More leaders should note soldiers’ duty
The Daily Herald reports that Mr. Trump has decided that six members of Congress who correctly pointed out that military members must refuse to carry out illegal orders are “seditious” and eligible to be executed and shared a message saying that George Washington would hang them. This is nonsense and, yes, dangerous nonsense and is insulting to all the men and women in uniform — back to and specifically including George Washington (who fought to uphold the laws, even in a real war).
According to Karoline Leavitt, the position of the White House seems to be that if the president orders it, that makes it legal. Nixon tried that argument; he was wrong, obviously and dangerously wrong.
It is especially remarkable that the president took this position on the 80th anniversary of the start of the Nuremberg war crimes trials. How can any American leader have failed to learn the message that “just following (the Führer’s) orders” did not make crimes by military members legal? And to further make it clear, three days earlier was the 55th anniversary of the start of the trial of LT William Calley, for multiple murders at My Lai, Vietnam. When I was an Air Force judge advocate, teaching the airmen the principles of international law, they had no trouble understanding that “just following orders” is no excuse; but today’s White House does not seem to have gotten the message. Judging from statements by Mr. Trump and his cronies, LT Calley was a true hero and Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson Jr., who took action to stop the slaughter of civilians, should have been executed, rather than — as he justly was — awarded the Soldier’s Medal for courage and adherence to duty.
The Administration is carrying out a campaign of extrajudicial killing of suspected criminals, under the transparently unsupportable notion that we are “at war” with “narcoterrorists.” This is a made-up concept. If this is war, when did Congress declare it? And what principle of “war” justifies missile attacks on those who may be noncombatants and at worst pose no military threat? The commanders executing this mission have as much reason to question the legality of their orders as Calley did. If they have not learned the principles that he violated, it’s a shame that only six members of Congress have directly pointed it out.
Steven Gruenwald
Schaumburg