Aren't the pilots just as guilty of war crimes as the DOD ordering them to do it?

[Ferrets are Cool]

"At least 34 people have been killed, including six children, as the United States and Israel carried out massive attacks across Iran, targeting a top university as well as residential areas, after US President Donald Trump set a Tuesday deadline for Tehran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants and bridges. "

Will the Dems has the guts to go after everyone of the war criminals after power changes hands? IMHO, the answer is going to be no.

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Yes.

[Happy Hoosier]

2. Usually no.

If pilots KNOW they are being ordered to attack an illegal target, then technically yes, but usually, the courts place the burden on those issuing the orders. For example, attacking a hospital is generally a no-no, but a hospital loses it protected status if military assets are hidden there, or being deployed from there. So it's complicated. But senior officers who issue illegal orders should be held accountable.

[karynnj]

3. This is actually a very complicated questionm

Some religious leaders have said that this is not a just war. It clearly was not a war of last resort to prevent an imminent attack. However, if you were already deployed, as some were, would you have the knowledge and the willingness to take the consequences of refusing to follow your orders?

Consider, as a pilot, you would be given coordinates to strike. Would you question if they were valid war targets?

It always seems a difficult thing to ask about any war. I was in college during the Vietnam War. Many of us knew ( or knew of) fellow high school students who did not go to college and were drafted. Many, especially earlier in the war, so no alternative. In college, almost all of us were against the war. The culture we were in supported that. ( In fact, your question made me think of Donovan's Universal soldier "who really was to blame".

Much older now, I worry that many pilots are also victims, who will suffer for what they have done who never considered the US could order war crimes - even though we have before.

[Whip-poor-will]

4. Nuremberg

Only applies to the losers apparently not an exceptional nation blessed by GOD

[mike_c]

5. yes

People can't stand to hear it, but it's hardly ever the generals or civilian leadership who pull the trigger. Responsibility extends all the way to the persons who commit atrocities. Ultimately, all of us are responsible if we allow it to go on.

[David__77]

6. It's important to know the officers aren't the same thing as the enlisted.

There is still an economic draft in this country.

I’ll say that I think pilots who expose and resist criminality should be supported.

The US armed forces are well-equipped to perform mass killing and destruction at a safe distance, and not well-equipped to dominate a country committed to resisting foreign domination.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

7. The pilots may not know exactly what they are hitting

Especially if they are launching stand off weapons. They are generally only given targeting coordinates, timing, other basic mission parameters like what position they need to be in. They often don't know what exact target they are hitting. Even non standoff, depending on the speed and altitude they are flying, they only get release coordinates, direction, and speed required at launch. At low altitude and high speed, they can't make out what they are hitting considering they will be well past the site when the bombs hit. And at altitude it all blends together.

[republianmushroom]

8. A helicopter pilot

shooting a second missile at a man in the water after sinking his boat with previous first missile, knows what he is shooting at.