invasion of his privacy in these records is utterly trivial compared to the issues at stake here,” McInerney wrote.
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McInerny isn't a judge and has no legal expertise. An actual judge just pronounced his posturings as poppycock, which anyone with legal expertise already knew.