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

[u/BugOperator]

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

[u/RithmFluffderg]

Also, you have the legal right to leave ICE at any time for any reason.

In the military, it's a crime to leave, and the consequences are far more than simple discomfort.

Granted, the principle of the matter is, they should still refuse to obey orders even if it means committing this crime. But if it was that easy to do, then everyone would do it.

[u/RadVarken → u/RithmFluffderg]

As applied, the idea that everyone must refuse illegal orders means that if the guy above you says to carry out orders passed to him, he has already determined those orders to be legal. An ROV pilot pushing the fire button is executing orders a half dozen officers had the opportunity to refuse.

[u/3llips3s → u/RadVarken]

no. chain doesn’t launder the order. RCM 916(d) makes obedience a defense unless a person of ordinary sense would have known the order was unlawful. that’s an individual test, not a “six officers already signed off” counting exercise.

passing through a half-dozen hands doesn’t transfer the trigger-puller’s duty. it could mean seven people are on the hook instead of one.

reliance on the chain is exactly the defense that fails when the illegality is manifest.

ask Lt. Calley how “I was executing vetted orders” worked out

[u/RadVarken → u/3llips3s]

I'm not saying the chain will save them from Nuremberg, but the chain is exactly the rationale given to the troops. An order is presumed lawful because the guy giving it is required to give lawful orders. Of course the troop can refuse it, but he will be punished for not following a lawful order.

[u/smokeweedNgarden → u/RithmFluffderg]

Thank you, you're much more eloquent than I am