Donald Cleveland

Revitalizing America

www.revitalizeamericanow.org

13900 S. Jog Road, Ste 203
Delray Beach, Florida 33446

PH: 954-765-8529

Donald Cleveland, author, civil rights advocate, and political scientist, strongly condemns President Trump, the U.S. Department of War and the General Staff for the war they initiated with Iran. He said, “It is blatantly unconstitutional, illegal, and beyond the scope of authority of the executive branch of our government!”

Cleveland pointed out that “Under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress alone possesses the authority to declare war. The President, while serving as Commander-in-Chief, does not possess the constitutional power to initiate or declare war against a foreign nation. As the Supreme Court acknowledged in the landmark Prize Cases 67 U.S. 2 Black 635 (1862), ‘war is a condition of armed hostility between nations, and the lawful commencement of such war by the United States requires congressional authorization.’”

Citing authorities going back to the foundation of our country, Cleveland said, “Legal authorities have long affirmed this principle. Jurist Chancellor James Kent (1763–1847), former Chief Justice of the New York Court of Appeals, wrote that war cannot lawfully be commenced by the United States without an act of Congress, and that such an act serves as the formal notice to the world that the nation has entered a state of war.”

“The current attack against Iran is a condition of armed hostility between nations, and it has not been authorized by Congress. Accordingly, the United States has been thrust into an illegal and unconstitutional war,” he added.

Cleveland went on to state, “The recent military actions ordered by President Donald Trump against Iran constitute a crass and dangerous violation of the United States Constitution. This unlawful action carries grave consequences. It destroys a fundamental civil right of American military personnel—namely, their right to life. Those brave service members who have lost their lives were immediately deprived of that right by the illegal acts of the President and the War Department. Their lives have been forfeited by government officials acting under the ‘color of law,’ but not under the true law of the land. Their families should expect support in pursuing both civil rights and criminal actions against those officials who are flagrantly violating the Constitution.”

“When American soldiers are killed or wounded in a war initiated without constitutional authority, their most fundamental civil rights have been violated. They are placed in harm’s way without the lawful consent of the American people through their elected representatives in Congress.”

“Let’s not joke with each other about how to define ‘war,’” Cleveland said. “While the Constitution does not define war, federal law recognizes the gravity of armed conflict. Under 42 U.S.C. §1711, ‘war-risk hazards’ are defined as occurring whenever the United States is engaged in armed conflict—whether formally declared or not.”

“Further, when no clear definition exists, the Supreme Court in United States v. Granderson stated that words in a statute must be given their ordinary meaning. In this case, the ordinary meaning of ‘war’ is found in Black’s Law Dictionary (2nd Edition), defining war as ‘a state of forcible contention; an armed contest between nations; a state of hostility between two or more nations or states.’ There can be no question: the United States is at war with Iran.”

“Because the military campaign against Iran lacks a constitutional foundation, it represents an unlawful use of American armed forces. Every member of the U.S. military has taken the following oath: ‘I, ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…’ All military personnel therefore have a duty to refuse unlawful orders directing them to prosecute this illegal war,” Cleveland pointed out.

The American people must demand that:

1. State Attorneys General and civil rights advocates work with the families of deceased military personnel to pursue both civil and criminal actions against responsible officials.
2. All military personnel refuse unlawful orders to attack Iran, as such orders violate the Constitution, their oath, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
3. Congress reassert its exclusive constitutional authority over war-making.
4. The rights and safety of American service members be protected from unlawful deployment into hostilities.
5. Hostile actions against Iran stop immediately unless and until approved by Congress.

“No President may unilaterally place the nation into war. The framers of the Constitution deliberately placed that power in Congress to prevent exactly this kind of executive overreach.”

“The rule of law must prevail over executive overreach. The Constitution is not optional, even for the President of the United States,” he concluded.

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