Posted on 12/26/2004 1:11:46 AM PST by JohnHuang2
The U.S. military can force its personnel to wear the blue beret of the United Nations and serve under the world body's command, a federal judge ruled.
Judge Paul Friedman upheld the military's conviction of former Army specialist Michael New, who refused to don the U.N. cap and shoulder patch and to serve in a peacekeeping mission in Macedonia nearly 10 years ago, the New York Sun reported.
New argued that the Constitution and the law governing U.S. participation in the world body prevent the president from sending American troops into possible combat under U.N. command without express authorization from Congress.
New, whose defiance became a cause celebre in the mid-1990s among U.N. opponents, launched a website that included his picture with the message, "Michael New was right. ... Real Americans don't wear U.N. blue."
He was court-maritialed and convicted in 1996 and given a "bad conduct" discharge from the Army, which later was upheld by military appeals courts.
Judge Friedman wrote in his 35-page decision that trying to sort out whether the president had ceded too much authority to foreign military officers "would involve policy determinations beyond the competence of the court," the Sun reported.
New's father told the paper an appeal is likely.
"We're disappointed," Daniel New said. "It's not printable what I want to say."
In addition to appealing to the Constitution and the U.N. Participation Act of 1945, New's lawyers argued that forcing him to serve under an international army he never signed up with abridged the ex-soldier's rights against "involuntary servitude" under the 13th Amendment.
Friedman, dismissing New's claims, said he could have pursued his legal points without defying his commanders.
"Petitioner had numerous avenues, besides direct disobedience, by which to challenge that order," he wrote.
Cliff Kincaid, author of a book about New's crusade -- "Michael New: Mercenary or American Soldier?" -- told the Sun the judge was right to suggest Congress could have stepped in.
"The Congress should have done more, but Friedman should have overturned the illegal order and New's bad conduct discharge," Kincaid said.
Kincaid objected to President Clinton's order to American troops to participate in the Macedonia mission and President Bush's unwillingness to change the procedure.
"U.S. troops deployed on U.S. missions under Bush still wear U.N. markings on their uniforms, including a U.N. shoulder patch and beret," Kincaid told the Sun. "Even though they serve under a foreign U.N. commander, he insists they are still somehow under U.S. command. It doesn't add up."
Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution, contended the president's authority to defend America would be weakened if New prevailed.
"You'd be undercutting our ability to work with our allies. You'd also be weakening the power of the commander in chief of the United States," he said.
O'Hanlon argued American troops in past wars have been temporarily put under tactical foreign command more than under the U.N., with little objection.
New's father, however, believes the case has given the Pentagon a "bloody nose," causing it to look elsewhere to staff U.N. missions.
"Pakistanis and Indians are cheaper than Americans and there's no political fallout if they die. So let's just outsource it all," he said derisively.
Having your troops serve under allies isn't always the perfect situation. But its generally necessary at some level if you're going to fight alongside allies. To put it another way, I'd rather have had those U.S. troops under British command than have been doing all the fighting ourselves, with no British, Canadian, Polish, etc., support at all.
Of all the appropriate adjectives being thrown around on this thread the most powerful one to describe this is "unconstitutional".
The oath mentioned here has never been uttered by a US officer while acting as a US officer. I can assure you of that.
What does that have to do with New anyway, he was an E-4 about as far from a commander as one can get.
IMO, he was either used by partisan politics to try and smear der schlickmeister, or he was just a plain ol' disobedient soldier. Either way, court martial was right and so is this decision.
Further, the reality is that a U.S. officer in that position is going to behave the same way as a U.S. officer does when under direct American command. That is, he will refuse to execute any unlawful orders.
It would be one thing if we were irrevocably assigning U.S. troops to the U.N., but that's not what's happening. It's important to keep that in mind.
How so?
The term "competence of the court" is a legal term referring to the court's jurisdiction. He said that the issue is outside the scope of the court's authority.
OK. If the judge is saying the case is outside the court's jurisdiction, then how can the following have occurred? Shouldn't the court have declined the case?
The U.S. military can force its personnel to wear the blue beret of the United Nations and serve under the world body's command, a federal judge ruled.
Judge Paul Friedman upheld the military's conviction of former Army specialist Michael New, who refused to don the U.N. cap and shoulder patch and to serve in a peacekeeping mission in Macedonia nearly 10 years ago, the New York Sun r eported.
And clinton who lied under oath goes free, and the chairman of fannie mae gets a $1.3 million a year pension after mismanaging the fund to the tune of $9 billion.
Heh!
Thanks. I always appreciate new target material.
Thought of you immediately...Time for a different challenge, right??
Oh, and that's another scenario I'd pay to see -- YOUR reaction to the order: "Keep that UN beret on your head, Capt. Mojo!"
The UN calls us stingy (even though we practically single-handedly finance their socialist organization and lead ALL catastrophe relief efforts throughout the world), and we say "okay, how many berets should we order?"
Unfortunately the good folks that are holding out hope that one day we'll give the blue helmeteers the big boot are living in a dream world.
"The UN calls us stingy (even though we practically single-handedly finance their socialist organization and lead ALL catastrophe relief efforts throughout the world), and we say "okay, how many berets should we order?"
The UN's hypocrisy is growing more bizarre by the day. I think France handed over a whopping $136,000 for the disaster.
And when will our legislators realize the UN is a front for socialism? (although this is just fine for the Dems, isn't it?) Naah, you're right -- ain't happening. The best we can do is keep on polishing our "skills" on those powder blue practice targets for the inevitable.
But for the same reason the USN repeatedly enters other countries "territorial waters" as a practice to prove we generally do not recognize the maritime territorial claims of other countries which we assert is "high seas" why on God's earth would we concede to decorating our soldiers in powder blue topped with a ridiculous oath?
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