LEGAL BATTLE

Army Captain Sues Obama Over ISIS War

Claims the war is illegal.

A U.S. Army captain who claims that the war against ISIS is illegal is suing President Obama. Nathan Smith, 28, who has been deployed to Kuwait since last fall, works as a military-intelligence officer in a task force responsible for overseeing the fight against the extremist group. Smith has asked for “a declaration that President Obama’s war against ISIS is illegal because Congress has not authorized it,” documents show. Smith reportedly filed the suit “out of conscience because fighting an illegal war forces him to violate his oath to ‘preserve, protect, and defend’ the Constitution.” Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said that officials have all required legal authority to engage in the fight against the self-declared Islamic State.