Soldier who served in Afghanistan responds to firing on people who throw rocks:

[Mrs. Overall]

Link to tweet

Joe Kassabian
‏@jkass99

We had rocks thrown at us all the time in Afghanistan. Responding with lethal force is a fucking war crime.

[lark]

1. Well, now we can add a new title to Agent Orange Chaos.

Now he's war criminal, traitor, fraud, liar, grifter, profiteer, racist hater & biggest threat to our way of life ever.

[niyad]

26. you forgot sexual predator in chief.

[bitterross]

2. Of Course, Cadet Bone Spurs wouldn't know that.

He never served anything but himself.

Dump also said that on purpose to give his cult members who are in the service cover to do it.

[keithbvadu2]

37. Hey! Hey! Cadet Bone Spurs knows more than the generals.

Hey! Hey! Cadet Bone Spurs knows more than the generals.

Just ask him.

[George II]

7. Firing on unarmed civilians (rocks are not rifles) is a war crime, soldiers can ignore illegal comma

commands.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. It's the Israel way, esp with fascist Netanyahu. . . . nt

[GoCubsGo]

16. Yep. They've been doing that for years.

No doubt this is where Mushroom Dick got the idea.

[lunatica]

25. My first thought too so I'm sure his pal Netanyahu has been suggestive

Or his son in law, and just for giggles his pal the Saudi Prince. Of course Putin is probably getting hard about now too.

Typical Strong Man tactics.

[True Blue American]

53. You just expressed my thoughts

Netanyahu is as big of a threat to Israel as Trump is to the US, a war criminal.

[qazplm135]

13. Soldiers have a duty to not follow an unlawful order

and that's about as clearly unlawful as it gets.

[Aristus]

21. I don't know if they do this anymore, but when I went though Basic Training in 1986,

we had an entire afternoon of classes about what constitutes lawful and unlawful orders. And we trainees were told, in no uncertain terms, that if we were given an unlawful order, we were legally, ethically, and morally-bound to disobey that order.

Ordering troops to fire on un-armed civilians is definitely unlawful.

[green917]

31. LOAC

It's called the Law Of Armed Conflict and it's still briefed to any troop deploying to a hot zone.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

50. Straight out of the UCMJ

That's the Uniformed Code of Military Justice for all you civilians.

SEMPER FORTIS !!

[niyad]

27. welcome to du.

[peekaloo]

4. A rock is like a gun as a mushroom is to a ...........

[robbob]

36. pResident?

Wait; that doesn’t work with the current resident, as he is know to have certain fungal qualities...

[BSdetect]

5. What a cowardly creep he is. Unbelievably stoopid.

[leanforward]

6. What he said goes for me

[ginnyinWI]

9. just the Trump of the Day.

He just has to have a headline every single day. Midterms or not, he's addicted to the rush he gets. It doesn't matter what, just so the media covers it.

I look forward to the day when this doesn't happen, when he's out of office.

[DownriverDem]

10. I wouldn't do it

There is a law that says a soldier can ignore an illegal order. I abhor trump so much, that if I were in the military when he got elected, I would be looking to get out.

[denvine]

11. Then again, how would the orange menace know it's a war crime?

He didn't serve and he doesn't read or listen to his advisors. He only regurgitates poisonous crap he gets from FOX or some other right wing conspiracy shit hole.

[LS_Editor]

12. Yes it is. And the U.S. military has more sense than American police when it comes to use of force.

Much more sense.

[Marcuse]

14. Unsurprising.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who paid minimal attention to the election campaign of 2016 that Donald Trump has a passionate desire to bring back torture. In fact, he campaigned on a platform of committing war crimes of various kinds, occasionally even musing about whether the United States could use nukes against ISIS. He promised to return waterboarding to its rightful place among 21st-century US practices and, as he so eloquently put it, “a hell of a lot worse.” [link:https://www.thenation.com/article/donald-trump-has-a-passionate-desire-to-bring-back-torture/|

[maxsolomon]

15. Well, the IDF does it all day long

and if you criticize that, you're a Leftist anti-Semite.

Both sides, everybody. Both sides.

[GulfCoast66]

34. Unless Trump plans on bringing the IDF to the boarder,

How is your comment, while true, in anyway relevant to our border?

[maxsolomon]

35. Trump is advocating applying Netanyahu's policy to our border

Rock-throwing by migrant caravan = summary execution. Our military would be asked to carry out a similar policy, and that's the topic of the OP.

Also, I listened to Noam Chomsky on Amy Goodman this morning and I'm pissed off.

[.99center]

17. Response from VoteVets.org

Link to tweet

We want to be clear: Use of lethal force against rock throwers is murder - period. Rules of Engagement call for commensurate force.

This would be an unlawful order and should/would be disobeyed.

The Commander in Chief is frighteningly clueless.

[Hotler]

33. "The Commander in Chief is frighteningly clueless"

That would be a great yard sign.

[Hortensis]

18. Expressed wonderfully succinctly and uncompromisingly.

Thank you for speaking up, Joe!

His war memoir, The Hooligans of Kandahar, Not All War Stories are Heroic, is getting very good reviews on Amazon and is a best seller in the Afghan War history category.

https://www.amazon.com/Hooligans-Kandahar-Not-Stories-Heroic-ebook/dp/B07D26JRXJ

[The Mouth]

20. Thanks.

Just bought it due to this thread.

