With thanks to Adelante, who posted this in another thread:
Greg Skilling on Examiner.com makes an interesting point today about a farther-reaching effect Cook's suit could have in endangering other soldiers.
Major Stefan Frederick Cook, USAR - conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman-snip
Mutiny and Sedition – In the Ledger-Enquirer, Maj. Cook is quoted as stating,
“(he) would be acting in violation of international law by engaging in military actions outside the United States under this President’s command. ... simultaneously subjecting himself to possible prosecution as a war criminal by the faithful execution of these duties.”
Maj. Cook retained the services of an attorney, Orly Taitz, who made the following statements in a filing on his behalf before United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia, Columbus Division which reiterated the claim by Maj. Cook that he, and by extension all U.S. Servicemembers serving in combat, were “war criminals” and therefore not entitled to the protections granted by the Geneva Conventions:
“Plaintiff seeks to avoid not only court-martial in this country, but also treatment as a war-criminal or terrorist, not eligible even for protection under the Geneva convention, if he were found to be a merely mercenary soldier in a private army of slaves, “owned” or controlled by an unconstitutional and therefore illegal commander, if he does not ask the question: “is this order legal?”
By recklessly advancing his unfounded theory that U.S. soldiers are “war criminals” and allowing his attorney to state that they are, “merely mercenaries in a private army of slaves”, Maj. Cook has provided enemies of the United States with a ready-made excuse to execute captured U.S. servicemembers using the statements of a commissioned officer of the United States Army Reserve as justification for their actions. Furthermore, given that it has been widely reported that a U.S. soldier was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, Maj. Cook’s public statements and those of his attorney have put the life of that soldier in direct and irrefutable jeopardy. In addition, Maj. Cook has provided extensive recruiting material for terrorist groups around the world, thereby aiding enemy efforts to oppose ongoing combat operations.
http://www.examiner.com/x-12278-Louisville-Independent-Examiner~y2009m7d16-Major-Stefan-Frederick-Cook-USAR--conduct-unbecoming-an-officer-and-a-gentleman