3 ms·

Hegseth is not in charge of the Iranian military.

by rbanffy 7mo ago

lokar 7mo ago
But he did publicly declare his intention to commit war crimes.
- two_handfuls 7mo ago
  In case anyone else doubted this, I will save you the time to look it up. Yup, it's sadly true. https://www.commondreams.org/news/hegseth-no-quarter-international-law https://www.commondreams.org/news/hegseth-no-quarter-interna...
  - lokar 7mo ago
    Yep. And war crime seems to have lost all meaning in the US. But, even if you dismiss the idea of international standards, this is clearly very bad for US soldiers (and sailors, airmen, etc). I wonder if they see that.
    - jMyles 7mo ago
      > But, even if you dismiss the idea of international standards, this is clearly very bad for US soldiers (and sailors, airmen, etc). I wonder if they see that. Even if you dismiss the idea of international standards, a no-quarter declaration is against _US law_, specifically subject to the penalty of death with no other lawful penalty defined: https://www.govregs.com/uscode/title18_partI_chapter118_section2441 https://www.govregs.com/uscode/title18_partI_chapter118_sect....
- asdff 7mo ago
  We've already committed several war crimes.
- estearum 7mo ago
  Actually even just declaring no quarter is itself a war crime.
  - KaiserPro 7mo ago
    Hes also liable for the death sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 2441 — War Crimes Act (1996) & 10 U.S.C. § 950t — Military Commissions Act (more relevent)
    - lokar 7mo ago
      They won't face any US law. AIUI, they have been getting letters from the DOJ office of legal counsel that say it's legal. This effectively immunizes them (the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime). The best shot would be to turn them over to the ICC
      - KaiserPro 7mo ago
        Alas, the USA isn't signed up to the ICC.
        lokar 7mo ago
        Sure, but, if somehow they fell into ICC custody overseas...
        rbanffy 7mo ago
        Now wouldn’t that be sweet?
        forgotTheLast 7mo ago
        Luckily Congress passed a law with bipartisan support to protect US service members from ICC custody (commonly referred to as The Hague Invasion Act).
        7mo ago
estearum 7mo ago
Right but the reason we have rules against people declaring no quarter is to prevent a race to the bottom. It is absolutely reasonable to respond to a no quarter declaration in kind, which is... again... the entire reason we have prohibitions on it.

Hegseth is not in charge of the Iranian military.

by rbanffy 7mo ago

Hegseth is not in charge of the Iranian military.

lokar 7mo ago

But he did publicly declare his intention to commit war crimes.

two_handfuls 7mo ago
In case anyone else doubted this, I will save you the time to look it up. Yup, it's sadly true. https://www.commondreams.org/news/hegseth-no-quarter-international-law https://www.commondreams.org/news/hegseth-no-quarter-interna...
- lokar 7mo ago
  Yep. And war crime seems to have lost all meaning in the US. But, even if you dismiss the idea of international standards, this is clearly very bad for US soldiers (and sailors, airmen, etc). I wonder if they see that.
  - jMyles 7mo ago
    > But, even if you dismiss the idea of international standards, this is clearly very bad for US soldiers (and sailors, airmen, etc). I wonder if they see that. Even if you dismiss the idea of international standards, a no-quarter declaration is against _US law_, specifically subject to the penalty of death with no other lawful penalty defined: https://www.govregs.com/uscode/title18_partI_chapter118_section2441 https://www.govregs.com/uscode/title18_partI_chapter118_sect....
asdff 7mo ago
We've already committed several war crimes.
estearum 7mo ago
Actually even just declaring no quarter is itself a war crime.
- KaiserPro 7mo ago
  Hes also liable for the death sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 2441 — War Crimes Act (1996) & 10 U.S.C. § 950t — Military Commissions Act (more relevent)
  - lokar 7mo ago
    They won't face any US law. AIUI, they have been getting letters from the DOJ office of legal counsel that say it's legal. This effectively immunizes them (the DOJ can't turn around and charge you with a crime, if they advised you beforehand it was not a crime). The best shot would be to turn them over to the ICC
    - KaiserPro 7mo ago
      Alas, the USA isn't signed up to the ICC.
      - lokar 7mo ago
        Sure, but, if somehow they fell into ICC custody overseas...
        rbanffy 7mo ago
        Now wouldn’t that be sweet?
        forgotTheLast 7mo ago
        Luckily Congress passed a law with bipartisan support to protect US service members from ICC custody (commonly referred to as The Hague Invasion Act).
        7mo ago

estearum 7mo ago

Right but the reason we have rules against people declaring no quarter is to prevent a race to the bottom. It is absolutely reasonable to respond to a no quarter declaration in kind, which is... again... the entire reason we have prohibitions on it.