Donald Trump has directed members of our military to kill 18 people in international waters. He says they were drug dealers, but he has presented no proof to either the U.S. people, the U.S. Congress or the country the victims are from.
That is murder. Even if they were drug dealers, it is not legal to just shoot them. We used to be a country that followed laws. Even the president had to follow laws. Sometimes he calls them enemy combatants, other times he calls them terrorists. He gives vague rationale why he can kill people without either there being a declared war (if they are soldiers) or due process (if they are civilians).
Does anybody really believe there is no difference between a drug dealer and a terrorist? Even if they were indeed terrorists, should we not show the world some sort of evidence?
On Sept. 30, Pete Hegseth (what used to be called secretary of defense, now secretary of war) and Donald Trump addressed all the top military officials. The generals were ordered to come from all parts of the world to attend this meeting. Trump told them that they would be used against “the enemy within.” Trump said he told Hegseth that the military should, “use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.”
So we know he will use the military to illegally kill people. We also know he will send the military to U.S. cities to do his bidding. It is not a stretch to believe if he is willing to kill foreigners illegally with the military that eventually he will use the military to kill U.S. citizens. That is what other dictators do.
People in the military are put in a horrible situation. They all swear an oath to defend the Constitution. This means if they are given an order to do something that is illegal, they should refuse those orders. But in most situations, soldiers are taught to follow orders without question.
It would take a brave soldier to do their duty and say “no” to Donald Trump. Anyone who does this is sacrificing their military career to save our country. They may have a family to support. We need brave people to stand up at this moment.
To be free, we must be brave. I sure hope there are some brave members in our military who will follow their oath and tell Donald Trump, “No, I refuse to follow those unconstitutional orders.”
Otherwise, our democracy is officially over.
Daniel Meekhof
Packwood
