US EditionTop lawyer for military joint chiefs told chairman that officers should retire if faced with an unlawful order
Brig. Gen. Eric Widmar advised commanders to seek retirement if they receive unlawful orders, avoiding public protest, amid debates over legality of U.S. drug-smuggling strike operations.
- On December 19, CNN reported that Brig. Gen. Eric Widmar advised U.S. military commanders to consult legal advisers and consider requesting retirement rather than resigning, guidance given to Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine in November.
- A viral November clip showing six Democratic lawmakers prompted Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine to seek guidance after they urged troops to disobey orders amid scrutiny of counternarcotics operations including a September 2 strike.
- Legal experts interviewed by CNN distinguished disobeying 'patently illegal' orders from policy disagreements, and Dan Maurer told CNN, `If the guidance does not explicitly advise service members that they have a duty to disobey unlawful orders`.
- President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reacted angrily to the November video, while a former senior defense official called recommending quiet exits "a very safe recommendation in this current political environment."
- Some officials warn that encouraging personnel to retire rather than voice dissent risks fostering silence and reducing accountability, while a former senior defense official who left the Pentagon this year said commissioned officers have a right to object.
23 Articles
23 Articles
'You should simply leave': Military officers told to resign if they face illegal order
The top lawyer for the nation's top general provided guidance for military commanders who believe they have been given an unlawful order, and not everyone agrees he provided good advice.Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine viewed a video in November showing six Democratic lawmakers urging U.S. troop...
Top Joint Chiefs lawyer gives guidance on how to respond to 'patently illegal' order
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew into a rage when, in a video posted online in November, Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and other Democratic lawmakers urged members of the U.S. Armed Forces to disobey orders if they are clearly "illegal." Trump, on his Truth Social platform, described the video as "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"— a claim that Florida International University Eric R. Carpenter denounc…
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