Reply #10: The war may be illegal by UN standards, but soldiers are judged by Geneva accord, not the UN charter [View All]

[Bucky]

Soldiers are obliged to disobey illegal orders, as determined by the different Geneva Convention Accords that have been signed over the years. When we call the war illegal, it's because the invasion of Iraq violated the UN charter and ignored UN resolutions and mandates. Every order issued down the command chain in the conduct of the war that follows the rule of law is then perfectly legal.

War atrocities aside, the conduct of the war has not been criminal and the orders issued and followed have been perfectly legal. Many troops who've crossed those lines have been charged and some of them have already been convicted. But most troops have served honorably. The criminal act is in the initiation of the war, which obviously foot soldiers and Marines are not in a position to resist as long as the orders don't violate the rules of war.