If a person who lost a family member in Iraq vehemently speaks out against the war, is it treason?

Answer 1

Criticizing the government is not treason, it's a duty. If no one criticizes wars, that gives the president and his cronies carte blanche to start wars willy-nilly, knowing that they will be beyond reproach once the grunts are on the ground.

Answer 2

Even if the war in Iraq were not treason against our constitution, which it unarguably it because there was NO reason to re-begin it, no WMD, no justification at all, a free citizen would still have the personal, private, and inalienable right to speak out against most aspects of this war or any other war under regulatin governing non-fictional utterance.

Any restrictions in such a matter are laws designed to protect
the responsible leaders of a republic during an "emergency situation" against attacks by enemies of the good of its citizens--which requires that they obey reasonable orders given by those who are trying to end the emergency and to restore full liberties to each citizen and engineer a normative--non-emergency situation again.

That's not what's happened here. There's no war. And Republicans are seeking eternal powers for an imperial totalitarian presidency; also, they have neither declared such an emergency nor justified it.

In the ordinary "emergency"--war case, someone would be still entitled to use relative evaluations, such as "I really dislike this war. I really wish we had better leaders, and better plans--and that cousin Ralph hadn't been killed carrying out a plan I consider to be something other somewhat unlikable."

In the present case, anything can be said-- because there's no war, a non-declared emergency, no justification for one and no sign tht the so-called leader wishes to end it, give up emergency powers nor capably do something practical, something that rational free individual minds might be expected to believe could work.

Answer 3

It is NEVER treason to vehemently speak out against a war or anything else. It is a right protected by the constitution. Dissent is a form of patritism if it is honest. Last year there were retired Generals who were saying that the policy was wrong and could not succeed. With their knowledge, staying quiet, if they believed what they said, would be unpatriotic.

Answer 4

No It is called "Freedom of Speech" In a sense, it is the very thing that we are fighting for over there !

Lots of people speak a load of rubbish about "treason"; they usually don't know the definition of "Treason" anyway..

Check out the US Constitution : Article III, Section 3 :'Treason defined. .....Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. . . . . ."

Although at various times in the country's history there has been a crime of Sedition, it is clear that today the First Amendment protects the right of citizens to criticize the government in times of war, and of opposing the policies of the administration.

Answer 5

Not treason - but a grave insult to the memory of the one who died.

Sheehan's son re-enlisted to serve a second tour in Iraq. He (like most of us who have actually been there) believed in the cause.

Answer 6

First, I would like to say I am a Republican who is totally disgusted with the vast majority of users on this forum who call themselves Republicans.
Here are my observations and opinions about them;
1: They would rather put their own self interests in this president, ahead of the interests of this Nation.
2: They would rather clone, redicule, and demean those who would try to bring serious discussion to this forum, than debate them on their own merits.
3: They also seek to report in an attempt to undermine those stated in #2 in an effort to have those facts removed.
4: and final, history will remeber those who stood by while this Nation was robbed, lied to, and stolen from and those that defended those very practices.

Answer 7

under no circumstances is it treason
I spoke out against Clinton all the time.
My son is a soldier and he wanted to do that as long as I can remember, but I know he could die. He will serve with honor and live or die with honor.
so speak out if you must especially if it helps you heal in your grief
but know many have given all for this country that we could live in peace and there will be more. Honor them, and maybe step up and take their place so the line will not falter.

Answer 8

Aquilus an sews question like he know what the motives of the love one you lost were. He has no idea what your loved ones motives were, ie, why he went to Iraq...Maybe he thought WMD's were in the hands of Sadam..It wasn't so... Maybe he thought Asma Bin Laden and Sad am were good friends...Not so as well...Maybe he believed all the rhetoric spoken by George Bush...It wasn't true...No...It's not treason if you speak out against Iraq...It's necessary! Thanks for speaking out.

Answer 9

No. Its called Freedom of Speech and is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. If the Republicans have any say about it, however, they would try to make it treason.

Answer 10

No. Treason is one of the toughest crimes to prosecute. One needs to have actually aided an enemy, with a certain level of intent.