hyperlinks and video live at source: http://www.examiner.com/x-18425-LA-County-Nonpartisan-Examiner~y2009m12d18-Real-conservatives-honor-US-war-laws-fakes-and-...

Let’s define “political conservative,” view current US wars through that lens, and determine appropriate war policy if conservatism is to be honored.

Conservatism defined: There is variance in understanding, but let’s work with these
Respecting law and order, the US Constitution, and inalienable rights for equal opportunity.
Self-reliance and personal responsibility.
Minimal government intervention for maximum freedom and minimal tax cost.

Law and order is the foundation of society; not much can be accomplished or enjoyed without it. Being American is a political distinction; it literally means citizenry under US and Constitutional law. Conservatives look to teamwork in complex projects and are adamant about personal responsibility for individual performance and cooperation within the law. Government provides law and order, but in a minimal way to maximize our freedom and personal income.

Laws are meant to be crystal-clear: Conservatives uphold what works; including laws that provide the background for our safe interrelations. Laws are effective only when they’re intelligent limits to behavior, clearly understood, and reliably enforced. For example, safe driving is only possible with reasonable limits clearly understood by drivers. Law enforcement is an investment to reasonably manage compliance for the desired conservative result of safe driving.

What are the laws of war in general and specifically wars in Afghanistan and Iraq? As citizens, these laws are among the few all Americans should know. Having an informed political voice with our most expensive policy (until the so-called bailouts, but that’s another story) that affects life-or-death requires understanding these laws. The US laws limiting war are easy to understand, and as we discussed, that’s the right idea. They are easier to master than most rules of sports, such as what constitutes a legal punt in football.

The full explanation of US law governing war is here, with full documentation of the following summary: after WW2, nations created the binding treaty of the UN Charter to eliminate war as a foreign policy option. Article VI of the Constitution empowers a treaty the same level of authority as US and Constitutional law. The UN Charter allows war only under two circumstances:
In defense of an armed attack by another nation. When the attack ends and the narrow definition of national self-defense of “instant, overwhelming, and leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation" ends, and the UN Security Council takes jurisdiction (seizes the matter), the UN Security Council determines war authorization.
The UN Security Council authorizes force.

These are the applicable laws. The purpose of these strict limits is to fulfill the UN’s purpose of ending the scourge of war through isolation of aggressors and collective action. The 20th Century witnessed over 230 million human deaths from wars and violent government acts.

Afghanistan was not an armed attack by a nation, but an act of terrorism. The UN seized the matter in Resolution 1373, calling for international cooperation to discover and capture the terrorists. Four weeks after 9/11, the US violated 1373 and attacked Afghanistan. The US Congress authorized the President with war powers in Afghanistan and Iraq, but only within UN Charter limits. Iraq was argued as a “pre-emptive” defensive war, outside of UN Charter authorization. The evidence justifying the attack is now disclosed and revealed as ridiculously false, and known as false at the time it was presented. Again, my complete explanation and documentation of the preceding is at my article, "US war laws explained, why Afghanistan and Iraq wars are unlawful, and how to end them."

Appropriate conservative war policy response: The wars are clearly unlawful once the law and evidence in the preceding paragraph is factually grasped. They aren’t even close to being lawful. The conservative response is painful and responsible realization that Republican Party leaders lied for war in Iraq, are lying for war in Iran, and engaged in an offensive war and occupation of Afghanistan. This was only possible through collusion of Democratic Party leadership. So the first step is telling the truth.

Gandhi and Martin Luther King also advocated public understanding of the facts and non-cooperation with evil. The policy response of conservatives might be strongest in consideration of the following:
1.Understand the laws of war. These were legislated after WW2 and are crystal-clear that only self-defense, in a narrow legal meaning, can justify war. This investment of your time takes less than an hour and empowers you to legally stand for ending these Wars of Aggression.
2.Communicate. Trust your unique, beautiful, and powerful self-expression to share powerful information as you feel appropriate. Understand that while many people are ready to embrace difficult facts, many are not. Anticipate your virtuous response to being attacked and give it in the spirit of competition, just as you do in other fields.
3.Refuse and end all orders and acts associated with these unlawful wars and constant violation of treaties. Those involved with US military, government, and law enforcement have an oath to protect and defend the US Constitution. Unlawful acts only move forward with sufficient cooperation and public tolerance. Stop cooperating with the most vicious crime a nation can commit: war.
4.Prosecute the war leaders for obvious violation of the letter and spirit of US war laws. You can only understand how these wars are specifically unlawful by investing the time to do so. Because the crimes are so broad and deep, I recommend Truth and Reconciliation (T&R) to exchange full truth and return of stolen US assets for non-prosecution. This is the most expeditious way to understand and end all unlawful and harmful acts. Those who reject T&R either by volunteering their name and/or responding when named are subject to prosecution after the window of T&R closes.

Rejection of these steps rejects the heart of conservatism. The wars are unlawful under US Constitutional law. The long-term costs of this war are now $3-5 trillion. We were lied to by fake conservatives and fascists to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. We were lied to about these simple rules for lawful war and lied to regarding paper-thin propaganda “evidence” of Iraq’s possible future threat to US national security. We’re being lied to again for war threats against Iran, including the threat of US first-use nuclear weapon attack.

Conservatives should be outraged once the facts are clearly recognized. They should question everything else the government alleges and demand clear evidence. The whole “terrorist threat” should be ripped-open to discover propaganda, wary of possible false-flag attack to re-justify national fear. All the liars need to be exposed and removed from governing

More troops have died in these unlawful wars than Americans on 9/11. We’re wasting our troops’ lives, mental and physical health, honor, and destroying their families. Real conservatives have the intellectual integrity and guts to tell the truth now, end these crimes, and return our troops to safety.

Why do some “conservatives” support current US wars? What are the consequences? They either don’t know the laws of war or are rejecting the US Constitution in this area. They probably innocently believed party leadership. They’re afraid of a pumped-up threat by “terrorists.” They respect authority and haven’t recognized they were victims of massive lies. The consequences are US troops on the front-lines losing their lives, wasting trillions of our dollars, surrendering personal responsibility for blinded obedience and international shame, and severely handicapping future generations of Americans the longer our stupidity and/or cowardice to act continue.

Below is an 8-minute video from Puppetgov titled, “How you ended the war.”

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