A Trumped-Up War
This letter to the editor, by Cheri Evjen, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on January 1, 2026.
I salute U.S. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona and his Democratic colleagues for reminding America’s military of its constitutional duty to ignore illegal orders.
Republicans’ calls to sanction Kelly prove they believe that reminding soldiers of their oath to the U.S. Constitution has become a crime in America.
But why would President Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and others attack what amounts to a reminder to ignore illegal orders unless they were planning on issuing more of them?
Geoffrey Corn, formerly the Army’s senior adviser for law-of-war issues, said the Trump administration was “shredding” rather than “stretching” the legal envelope. Corn added of the boat strikes, “all Americans should be concerned about how our military is being cut loose from its legal moorings by what appears to be the abandonment of the rule of law from the very top of our national chain of command.”
Former JAG attorney Mark Nevitt, an expert on international law and legal ethics, suggested: “My theory is they might not want to get into the messy issues involving detention and habeas corpus lawsuits.”
Nevitt reminds us that the navy’s core values are honor, courage and commitment. He warned us that abandoning those values can demoralize troops, create long-lasting moral injury and fuel distrust in the ranks.
Principled military officers have resigned rather than follow orders they knew to be illegal. Others were fired for refusing to look the other way when Trump put America in the same category as Iran, North Korea and Russia when it comes to following international law and respecting human rights.
Americans should recognize this “Trumped up war” on Venezuela for what it is: a distraction from inflation, the release of the Epstein files and horrible job numbers that the president continues to suppress. It is also another power grab to give Trump total control over the military.
Congress, including U.S. Representatives Tom Tiffany and Derrick Van Orden, should do their jobs and reclaim the shared powers over America’s military afforded to congress in the U.S. Constitution. Now is not the time for them to ignore their duty, to march in lockstep with Trump’s policies, ones that are illegal, immoral and dangerous to both our soldiers and our place as a world leader.