"The United States is a global superpower and its military trains for war in every domain. During my years as a military educator, I saw American officers wrestle with any number of scenarios designed to challenge their thinking and force them to adapt to surprises. One case we never considered, however, was how to betray and attack our own allies."
"The U.S. military is obligated by law, and by every tradition of American decency, to refuse to follow illegal orders. But what about orders that may not be illegal but are clearly immoral and illogical? The president, for example, can order the Pentagon to plan for an invasion of Greenland; such an order would be little more than a direction to organize one more war game."
The United States maintains global military readiness across all domains and trains officers with challenging scenarios to foster adaptability. Military planners rarely considered betraying or attacking allied countries. A recent presidential message threatened Norway and suggested abandoning obligations to peace, raising the prospect of planning a war against NATO. The political system appears reluctant to constrain such presidential behavior. The military is legally and morally bound to refuse illegal orders, yet orders that are immoral or illogical pose dilemmas. A president can direct war-game planning for an invasion of places like Greenland, which could be treated procedurally as exercises rather than lawful operations.
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]