Soldier Challenges Deployment, Citing Obama's Birth

Here's a story tailor-made to burn up the Internet: A soldier is objecting to his deployment to Iraq because he believes President Obama wasn't born in the United States.

Conspiracy theories about where Mr. Obama was born abound in some quarters despite the fact that the Obama campaign posted the then-candidate's Hawaiian birth certificate online last year. Skeptics call the certificate a forgery, though their claims have been repeatedly debunked.

Among the doubters is conservative politician Alan Keyes, who has taken the question of the president's birth to court. Keyes believes Mr. Obama is not a "natural born citizen" and is thus ineligible for the presidency under the Constitution.

Now comes word that U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, a reservist who lives in Florida, is challenging his deployment based on that argument. Reports the Ledger-Enquirer out of Columbus, Georgia: "Cook’s lawyer, Orly Taitz, who has also challenged the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency in other courts, filed a request last week in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and status as a conscientious objector for his client."

Cook is arguing that because Mr. Obama isn't really the president (and thus isn't the commander in chief), the soldier "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."

A hearing on Cook's request is set for Thursday morning.