Illegal Guard Deployments

How a Banana Republic Sends Troops to War

Below is a copy of an order typical of those that have been used to illegally deploy Oregon National Guard troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Without question, these orders are in direct conflict with both the U.S. and the Oregon Constitutions, which state that the only authorities that can call up the National Guard are the U.S. Congress, and in the case of Oregon (and most other states), the governor - and even then only under very specific circumstances.

The U.S. Constitution is clear and unambiguous: "Congress shall have power to provide; for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions." (Article 1 Section 8 Clause 15.)

The Oregon Constitution uses nearly identical language: "The Governor shall be commander in chief of the military, and naval forces of this State, and may call out such forces to execute the laws, to suppress insurrection, or to repel invasion." (Article 5, Section 9)

The National Guard's own charter concurs: "The Army National Guard's charter is the Constitution of the United States. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution contains a series of "militia clauses, vesting distinct authority and responsibilities in the federal government and the state governments..."

In spite of what we are being told by the madmen who have seized control of our government, there is NO circumstance whereby the President is given ANY authority to call up the National Guard on his own - a constitutional provision that has been routinely ignored.

This means that for reasons other than "to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions," there are NO conditions for a legal call up of the Oregon National Guard - or the National Guard of any other state, for that matter. This would obviously rule out deployments to "execute laws, repel invasions or suppress insurrections" in other people's countries. This would also prohibit using (abusing) the Guard to; overthrow evil dictators, spread freedom and democracy throughout the world at gunpoint, (aka "cluster bomb diplomacy") or to "fight them over there rather than over here."

The scans below are a little hard to read, but listed under the "Authority" section of the order is a reference to USC Section 12302 and Presidential Executive Order 13223. Taken together, these two "authorities" allow the President to declare a national emergency and deploy 1,000,000 National Guard troops, to anywhere he wants, without the approval of Congress. Since there is no definition of what comprises a "national emergency," the President could theoretically declare one whenever the notion pops into his head - a power no President should ever be allowed to have.

Once this national emergency is declared, it triggers a somewhat magical suspension of the Constitution, bypassing the restrictions detailed in Article 1, Section 8. Instead, according to USC 12302, "an authority designated by the Secretary concerned" (exactly which concerned secretary this would be is not defined - hopefully not the same one who makes the coffee!) can deploy up to one million guard troops for up to two years, with no apparent restraint on their mission - without asking for permission from anyone!

Talk about dangerous! Talk about illegal!

Here is how the scam works; These deployment orders are legitimized under the authority, and obscurity, of US Code 12302, (of which there is no record of it ever being voted on!) which is triggered into action by the equally dubious Executive Order 13223 - a presidential sleight of hand void of even the shadow of legality. This leaves us with two "authorities" - both complete usurpations of the Constitution - legitimizing each other through a circular form of very twisted logic.

No wonder the occupation of Iraq has turned into such a bloody mess!

Under our Constitution, neither the President, (even if we had a sane one!) nor "an authority designated by the Secretary concerned," has any authority to deploy the National Guard. That is the exclusive responsibility, and duty, of the U.S. Congress or the state governor - and even then only under very specific circumstances. Deployment orders that use the "authority" of US Codes and Executive Orders, in lieu of the Constitution, turn that principal completely upside down. (Maybe that's why they call it a "Code") It is enough to make one's head spin!

Some would say that these illegal deployment orders are perfectly fine, since numerous legislative actions over the years, such as the appropriately named "Dick Act" of 1903, have given cover for these constitutional usurpations. There is also the nonsensical rumor of a "shadow Guard," which is the federal version of the state Guard that every member of a state Guard unit supposedly also swears allegiance to. Those events may have all transpired, but they are all completely irrelevant, as any Act, law, Executive Order, or secret code that is in conflict with the U.S. Constitution, is null and void.

Those who adhere to the claim that the militia has been disbanded in favor of a national army should tread down that road with great caution - as the 2nd amendment makes a distinct tie between the right to bear arms and a well armed militia.

Things really start to enter into the surreal when we look at the "signature page" of the orders. The first thing we will notice is that there are NO signatures. There is not even a name for the Governor, only a somewhat cryptic "BY ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR." Which governor would that be? We are left to wonder.

It is understandable why Governor Kulongoski would not want his signature on such a sorry excuse for a deployment order. We would not want our names on those orders either!

There is no record of the governor refusing to send our troops to Iraq or Afghanistan - even though their deployments had nothing to do with fulfilling their only legal mission, which is to "execute the laws, to suppress insurrection, or to repel invasion." Contrary to the oath Mr. Kulongoski swore to defend the U.S. and Oregon Constitutions, he allowed his authority to be used on illegal "orders" that sent thousands of our young men and women off to fight and die in foreign wars.

There is a good case to be made that such behavior by a governor is tantamount to treason.

Rather than attending the funerals of our fallen soldiers, maybe Kulongoski should start obeying the law - by ending his complicity to the war crimes being committed in Iraq. He needs to start supporting the Oregon National Guard when they really need him - long before he allows them to be used for target practice in a vast Iraqi shooting gallery!

All of these shenanigans beg the question, "Are we living in a Banana Republic?"