September 15, 2014 by Ron Paul
September 15, 2014 – Sen. Ted Cruz
is annoyed with the Islamic State, as, I assume, are all Americans. He and other Republicans want to cancel the passports and strip the citizenship of anyone who joins the Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria.
Cruz said, “We should not permit them to return to America.” Those joining a violent group would automatically lose all of their rights as Americans citizens and are to be labeled traitors. Maybe so, or maybe not, but the constitution speaks to the serious nature of convicting an American citizen of treason.
Article 3, Section 3 of the constitution is explicit. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act. I ask—where is the due process? What are the charges? Shall it become out of convenience to so easily discard our liberties? Without due process and adherence to the constitution, mere laws written by politicians pandering to the emotions of a rigged media allow our executive branch to become judge, jury, and executioner.
But why should that shock us? Already we have a president, by executive order, who claims that he has the authority to execute American citizens without any charges ever being made. Americans, for a long time, have voluntarily marched off to support various factions around the world. The question then becomes, who is the decider in chief in picking the good guys over the bad.
This is especially relevant in the chaos in Syria and Iraq. McCain said to support the moderates in Syria and send them weapons and military assistance. His advice prevailed, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) benefitted and subsequently merged and cooperated with the Islamic State. Would an American, like a CIA agent or supporter of the FSA, be vulnerable to charges of treason?
The tragedy is, we go 6,000 miles from home, getting involved in a complex civil war. We tell our soldiers and the American taxpayers, we do it to protect our liberty, the constitution and national sovereignty. And it’s all required to make us safe. All of the effort is done by ignoring the constitution, making us less safe and placing a gigantic financial burden on all Americans.
Unconstitutional wars inevitably lead to attacks on our civil liberties at home. We don’t need the likes of Senator Cruz to protect us by supporting wars that are neither morally nor constitutionally justified. We cannot save the constitution by destroying it.
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