Okay Class - anyone remember this?:
Bush swore on the bible to uphold this document.
Let's read some of it shall we, from the part about what Congress does versus what the President does:
U.S. CONSTITUTION
Clause 11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
We've all heard in the papers about how only Congress declares war, and we've all heard about the excuse that Congress's approval of the option to use force in Iraq somehow waived away the responsibility of Congress to declare war, or of the President requiring such declaration before he acts out his role as Commander in Chief.
But you generally don't read the whole sentence, specifically that line about Letters of Marque. Specifically it means only Congress can hire mercenaries... oh, I'm sorry, private security firms, or whatever the euphemism is.
These guys aren't defense contractors, they are mercenaries. They are armed, they shoot, they kill, and are killed.
Private Security Workers Living On Edge in Iraq
With more hired guns in Iraq than in any other U.S. conflict since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Rich and other armed contractors also admit their role is cloudy and controversial. They do shoot to kill, but they aren't legally considered combatants. U.S. Military officials have expressed concern about violence in which the private contractors open fire. The contractors' mission is to protect the lives of individuals and cargo but not necessarily to support the broader interests of the U.S. counterinsurgency.
For more than a year now, Rich has traveled across Iraq, guarding the former U.S. occupation authority chief, L. Paul Bremer, and other high-ranking diplomats. He plans to make a career at Blackwater despite the fact that 18 of his close co-workers have now perished on the job, including two whose bodies were hung in Fallujah last March from what is now called Blackwater Bridge and six who were killed when a helicopter they were riding in was shot down outside Baghdad on Thursday.
Indeed, with an estimated 240 deaths among some 20,000 armed private security contractors in Iraq, Rich's work is as risky or riskier than that of the U.S. military, as firms such as Blackwater take on an unprecedented role in the Iraq war.
Actually the Letters of Marque isn't about just hiring mercenaries, it is about giving them legal protection. It is the difference between a pirate and a privateer.
On May 22, 2003 Bush issued Executive Order 13303.
...which appears to give immunity from any judicial process to every entity with direct or indirect interests in Iraqi petroleum and related products. "The threat of attachment or judicial process against the Development Fund for Iraq, Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein ... constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," reads the executive order. It continues, "Â
any Â
judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void."
Sounds like that Executive Order is a fancy 21st Century Letters of Marque. Bush can't issue those. Only Congress can.
Remember the Constitution? Bueller? Bueller?
In 1856 there was a treaty to abolish Letters of Marque. The United States never ratified the treaty.
The Executive Order was given out 3 years ago, and I've never read anything about it and Letters of Marque. But of course Bush ignoring the Constitution really isn't news is it.
Cross posted with more spelling errors at: This Century Sucks. But it is nice to post here to - because hey, someone will actually read it.