Increased Civilian Casualties and a Disturbing Question from President Trump

Back in 2015, candidate Donald Trump caused a stir when hepublicly advocated murdering the families of terrorists. At the time, this was widely condemned for its immoral cruelty and as a violation of the laws of war. Richard D. Rosen, director of the Center for Military Law and Policy at the Texas Tech University School of Law,described “a policy of intentionally and directly targeting the families of terrorists” as “a war crime.” To the relief of many, theNew York Times  reported in March 2016 that Trump had “reversed course on his vow to kill the families of terrorists…saying he now recognized that such actions would violate international law.”Adisturbing report published yesterday in theWashington Post suggests President Trump may not have really changed his mind. ThePost’s Greg Jaffe reports:[W]hen the [CIA ’s] head of drone operations explained that the CIA had developed special munitions to limit civilian casualties, the president seemed unimpressed. Watching a previously recorded strike in which the agency held off on firing until the target had wandered away from a house with his family inside, T rump asked, “Why did you wait?” one participant in the meeting recalled.The article is vague about when this incident occurred, but it seems to strongly imply that Trump, as president, discouraged the CIA from taking precautions to limit civilian casualties. If the reporting is accurate, and the implication behind Trump ’s question accurately po...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs