Fire in the Whole

“The United States, once the leader of a global system of security and economic cooperation, is now acting like a rogue state on the high seas.” That’s how Tom Nichols describes the recent use of military force to destroy small boats off the Venezuelan coast. Since Nichols is a professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, we should probably listen. “I taught the rules and theories that govern the use of force to military officers at the Naval War College for many years, and every summer for two decades to civilians at Harvard; I always reminded students that international law and traditions require states to show that they are acting in some form of self-defense, either in response to an attack or to forestall more violence. Moreover, American law does not permit the president to designate people as terrorists and then declare open season on them in defiance of international agreements and without any involvement from Congress. Perhaps Trump’s people are watching too many Tom Clancy movies, but he cannot legally send the Navy out onto the world’s oceans as though they are seagoing sheriffs with satchels full of death warrants. No one in the White House seems to care very much about the rules that govern killing people, at home or abroad, but these rules actually exist.” Trump and Vance have made jokes about not going fishing in the area. The impoverished fishing communities in the region aren’t in the mood to laugh. But this story could expand far beyond Venezuelan waters. “A more worrisome problem here is that Trump’s illegal orders to kill drug smugglers could acclimate the American public to the sinister idea that the military is the president’s personal muscle and that it must do whatever he says. Earlier this week, he declared ‘antifa’—a loose affiliation of people who identify themselves as ‘anti-fascists’—to be a ‘major terrorist organization.’ But because ‘antifa’ isn’t a single group with a headquarters and identified leaders, Trump could apply the label to anyone he thinks opposes him. The president has now claimed he can kill terrorists at will, and he has designated many of his American opponents as terrorists.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): A Rogue Nation on the High Seas.

+ But wait. Aren’t there judge advocate generals, or JAGs, who are supposed to “advise commanders on the rule of law, including whether presidential orders are legal.” Yes, of course. But Pete Hegseth doesn’t like them. He has referred to them as jagoffs and his “campaign against the military’s traditional legal structure has been one of the most-significant but least-reported aspects of his tenure as defense secretary.” Hegseth blew up the legal military guardrails before he blew up the Venezuelan boats (and whatever else is on the administration’s target list). David Ignatius in WaPo (Gift Article): The chilling reason the military is silent now. “Military officers, current and retired, don’t like to speak out publicly about divisive issues, especially in a polarized time like this. But in nearly four decades of reporting and writing, I have never seen commanders so concerned about issues that could tarnish the U.S. military’s independence and standing. They swear an oath to the Constitution, not a president, and they don’t want to break it.”