randomname
Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2008
- Messages
- 2,712
By Damian Paletta
WASHINGTON—Leading GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he wouldn’t order the U.S. military to break international laws, addressing criticism from military and legal experts that his policies regarding torture and killing the family members of terrorists would violate the Geneva Convention.
Mr. Trump, in a statement to The Wall Street Journal, said he would “use every legal power that I have to stop these terrorist enemies. I do, however, understand that the United States is bound by laws and treaties and I will not order our military or other officials to violate those laws and will seek their advice on such matters. I will not order a military officer to disobey the law. It is clear that as president I will be bound by laws just like all Americans and I will meet those responsibilities.”
This appears to be a reversal from Thursday night’s GOP debate in Detroit, when Mr. Trump stood by earlier proposals to do things that were a “hell of a lot worse” than waterboarding terrorist suspects and also authorize the military to kill family members of terrorists.
“I’ve always been a leader,” he said Thursday night. “I’ve never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they’re going to do it. That’s what leadership is all about.”
Former Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden, said last week that the military would flatly refuse to obey orders to commit torture or kill family members of terrorists, which would break international laws.
Michael Schmitt, director of the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College, said in an interview that ordering the military to torture terror suspects would violate Article 17 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, and people who participate in torture—as well as their superiors and even the U.S. government—could face war crime charges for such behavior.
Ordering the military to kill the family members of terrorists is a legal term known as “collective punishment,” which is prohibited under in the laws of war.
“You may punish an individual for his or her violations of the laws of war, but you may not in any way harm others,” Mr. Schmitt said. He said it has been “universally agreed that it is unlawful.”
“We are bound by treaties and then we are bound by the customs of war, they have legal significance,” Mr. Schmitt said. “You can be prosecuted for violations of the customary laws of war.”
Mr. Trump’s new position comes after months of insisting that he wouldn’t back down.
On Dec. 2, Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox News that killing the family members of terrorists was a necessary deterrent.
“The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families,” Mr. Trump said. “They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.”
WASHINGTON—Leading GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he wouldn’t order the U.S. military to break international laws, addressing criticism from military and legal experts that his policies regarding torture and killing the family members of terrorists would violate the Geneva Convention.
Mr. Trump, in a statement to The Wall Street Journal, said he would “use every legal power that I have to stop these terrorist enemies. I do, however, understand that the United States is bound by laws and treaties and I will not order our military or other officials to violate those laws and will seek their advice on such matters. I will not order a military officer to disobey the law. It is clear that as president I will be bound by laws just like all Americans and I will meet those responsibilities.”
This appears to be a reversal from Thursday night’s GOP debate in Detroit, when Mr. Trump stood by earlier proposals to do things that were a “hell of a lot worse” than waterboarding terrorist suspects and also authorize the military to kill family members of terrorists.
“I’ve always been a leader,” he said Thursday night. “I’ve never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they’re going to do it. That’s what leadership is all about.”
Former Central Intelligence Agency Director Michael Hayden, said last week that the military would flatly refuse to obey orders to commit torture or kill family members of terrorists, which would break international laws.
Michael Schmitt, director of the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College, said in an interview that ordering the military to torture terror suspects would violate Article 17 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, and people who participate in torture—as well as their superiors and even the U.S. government—could face war crime charges for such behavior.
Ordering the military to kill the family members of terrorists is a legal term known as “collective punishment,” which is prohibited under in the laws of war.
“You may punish an individual for his or her violations of the laws of war, but you may not in any way harm others,” Mr. Schmitt said. He said it has been “universally agreed that it is unlawful.”
“We are bound by treaties and then we are bound by the customs of war, they have legal significance,” Mr. Schmitt said. “You can be prosecuted for violations of the customary laws of war.”
Mr. Trump’s new position comes after months of insisting that he wouldn’t back down.
On Dec. 2, Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox News that killing the family members of terrorists was a necessary deterrent.
“The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families,” Mr. Trump said. “They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.”
