During his nomination hearing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was asked by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, if he agrees with the Geneva Conventions, the legal framework that governs the conduct of war, which the United States helped to create after the horrors of World War II.
Hegseth obfuscated to such an extent that the inescapable conclusion was that he rejects the laws and treaties requiring U.S. forces to abide by these long-established principles — among them, not torturing POWs, not harming civilians and not wantonly destroying homes or schools.
Then, shortly after taking the oath of office, Hegseth fired the top lawyers for the Army, Navy and Air Force. He did so reportedly without having spoken to any of them.
Hegseth has often asserted that the Pentagon’s lawyers have unduly restricted U.S. warfighters on the battlefield. But he’s mistaken: It’s not the lawyers who hold American service members to such high standards, but the law itself. His decision represents a blatant disregard for that law.
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The U.S. military is the best fighting force in the world, not only because it is equipped with the most sophisticated technology and lethal weapons but because it trains to win a war of principles.
U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are taught that the job of a warfighter is not just to kill the enemy and win the battle, but to win the war by upholding the values, legitimacy and honor of our country and the reputation of the U.S. military. That means training to operate as a disciplined force, but also abiding by the Geneva Conventions, the Uniform Code of Military Justice and federal criminal law on war crimes.
The laws of war are neither a new creation nor some foreign imposition. They are, in part, an American innovation. Amid the bloodiest war in American history, President Lincoln codified fundamental aspects of the laws of armed conflict in the Lieber Code, which formed the foundation for the Geneva Conventions.
The fundamental principles underlying the Geneva Conventions might seem obvious today — that war should not cause unnecessary suffering; that noncombatants deserve protection; that medical personnel must be allowed to perform their humanitarian work; that certain methods of warfare are simply too inhumane to be permitted; and that even in war, there must be rules that preserve human dignity.
There are 196 state parties to the Geneva Conventions. These principles guide a baseline of behavior in armed conflict that has been nearly universally accepted. They protect not only civilians but also combatants, ensuring care for our own injured soldiers and POWs that fall under the control of foreign forces.
The same is true of our Uniform Code of Military Justice, which is derived from the principles enshrined in the Geneva Conventions. They are not simply aspirations that service members are free to ignore or interpret as they please. They are the law — the basis of the integrity and discipline that make the U.S. military the most respected in the world — and every U.S. service member is bound and trained to follow them.
Consider the alternative. U.S. troops intentionally or recklessly shoot a defenseless civilian or torture a prisoner. Of course, this is behavior that the American people firmly reject. Both are war crimes, and neither helps the U.S. win wars. But Hegseth is on record defending this type of criminal misconduct. Now, he is terminating the career lawyers whose job was to provide warfighters with the guidance necessary to comply with the law.
The unmistakable message is that Hegseth doesn’t trust America’s service members. And, the message that will be heard by young recruits is that the ends justify the means, no matter how egregious or inhumane the misconduct.
These actions make civilians and service members alike less safe. In Afghanistan and Iraq, like Vietnam decades earlier, we saw how civilian deaths, for which U.S. forces were rarely punished, turned the local population against U.S. forces and into the arms of the enemy.
We also learned that respecting the laws of war helps protect our own troops from losing faith in the mission and suffering moral injury. They will have to live the rest of their lives with the memories of those they killed, and it is difficult to overstate the importance of knowing they acted in a manner that was lawful and honorable. When our military leaders abandon the institutional mechanisms to uphold the law and protect civilians, they betray the trust of the warfighters who risk their lives for our country.
Some frustrated veterans, like Hegseth, argue, in essence, that if U.S. forces had been allowed to act with unchecked brutality and impunity, we would have been victorious in those wars.
But that is not the lesson our decorated military experts at the National War College or West Point have learned. Decades of military studies and tactical reviews have concluded that when U.S. forces used excessive force or killed civilians with impunity, our mission suffered.
Despite an enduring ability to unleash immense firepower against our enemies, we have faced setbacks every time the U.S. mistakenly bombed an innocent family or empowered a corrupt and abusive warlord.
From the U.S. Constitution to the UCMJ and the Geneva Conventions, our democracy is built on the rule of law. Our nation’s lawyers in uniform are responsible for ensuring that our armed forces live up to and protect the values and principles our nation stands for. Firing them, and dismissing their value, is a grave error.
As the oldest democracy with the most powerful military, it’s in our national interest to uphold the laws of war. And perhaps most importantly, it distinguishes us from adversaries who do not share the American people’s appreciation of the incalculable value of innocent life.
Patrick Leahy is a former U.S. senator, Senate president pro tempore and attorney who represented Vermont in the U.S. Senate from 1975 to 2023.
Lt. Gen. Robert G. Gard Jr. (Ret.), is a graduate of West Point who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars and as president of the National Defense University.
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