Freedom or Totalitarianism, the Choice is Yours

By Sgt. Kevin Benderman

08/06/07 "ICH" --- -- The apathetic American public needs to pull their heads out of the comfortable little hole in the sand where it has been for far too long and do something about the way our country is being stolen from us by an administration that has its well-being and only its well- being in mind.

Our congressional representatives have no spine when it comes to doing what needs to be done to stop the war that the Project for the New American Century has pushed down the throats of the American public. This group has hi-jacked the country out from under us and we are standing by and letting them get away with it.

I remember my father watching the Watergate trials of the Nixon White House and I remember the nation having the spine to go after them with a vengeance for something that is much less worse than what the current White House is doing. The Nixon White House wanted to know what the opposition party was doing to get elected to the presidency and they staged the break-in of the opposition headquarters to get that information.

President Nixon was impeached for this, yet now we sit back and let a so-called President violate the United States Constitution, The Geneva Convention, and the Nuremberg Tribunals by starting a war in Iraq. This is a country that has been proven time and time again to have nothing to do with the September, 11th 2001 attacks on our country. The “interrogation” methods used and authorized by this administration very specifically violate our constitution because our constitution states that any treaty we sign and ratify becomes the law of the land. We signed and ratified the Geneva Conventions of 1949 which made it a law of America.

“Article. VI. - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths”

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

Below is the date the United States congress signed and ratified the Geneva Convention into United States law.

Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.

United States of America – Signed 12 August 1949 and 2 August 1955.

We have been bound by law and the United States Constitution to adhere to the Geneva Convention since August 2, 1955 but we have allowed this administration to waltz into office and break our laws as we do nothing about it. Yet we bitch and moan about our freedoms being taken from us, well, America, as long as you let them be taken from you they will be.

America, we are forgetting who we are and who we are supposed to be, which, is a people who do the right thing no matter what, and yet we set by and let this group of demagogues destroy our country and constitution.

More people in this country are worried about the latest gossip about Hollywood than things that really matter. I can’t believe I went to jail for trying to defend my constitution from this group of anti-constitutionalists while the country just sits back and watches while it takes place. I also cannot believe the people who put those magnets on their car and then think that absolves them of any responsibility to do anything more substantial than this. If this is the best you can do to support the “troops”, then don’t bother yourself.

Never mind that soldiers are dying every damn day in Iraq.

I was told by many groups that I would have their un-ending support for taking a principled stand against this, but as I sat in military prison waiting to see some justice from the people who should come up with a sound and reasoned argument that would put and end to this madness, I watched those same groups go their merry way.

For those who did support me as much as they could I am very grateful, but for those who went and bought pink shirts and paid for balloons to put on the mall in Washington, thanks for nothing. These actions have done nothing to hold this administration to account for starting this war, as a matter of fact; these actions have hindered those of us who are working on a serious plan to provide some real assistance to the service members that continue to die in this war of choice (of choice for a select few).

So to the ones who made the promises to me about continuing to support the stand I took and the promises to help me set up a program of grass roots solutions to help with the problems returning service members and our communities face, I am waiting to see if you meant what you said or if you are like the politicians you claim to want to set straight; all talk and no action.

Sgt. Kevin Benderman is a ten year Army veteran who served a combat tour in Iraq at the time of the initial invasion. He returned to file a conscientious objector application as his legal show of refusal to further participate in a military action he knew to be wrong. He served over a year in prison for his actions. Please visit www.BendermanDefense.org to learn more.

You may write to Kevin at info@BendermansBridge.org