Michael New’s Fight Goes On

Posted: March 27 2006

By Stephen Goldstein

For those of you who were either too young to know or understand or for those of you who might have forgotten, I thought I would remind you of Michael New’s fight to clear his good name.

In 1993, Michael New volunteered to serve his country by joining the U.S. Army. In his own words, he did it, “with great pride.” Like others before him and since, he took an oath; I took it, my brother-in –law took it; in fact, it is the same oath taken by the President. Those who take the oath agree to “protect and defend” the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Two years later Bill Clinton, in his efforts to change us from a sovereign nation to another country in lock step with the third world, assaulted the Constitution by turning our army into a mercenary force under the banner of the United Nations.

In 1995, Bill Clinton ordered a part of the Army to Macedonia, not as U.S. soldiers but as U.N. Peacekeepers. These AMERICAN soldiers would not be under American command, or under the American flag. They would be under the direct command of a foreign commander wearing blue helmets and berets of the UN with a UN flag on their sleeve where the American flag was supposed to be. These AMERICAN would not even carry U.S. military ID cards, rather they would have to have UN ID’s issued.

Michael New did not join the UN; he did not take an oath to uphold and protect the ideals of the UN; he signed up to serve his country. He did this well when he served in Kuwait as a medic. In fact, he earned several medals and citations for saving the lives of fellow AMERICAN soldiers. He was trained to obey the lawful (an operative word here) orders given by his superiors and he did so with distinction.

Then came the order from Bill Clinton. In effect, he was telling AMERICAN soldiers to rip the AMERICAN flag from their uniforms, put away their AMERICAN ID cards, and take orders from some general from Finland who had sworn an allegiance to the UN. Michael New looked at the orders given and decided that according to the Military Code of Justice, the order was not lawful. He refused. He researched the order and decided, based on his research, that Bill Clinton’s order was not lawful (and he is correct on that score) and when his unit turned out in October 1995, he was the only one in formation who had not changed his flag patch. In fact, out of 549 who turned out, he was the only one still in his AMERICAN uniform. He was ordered out of formation, escorted to his battalion commanding officer, and read his “rights.”

Thus began Michael New’s legal battle. He refused to wear an illegal uniform as per existing Army regulations at that time and he refused to serve under a foreign power, he was ordered to stand court martial. The court martial took place in 1996. Michael New was used as an example to anyone else who might say, “Wait a minute! I am an AMERICAN soldier.” In July of 1996, after serving three years without a blemish on his record, Michael New was given a “Bad Conduct” discharge from the U.S. Army.

For ten years, Michael New has been fighting to get his record cleared and his good name returned. And in fighting to clear his name, he has been fighting to prevent every other AMERICAN soldier from being changed from a soldier of the U.S. Army into a UN mercenary. He has fought in the military courts where it was determined that it should be fought in the civilian courts who decided his fight should be in the military courts. No one wants to touch this case and so it has become a legal ping-pong game. It is an obvious precedence setting case in the legal system. In May of 2002, Michael and his legal team filed a petition with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to hear the case, and it was accepted based on its merits. It took two years to be heard and then right before Christmas, a Clinton appointed (not Senate approved) judge, Stephen Friedman, dismissed the case. Gee, what a shock! Friedman’s reason; in matters of “war” it is for Congress, not the courts, to protect the rights of AMERICAN soldiers who are illegally and unconstitutionally deployed in UN operations. In other words, Congress is at fault that Bill Clinton violated the law. (It seems that with him, it is always someone else’s fault)

One of Bill Clinton’s final acts, aside from freeing a bunch of terrorists with Presidential pardons was to put AMERICAN soldiers under the UN’s International Criminal Court. Thankfully, one of President Bush’s first acts was to rescind the order. However, AMERICANsoldiers are now under the ICC again because the President Bush’s order was not permanent. This case is not just about Michael New any longer; it is about every AMERICAN soldier. This is why Michael New has appealed the ruling of Judge Friedman.

As in any legal action, there are costs and Michael is in need of some financial help. This case will decide whether AMERICAN troops can be turned into mercenaries for the UN or not. It will decide whether our men and women in uniform can be put under the control of a foreign commander or be forced to stand trial in a foreign courtroom for perceived “war crimes.”

I have supported Michael New in the past and will continue to support him. If you feel this is a worthy fight, I urge you to go to www.mikenew.com and see what you can do to help. He and his lawyers have been fighting this case for ten years and it might take a couple of more years to see it through to the end. It is an important legal fight to help protect and defend our servicemen from the likes of another Bill Clinton or Kofi Annan.

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