-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Friday February 4 3:21 PM ET U.S. Soldier Fights Discharge By BRIGITTE GREENBERG Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. soldier's bad-conduct discharge for refusing to serve on a U.N. peacekeeping mission should be overturned because the jury was not allowed to decide whether President Clinton's order to deploy was legal, the soldier's lawyer argued Friday. Attorney Henry L. Hamilton, representing Army medic Michael New, told five judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces that Clinton's order to deploy troops to Macedonia in 1995 was illegal because he did not have congressional approval. ``Superiors may not compel subordinates to obey illegal orders,'' said Hamilton, a retired Army judge advocate general. ``The government must prove lawfulness. ... If it's not a legal order, there's no duty to obey it.'' Capt. Kelly Haywood, representing the government, argued that the order's legitimacy was never for the seven-member military jury to decide, and New had a duty to obey the commander in chief. ``The mission lives and dies by the soldier following an order,'' Haywood said. New was among a few hundred mainly support troops that Clinton sent in 1992 to Macedonia, one of six republics of former Yugoslavia, to guard against the spread of unrest from other areas torn by ethnic turmoil because of Yugoslavia's dismemberment. They served in a a peacekeeping force dispatched by the United Nations, and New refused to wear U.N. insignia on his U.S. Army uniform. The appeals court judges must decide whether Army Judge Lt. Col. Gary Jewell, who oversaw court-martial proceedings against New in January 1996, erred by essentially telling the jury that Clinton's order was constitutional. If so, the case would be sent back down for new court-martial proceedings. The judges' decision is expected within two to three months. At New's court-martial four years ago, the jury took only 20 minutes to convict him of disobeying an order. He was sentenced to be given a bad-conduct discharge, but the discharge is being held in abeyance during his appeals. ``What's at stake here is whether or not it's illegal for a soldier to wear the uniform of foreign nations, of foreign commanders,'' New said later, outside the courthouse. While stationed in Germany in 1995, the native of Conroe, Texas, refused to remove his American military uniform patch in favor of the insignia and blue beret of the United Nations, saying he would not serve a foreign power. Hamilton described his client as a patriot. ``President Clinton lied to Congress to effect the deployment in Macedonia,'' Hamilton said outside the courthouse. ``It all stemmed from his duplicity in failing to inform Congress.'' New joined the Army in 1993. He served with U.S. units in Kuwait since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. While awaiting the outcome of his case, New is on involuntary leave. The 26-year-old medical specialist has been working for a Texas manufacturing firm and studying computers at a local college. He was arrested last July on drug charges for allegedly phoning in a phony prescription to a pharmacy for a drug commonly prescribed for people suffering anxiety. If convicted on that charge, he could be sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison. He was convicted in January 1998 of forging prescriptions and was fined $500 and sentenced to seven years probation. In March, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear New's military case. The justices said he must exhaust all avenues of military appeals before seeking relief from federal civilian courts. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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