Our nation’s rules of military engagement are unraveling, and the consequences for our service members and our moral standing could not be more serious. As a retired Army officer, Vietnam veteran and lifelong Republican, I feel duty-bound to voice my alarm at this administration’s reckless and increasingly lawless approach to the use of military force.
From including a civilian reporter in a classified group chat to authorizing unprovoked military actions in the Caribbean, this administration’s behavior would be unacceptable at any time and should be especially intolerable to those who have served. With four years on active duty and two decades in the reserves, I can state plainly that these decisions betray poor judgment, disregard for law and a dangerous erosion of discipline.
A recent strike illustrates this failure. A missile costing thousands of dollars was launched at what amounted to a motorized canoe, leaving two survivors struggling in the water. Instead of apprehending them with the Coast Guard or a Navy helicopter — as protocol requires — a second missile was fired, killing them both. That action demonstrated not courage but cowardice: an obsession with overwhelming lethality instead of measured, lawful force.
In over 80 reported deaths, no evidence has been presented that those targeted posed imminent threats. These are killings without due process or proof — an “open-fire” policy more fitting for a dictatorship than for a constitutional republic. Treating life and death decisions with such immaturity is indefensible.
During my service in Vietnam, my platoon wielded immense firepower — mortars, machine guns and small arms — and we saw heavy combat. Yet even then, discipline prevailed. When the enemy stopped shooting, we stopped. We gave medical care to the wounded and turned prisoners over to local authorities. That was the standard of an honorable, professional force. Body counts never equaled victory, and killing those who can no longer fight was inconceivable.
Compare that to today’s images of defenseless survivors obliterated by a modern warship. Calling it “poor judgment” is too generous — it’s a moral collapse.
Officials now justify these attacks by claiming the victims were “narcoterrorists.” Yet no evidence — no photographs, no documentation — has been shared to support that claim, despite more than 20 strikes launched by a fleet that includes our largest aircraft carrier. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Instead, we have none.
Every U.S. officer swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution — an oath to obey lawful orders. The six officers who reminded their peers to uphold this duty deserve praise for their integrity, not condemnation. When a commander in chief suggests that general officers who remind us to refuse unlawful commands should be executed, he shows contempt for the very principles that define our military.
After World War II, the Nuremberg Trials established that “just following orders” is not a defense against immoral acts. Nuremberg Principle IV affirmed that each of us has a responsibility to reject unlawful commands. That moral truth has not expired.
By violating these principles, our leaders are endangering every American service member. When we abandon restraint and morality, our enemies will surely follow — putting captured and wounded Americans to death as we now do to others.
Honor itself is at stake. The ideals that once set the U.S. military apart — discipline, humanity, adherence to law — are being replaced by expedient violence and political theater. This moral decay recalls the 1930s, when unchecked aggression led humanity into a catastrophic world war.
Unchecked, unaccountable military action threatens not only global stability but also the soul of our armed forces. Congress must reassert its constitutional duty to oversee acts of war. Military commanders must find the courage to resist unlawful orders. And citizens must demand a return to lawful engagement and accountability.
Our strength has always rested not merely on our weapons but on the integrity of those who wield them. To lose that integrity — to replace honor with impunity — is to forfeit what makes America truly great.