Michael O’Hanlon
Lost in the controversy last year between the six Democratic members of Congress and President Donald Trump over whether American troops should obey the president unconditionally is a key question: what exactly constitutes an illegal military order, and how can we expect uniformed military personnel to distinguish between legal and illegal orders?
For context, it may be helpful to begin with a story from President Trump’s first term. During the summer and fall of 2017, US-North Korea relations deteriorated badly after a series of North Korean missile and nuclear tests. At one point, Trump and the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un, exchanged nuclear threats, with Trump famously pointing out that his nuclear button was the larger of the two. The United States sent additional munitions and other supplies to the Korean peninsula and sent three aircraft carriers to the region.
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