[Grammy23]

19. He is responding here like the true bully he is. A coward at heart,

He is more than willing for YOU and HIM to fight. That’s just how he thinks. Remember how he encouraged his rally attendees to “punch him in the face, get him outta here, I’ll pay your legal fees if you get in trouble.” Notice he never offered to join the fray. Might mess up his mop on top.

That SOB is a nasty coward. He is more than willing to start the fight with his words and then stand back, safely at a distance, and watch others duke it out. He has ZERO Understanding of rules and laws regarding military response. And he does not care about that. He figures he will get away with anything because often he does. I just hope that soon enough Mueller will lower the boom on him and wipe that smug smile off his ugly mug.

[erronis]

42. I remember the stories about "fragging" commanders.

I would never recommend violence against the issuer of illegal commands.

[TNNurse]

22. Where are the current military leaders who should be speaking out about this????

They need to be stating the limits and regulations that apply.

[watoos]

24. I mean really,

Their silence is scarier than anything cadet bone spurs says.

[TomSlick]

48. Military leaders will not "explain" things to the CinC in public.

They may not explain to the CinC at all. However, they will issue appropriate "Rules of Engagement" and make sure soldiers understand them.

[The Liberal Lion]

23. Thank you

It's obvious that even the suggestion is conspiracy to commit a crime, and if someone actually does shoot at a migrant that would indeed be a crime against humanity. Either way it's already sick and perverse and completely UNAMERICAN!
Regime change is an imperative. The traitor in the White House must be removed.

[democratisphere]

28. Add crimes against humanity to drumpf's list of a achievements.

This is what happens when you elect a psycopath to do the job!

[lunatica]

29. This entire "caravan" rhetoric from Trump is really scaring me

What’s worse than locking children in cages? You got it! Shooting them.

[NoMoreRepugs]

30. I had to take over my father in laws farm when he died

in central Missouri in 2016. He was a staunch Republican. The mail that came from nutty Reich Wing organizations talked about Obama's plans to relocate 100's of thousands of illegal immigrants in central Missouri unless
"Patriots" donated $$$ to these organizations to help Repugs stop it. Point being, the Goobers n Gomers in the hinterlands are motivated by fear of the black n brown man....PERIOD.

The Orange Menace knows how to pull their coverall strings.

[keithbvadu2]

38. Yet staunch republicans will hire an illegal rather than pay an American.

Yet staunch republicans will hire an illegal rather than pay an American.

It was a republican illegal who killed Mollie Tibbets in Iowa.

[RHMerriman]

32. It's simple - a soldier can be Hugh Thompson; or they can be Rusty Calley

It's simple - a soldier can be Hugh Thompson; or they can be Rusty Calley:

[link:http://www.stripes.com/larry-colburn-the-last-hero-of-my-lai-1.445593|]

“Warrant Officer Thompson landed his helicopter in the line of fire between fleeing Vietnamese civilians and pursuing American ground troops to prevent their murder. He then personally confronted the leader of the American ground troops and was prepared to open fire on those American troops should they fire upon the civilians. Warrant Officer Thompson, at the risk of his own personal safety, went forward of the American lines and coaxed the Vietnamese civilians out of the bunker to enable their evacuation. … Warrant Officer Thompson’s relayed radio reports of the massacre and subsequent report to his section leader and commander resulted in an order for the ceasefire at My Lai and an end to the killing of innocent civilians. Warrant Officer Thompson’s Heroism exemplifies the highest standards of personal courage and ethical conduct, reflecting distinct credit on him, and the United States Army.”

- from WO Hugh Thompson's Soldier's Medal citation; the Soldier's Medal is the highest US Army award for valor, at the risk of life, not in action against the enemy.

[link:http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.445596.1482352117!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_900/image.jpg|]

[erronis]

43. Thank you for the link to that Stars and Stripes story. Powerful and scary how the military can

and will cover up.

[TomSlick]

49. Recall that LT Calley was convicted of murder by a court-martial.

LT Calley is used as an object lesson in Law of War classes.

[RHMerriman]

52. Very true...

and the historical actions of Thompson, Glenn Andreotta, and Lawrence Colburn are presented as exemplars.

Follow me!

[burrowowl]

39. K&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A must reading!

[Cha]

40. Stupid Violent DumbFuck in charge.

Thank You, Joe Kassabian!

[marble falls]

41. Tatoo it on his forehead, backwards ...

Just in case he still shaves himself in the morning.

[Scurrilous]

44. K&R

[Blue Owl]

45. At ease, soldier -- it is reporters asking questions that is creating the violence

[sarge43]

46. Moron is backpeddling now

It appears the JCS gave him the Come to Jesus briefing about lethal force, war crimes and unarmed civilian nationals

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142192737

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211356311

[Amimnoch]

47. Another thing Rumpus proposes right out of Handmaid's tale.

We keep going down this road, Handmaid’s tail is going to have to be rebilled as a documentary.

[C_U_L8R]

51. Giving those orders is the war crime

Trump disgraces our military.

[LAS14]

55. It sure sounds like it. But Donny can say anything and we've learned....

... to ignore it. Damn infuriating.

[LAS14]

54. K & R