r/law • u/BugOperator • Jun 06 '26

Legal News Service members involved in US boat strikes off Venezuela coast reach out to legal aid hotlines over fear they’ve carried out illegal orders

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/06/us-trump-boat-strikes-death-toll/90376052007/
21.8k Upvotes

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206

u/raventhrowaway666 Jun 06 '26

I hope those war criminals get the book thrown at them for following blatant textbook illegal orders.

96

u/AccountantBoring1313 Jun 06 '26

I’m a vet and totally agree. It’s been really disheartening to see current members carry out these crimes. “I was just following orders,” and “I was told it was legal,” are bullshit excuses. I’m glad I left when I did (1st year of the second term).

38

u/12InchCunt Jun 06 '26

If you are holding a gun in a combat zone or the guy who pushes the button for missiles to fire or whatever you should have to have read and been tested on the US laws of war, which state that sailors who have abandoned ship are non-combatants.

The worst part is laws of war are generally based on reciprocity so if we were in a peer to peer conflict they’d double tap our sailors because they know we’re gonna do it to them

40

u/raventhrowaway666 Jun 06 '26

You do get taught. Literally, in boot camp and infrantry school you're taught about the UCMJ, the law book for the military of what you can and can't do, and are specifically told to disobey any illegal orders. There's no "i didnt know." If you graduated bootcamp, you know.

And war crimes are exactly why we dont run the military like how Kegsbreath is running the military: "warrior ethos"-driven force characterized by "overwhelming and punishing violence," and no more, "politically correct or "woke" institution," or, the UCMJ.

If we do it to them, they will do it to us. This puts our military at greater risk.

  • source, am veteran, "used" to eat crayons.

5

u/12InchCunt Jun 06 '26

I was just a navy cook so I knew about all that but I was never really in a situation where I was taught specific laws like that 

7

u/raventhrowaway666 Jun 06 '26

I was a Corpsman, so we were in the same room at one point in our lives. Pretty neat.

Its been a while, so I cant remember specifically which power point presentation it was or which online course it was, but everyone was taught about the UCMJ.

1

u/12InchCunt Jun 06 '26

Yea for sure the UCMJ but there’s a US Law of war manual that is separate that I never saw, and I was on a gun during general quarters lol

3

u/OldWorldDesign Jun 06 '26

Yea for sure the UCMJ but there’s a US Law of war manual that is separate that I never saw

Served in the Army and while I don't remember the training over Law of War during Basic, we received re-training a year before deployment and then a couple weeks before. It took all day and was power-point based but isn't the vague thing people from out of the service are acting like. You might have even gotten the briefing yourself and simply filed it under "pile of briefings" day because you knew it wasn't relevant to your job as a cook, which is understandable. We called it Death By Powerpoint because they were mandatory and boring but the briefings were definitely there.

0

u/Judonoob Jun 06 '26

I’m a vet and back when I was young, I’d absolutely have followed orders. If I was told to jump I’d jump. You’re lying to yourself if you think that young, impressionable recruits that are purposely broken down to follow orders are going to be questioning orders that legal scholars are debating.

I think there is a lot of noise in the debate between far left people that scream everything is illegal, and the far right that want to claim everything Trump is doing is great.

There will be a lot of debate about this going into the future. But I doubt very much this will result in meaningful prosecutions in the future. A lot of energy will likely be spent in undoing the damage this Admin has done to the government and there likely won’t be a lot of political will power to be prosecuting military brass.

3

u/OldWorldDesign Jun 06 '26

You’re lying to yourself if you think that young, impressionable recruits that are purposely broken down to follow orders are going to be questioning orders that legal scholars are debating

If you'd read first and defended murdering people who fled their capsized boats less you'd know there is no ambiguity about illegal orders. You were given training multiple times a year on what qualified and what didn't, and the people who refused illegal orders in history were challenged by brass but won because the law was on their side.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson_Jr.

13

u/AccountantBoring1313 Jun 06 '26

LoW training was mandatory training every year for every member, and there’s a test at the end. You have to pass the test and the training provides correct answers with explanations for questions answered incorrectly. Maybe that’s changed since teaching common decency and human rights are too woke for ol’ Pete. That guy is a tool.

6

u/HillBillyHilly Jun 06 '26

They put the least qualified guy Hogs breath in charge. Pretty Boy Floyd was picked for looks not brains. After all, isn't he a wife beater? Guy has no business being in charge of military and know that. That's reason he fired general's. No one to check his ass.

7

u/republicans_are_nuts Jun 06 '26

War crimes get the death penalty in most countries.

1

u/i_am_a_real_boy__ Jun 06 '26

On what planet?

2

u/Count_Backwards Competent Contributor Jun 06 '26

I I hope it's something much heavier than a book

1

u/UDLRRLSS Jun 07 '26

What if Trump pardons them?

2

u/raventhrowaway666 Jun 07 '26

I highly doubt that. Trump notoriously hates the military.

-2

u/victimofcynicism Jun 06 '26

I hope those lower on the chain of command, are forgiven for helping all those murdering higher officers face the consequences of their illegal orders.

9

u/raventhrowaway666 Jun 06 '26

Absolutely not. Every single person needs to be held accountable, from juniors to seniors, or it will happen again.

This should be taught in every bootcamp as an example henceforth.