Cook guilty of treason? Putting captured soldier's life in danger?

[scheming daemons]

With thanks to Adelante, who posted this in another thread:


Greg Skilling on Examiner.com makes an interesting point today about a farther-reaching effect Cook's suit could have in endangering other soldiers.

Major Stefan Frederick Cook, USAR - conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman

-snip

Mutiny and Sedition – In the Ledger-Enquirer, Maj. Cook is quoted as stating,

“(he) would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President’s command. ... simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties.”

Maj. Cook retained the services of an attorney, Orly Taitz, who made the following statements in a filing on his behalf before United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia, Columbus Division which reiterated the claim by Maj. Cook that he, and by extension all U.S. Servicemembers serving in combat, were “war criminals” and therefore not entitled to the protections granted by the Geneva Conventions:

“Plaintiff seeks to avoid not only court-martial in this country, but also treatment as a war-criminal or terrorist, not eligible even for protection under the Geneva convention, if he were found to be a merely mercenary soldier in a private army of slaves, “owned” or controlled by an unconstitutional and therefore illegal commander, if he does not ask the question: “is this order legal?”

By recklessly advancing his unfounded theory that U.S. soldiers are “war criminals” and allowing his attorney to state that they are, “merely mercenaries in a private army of slaves”, Maj. Cook has provided enemies of the United States with a ready-made excuse to execute captured U.S. servicemembers using the statements of a commissioned officer of the United States Army Reserve as justification for their actions. Furthermore, given that it has been widely reported that a U.S. soldier was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, Maj. Cook’s public statements and those of his attorney have put the life of that soldier in direct and irrefutable jeopardy. In addition, Maj. Cook has provided extensive recruiting material for terrorist groups around the world, thereby aiding enemy efforts to oppose ongoing combat operations.

http://www.examiner.com/x-12278-Louisville-Independent-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Major-Stefan-Frederick-Cook-USAR--conduct-unbecoming-an-officer-and-a-gentleman

[NJmaverick]

1. He is just a perfect example to show Freepers are un-American

and a clear and present danger to our great nation. He is nothing but a cowardly traitor

[zulchzulu]

2. You bet it's treason...and he's a traitor

This candy-assed "soldier" is inferring that those serving and DYING in the Afghan war are serving their Commander-In-Chief erroneously.

He has no jurisdiction or allowance to even imply that and is in dereliction of duty. Accusing the Commander-In-Chief of not being legitimate is like saying his commanding superior officers are not valid.

That's treason.

Hmmmm... what do they punish people who commit treason with?

:popcorn:

[Cha]

3. Especially since all this crap isn't

true..and it's only hatred of a real elected President that's driving them mad.

[Adelante]

4. Exactly right nt

[14thColony]

5. The charge of treason is extremely narrowly defined in the Constitution

and Cook's actions aren't even close to meeting the requirements. A brief examination of US history shows it's damned hard to be charged with treason, let alone be convicted of it. It might make some people feel good to call him a traitor, but it tends to make them look silly and uninformed. It was stupid when the Republicans accused all their opponents of treason, and it's just as stupid when we do it. It debases and cheapens the word.

[Still Sensible]

6. Dereliction of Duty, Insubordination, Conduct Unbecoming

there is plenty to court martial him with IMO without accusing him of treason--which you correctly describe. It amazes me that someone that susceptible to the nonsense made it to the rank of major. In my experience in the military this kind of stupidity was usually-but not always-weeded out by then. Anybody that would fall for this shit, believing this and knowing that republicans and the McCain campaign would have used this in a heartbeat if there was anything truthful to it... boggles the mind.

It would have been better if he would have deployed and then deserted... but he's smart enough to know that deserters can be executed in a combat zone. Of course Private Slovak was the last person executed for such an offense, but I believe it's still on the books that way. Had he done that, he could have guaranteed himself at least a sentence measured in decades. But instead the asshat goes to court and sues-the case is thrown out because the government took the controversy away-and he loses his job. Unreal.

[14thColony]

7. I agree that he appears to be easily influenced

and probably has the critical thinking skills of a turnip. It also appears fairly clear that he manipulated the situation (re his deployment) specifically to put himself in a position to be a plaintiff in this idiotic lawsuit, which in my view as a fellow field grade officer speaks volumes about his integrity and his dedication to the best interests of his service.

While I've been a unit commander a couple of times, and had to be schooled on military law, I freely admit I'm no expert on the subject. But nonetheless I think it might even be a stretch to get a conviction on the charges you list in your subject line. In my experience JAGs don't appreciate losing to area defense counsels, and won't take a case to trial unless they're somewhere in the 90th percentile sure of a conviction. Since he wasn't yet on orders, dereliction of duty doesn't apply, and insubordination or conduct unbecoming as legal charges for exercising a right held by any citizen is a dangerous precendent, in my opinion. Sure, I think he's an idiot and has no case. But when he was doing this he was Mr. Idiot, not Major Idiot (although he is nonetheless a major idiot...), this being one of the aspects of reserve officers that make them different from regular officers. Again, I'm no JAG, but I would be a bit surprised to see legal action against him. His career's over of course. He can say goddbye to Lt Col and he's now 100 percent kryptonite. If no unit will take him (I assume he's a free-lance kind of reservist) then he'll never make enough 'good years' to get his retirement, in which his whole military career is a waste. So there are other ways of dealing with him besides making him a martyr for the birther nutters in what would quite possibly be a losing court case.

Just my two cents.

[Still Sensible]

8. You're probably right.

One would think they could make something stick, though. While I know it is what his attorney is claiming, the "..for exercising a right held by any citizen is a dangerous precendent..." I think it is a dangerous precedent to allow somebody to claim they are exercising their rights basically by just making shit up. Is this going to lead to other cases or is this guy the only nutjob left in the service?

I guess what bothers me is that the birther wackos are apparently able to get a pass, or at least the legitimacy that goes along with not being entirely cut off at the knees, while there have been in our history plenty of military prosecutions of objectors who-it seems to me-had a much better case based on their moral objections than this idiot using the clearly bogus birther bullshit.

[14thColony]

9. It is a quandary, to be sure.

I personally think his actions are disgusting. Once upon a time we officers were expected to be absolutely neutral and apolitical. I was taught that if nobody in your unit knew your political leanings, you were doing things right. Issues like this were the realm of elected representatives, and our job was to protect the Constitution, period (the oath of officership does not mention the president). So to have the temerity to engineer a bs way to be part of a lawsuit like this is unconscionable to me. At the same time, being a bit of a contrarist, I wonder what the reaction here at DU would have been had this been 2002 and the major in question was refusing to go on the basis the Bush stole the 2000 election and was therefore not the CinC. Somehow I think the word 'traitor' would have been a bit less frequent.

I only wish he was the only nutjob left in the service. While it's not nearly as bad as some believe, there are still plenty of them around. But most are smart enough to keep their views to themselves so as not to put the career at too great a risk.

[Still Sensible]

10. It has been more tha 30 years since my air force stint

but I grew up an army brat, so I've been around the military a lot. Even though the services were integrated by the time I was growing up in the 60s, there was plenty of racism. Of course everything official or overt was strictly by the book, but the underlying racism always bothered me.

Now when I hear reports of people who essentially are skinheads in the services, and idiots like this nutjob major, I just cringe.