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> "Let me give you a punchline: If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act," Mr. Hayden told Mr. Maher. "You are
by alexandrerond 11y ago
> "Let me give you a punchline: If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act," Mr. Hayden told Mr. Maher. "You are required not to follow an unlawful order. That would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict."
Of course. This is totally how the world works, and, in particular, how the American armed forces act.
- mtgx 11y agoWell, it helps when the next president says "it's okay, we should just move on", instead of prosecuting those committing those crimes. Keeping government officials accountable for crimes is what will stop them from doing it in the future, not a sense of "duty", or even more laughable "international treaties" - as if that's going to stop a CIA agent from following a direct order from above. No. Make it clear that they will be prosecuted for war crimes, and then actually do it after it happens. That's what will put an end to this. The same should go for abuses of surveillance powers.
- knodi123 11y agoYeah, you absolutely never order someone to do something illegal. Instead, you simply give your people some disavowable waterboarding equipment, and a bunch of evil prisoners, and then demand results, while making sure there is no oversight. Alternatively you ship them to a country that is more than happy to openly and gleefully torture. But you never simply order your troops to torture. That would be politically stupid.