Uniform Code of Military Justice describes the purpose of manifestly unlawful orders- Thank you Senator Captain Mark Kelly

To the editor of The County news in Aroostook County, Maine:

In the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Article 92), it states, “U.S. military members have a legal duty to disobey unlawful orders, those violating the constitution, U.S. law or international law.”  There is a clause in the code called “manifestly unlawful,” defined as: An order so clearly wrong that any reasonable person would recognize it as illegal. (IMO attacking unarmed fishing boats in the open ocean without cause is a violation of international law. Full stop❗🛑)

“We know you are under enormous pressure,” six members of Congress said in a video released Nov. 19, but “your vigilance is critical and know that we have your back.”

These former heroic members of the armed services and intelligence community urged their now-serving counterparts to disobey unlawful orders. That is as it should be.

Trump and too many others, however, say the video is sedition and calls for disobeying all orders. False. It is not sedition to urge disobedience to illegal orders only – the only sort the video referred to. What the members of Congress urged should not be controversial.

But it is. Vehement critics say Trump issued no unlawful orders,🤥❓ so, the warning has some ulterior motive. Wrong❗

Courts ruled illegal two National Guard deployments. The Southern Command’s top lawyer raised compelling doubts about legality of attacking unarmed boats in the Caribbean and no one at the Pentagon overruled him. 

In 2020, Donald Trump (aka "bone 🙄spurs")  asked the secretary of Defense whether protesters could be shot in the legs. Seven hundred combat-ready troops were stationed within a two-hour march of the Capitol. With bayonets. This year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement brutality happens frequently and with too little concern about curbing it. 

In October, Trump said “we’re closer than ever” to invoking the Insurrection Act. That allows him to deploy the military domestically, a power he could easily abuse. Against this backdrop, who can say there will be no unlawful orders❓

Hence, the need to remind people about their duty to disobey illegal orders and to have their backs.

Critics also claim the video sows doubt and discord, which affect morale, cohesion and willingness to follow lawful orders. 

How could people obey, when they wonder whether they’ve been ordered to act illegally❓

The video causes no new doubt or discord about legalities. Those are already with us. They’re part of the pressure the members of Congress mentioned in their video. Rather, the video just stiffens spines for doing what ought to be done.

That’s good leadership. Leading is what members of Congress are elected to do. It is their duty❗

P.S. Captain Mark Kelly, now Senator Mark Kelly is doing his duty by advising the military who are impacted by the dilemma caused when the Pentagon has issued illegal orders.