If your commander gives you an order just to kill the civilian and you know he is an innocent can you disobey?

Question

If your commander gives you an order just to kill the civilian and you know he is an innocent can you disobey?

Answer 1

NO.  You are not qualified to determine if the civillian a hostile  or a non-combatant.  You must obey and then you can report you commander and let the military decide if he was wrong.  But your  carreer will be over.

Answer 2

I believe that murdering civilians constitutes a war crime. An enlisted man can be sentenced for murder and his commanding officer can be sentenced to life or obtain the death sentence.

Its a violation of the CMJ to commit crimes against civilians even in times of war.

Answer 3

Yes you should definitely disobey because you could be locked away up to life in the military prison. You should also report your commander.

Answer 4

yes. its called rules of engagement

Answer 5

Yes you can, it would be an UNLAWFUL order which would make it invalid.

Answer 6

In the American and British military,  Yes.

They give you extensive training on the Geneva Conventions and the Laws of Armed Conflict as well as telling your repeatedly that "I was just following orders" is not a defense against unlawful acts.  

(In the Soviet,  I mean Russian,  you shoot the civilian and get a medal for it.   Like in Georgia.   Leopards do not change their spots,  only their names.)  

Answer 7

It's a moot point.

Soldiers don't perform executions. Even if you had Osama bin Laden there, and your CO told you to shoot him, unless Osama had a weapon and was trying to use it, you shouldn't shoot him.

Answer 8

Of course you can.

If you want to talk about the moral reasons, then yes, you should. Duty is important. But there are many more important things, such as defending the innocent.

Answer 9

Yes, you must disobey any UNLAWFUL direct order. Just because they are your superior doesn't mean they are right.  

Answer 10

Absolutely you can.  I wish more people understood that.  Military personnel are not so robotic they must obey an unlawful order.

Answer 11

Yes, you can, and if you know definitively that the target is not hostile, you should disregard the order since it not only violates ROE (Rules of Engagement), but may also violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the Geneva Accord.

Rarely does this happen, in fact I've never heard of it happening in the last decade, but I'm sure there are exceptions.

A warrior never uses unnecessary force, it's against all codes and morals.

Great question too!

Answer 12

Come on guy as no commander from the US will ever give this bull c**p command so let us put this kind of talk to rest.

Answer 13

You better disobey it or you and your commander will be in the brig.

Answer 14

LT COMDER has a good answer and i give him a thumbs up!

Answer 15

Especially after the Mai Lai Massacre, soldiers have been well-informed that it is their duty to "Disobey all unlawful commands".

That way, for any breaches of military law or the rules of engagement they cannot use the "I was just following orders" cop-out.

Answer 16

If you're in that situation, heck yeah you can disobey!  You can't just kill somebody for the h**l of it.  We have certain ROE (Rules of Engagement), and just like they say in the movies, "Don't fire unless fired upon."  But really, your commander isn't going to tell you kill some innocent civilian, and if he does just tell him no.  If he wants to kill that person so bad, tell him to do it.  And he can go to jail.