Dear jeraboo-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. Well,
first of all treason is not strictly defined as ?giving aid and
comfort to the enemy?. There are a number of definitions for the act
of treason and what constitutes the offense, the conspiracy to commit
it and the commission thereof. For example:
Article III of the US Constitutions says:
?Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War
against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and
Comfort.?
FINDLAW
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/article03/
The United States Code says:
TITLE 18 PART I CHAPTER 115
§ 2381. Treason
?Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against
them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within
the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer
death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under
this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of
holding any office under the United States.?
CORNELL LAW SCHOOL
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002381----000-.html
Clearly, aid and comfort are not the only prerequisite here, rather
?warring against the US or ?adhering? to its enemies are also
considered prima facie evidence of the offense. Does this mean that
one cannot ?adhere? to the tenets of some government, party or
organization that is in opposition to the US as a matter of
Constitutional free speech and free thought? I suppose that would be
determined by how badly the US government wished to build a criminal
case against you. Admittedly the wording is rather ambiguous and
broadly defined but since was the basis upon which some of the
McCarthy era persecutions were founded it can obviously (at least
historically) be construed that way and in that manner (whether the
end result is successful or not).
In addition to this are the other legal minutiae relative to treason:
There is § 2382 ?Misprision of treason?, which dictates that any
person who has knowledge of treason is thereby guilty of treason
himself.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002382----000-.html
There is § 2383 ?Rebellion or insurrection? that dictates that any
person who ?incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any
rebellion or insurrection? is guilty of treason.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002383----000-.html
There are also many other variations of acts constituting treason
under the US Code. Here are some just to name a few:
§ 2384. Seditious conspiracy
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002384----000-.html
§ 2385. Advocating overthrow of Government
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002385----000-.html
§ 2386. Registration of certain organizations
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002386----000-.html
§ 2387. Activities affecting armed forces generally
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002387----000-.html
§ 2388. Activities affecting armed forces during war
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002388----000-.html
§ 2389. Recruiting for service against United States
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002389----000-.html
§ 2390. Enlistment to serve against United States
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00002390----000-.html
Ok, so we?ve pretty well defined who, under the law, is considered
guilty of treason. How does the US go about tagging a specific entity
an ?enemy?? Well, that?s an issue that is older than the United States
itself. From the very beginning the governing bodies of the Colonies
held certain entities to be enemies by virtue of their outright
aggression al the way down to the simplistic nature of conflicting
ideologies. Aggressive acts (overt or otherwise) universally represent
themselves as adversarial, but differing ideologies were (and to some
extent still are) viewed as antagonistic. Since ideologies often
evolve it is not unheard of for entities once considered sympathetic
to the US to become formal enemies at some point when their counter
ideals cross the threshold of what is accepted to be merely
oppositional and antagonistic to become downright revolutionary,
seditious, or terrorist.
There are many nations, governments, organizations and entities that
are not held out to be ?friendly? but this does not necessarily and
automatically make them enemies of the state. As we?ve seen in recent
litigation the government has had difficulty defining ?enemy
combatant?, much less the more broadly defined enemy nation. Suffice
it to say that an ?enemy? is typically the force (operative word here)
be it government, party, organization, etc. that is, by it?s
aggressive nature, actively and forcibly opposing forces of the US
government, such as in times of war. A more modern definition however
seems to dictates that an ?enemy? is whomever the government chooses
an ?enemy? to be according to the needs of the definition at any given
moment.
The answer to the question you pose actually runs much deeper than a
reader might initially expect. I, for one, believe it is a very
pertinent and thought-provoking inquiry that deserves much study by
political geniuses, philosophers, sociologists and others who wear
taller hats than me. It is a veritable hornet?s nest of what is
certain to be hot and deeply dividing debate. If they can, in their
infinite wisdom, figure out once and for all ?how? and ?why? enemies
come to be so defined, perhaps mankind will learn to stop finding new
enemies.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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[ PS: Who is this person? I like him/her! Bring it on jeraboo! ] |
