THERE COMES A TIME!

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 438

As such, there comes a time when We the People must stand up and be heard, and I believe that time is now. This past week our President authorized a military attack upon what was believed to be a Venezuelan drug smuggling boat in international waters. As a result the boat was destroyed and everyone aboard was killed. Unless we had a Declaration of War in existence at that time against Venezuela, which we did not, that was an act of murder, which is a violation of our Constitution and our laws, as well as international laws. Thus our current President who authorized this direct violation of law must be held accountable by Congress and our country. Due Process of Law, even for those killed in the boat, must control these situations!

Had this boat been within our territorial waters we would have had every right to stop, board and search the boat and everyone on it, and arrest them for any illicit materials on board, or at least for violations of our immigration laws. But while in international waters we had no such legal ability. In fact, had this been done by ANY other country, our government would have been publicly outraged.

Parenthetically, if we had had good cause to believe that this boat contained nuclear weapons and intended to use them against us at that time, that would have been a “Clear and Present Danger” which would have legally allowed us to stop and search that boat, but not to destroy it. And, of course, had the boat first fired upon us that would have legally entitled us to return fire. But neither of those situations is known to have been present.
Of course, we all understand that life can be complicated. For example, our Navy SEALS just a few days ago ostensibly and mistakenly killed three unarmed North Korean fishermen during a botched attempt to plant a listening device on a North Korean beach to spy on the North Korean leader. Not an intended act, but a shameful result in a complicated world.

But back to the point, personally I am convinced that every one of the Founders of our Constitution would be of this same opinion as to accountability. Simply labeling those on board the boat to be “terrorists” or “combatants” does not change the legal reality. What was done – in our names – was blatantly illegal and, regardless of any of our personal political beliefs, accountability must publicly be brought to bear upon those officials responsible for those illegal acts! And that would be true if the subject were to be our present President, Dr. Martin Luther King or you or me. I hope and trust that you agree!