"The Pentagon's law of war manual states unequivocally that such statements are war crimes. It's one of the reasons that the United States ensured Germany's senior military officials were prosecuted for the crime after World War II. The best thing Secretary Hegseth can do for the country and for the US military is to say he misspoke and to retract the statement."
"An order to give no quarter would mean to take no prisoners and kill them instead. That would violate the law of armed conflict. It would be an illegal order. It would also put American service members at greater risk."
"The U.S. military has banned such orders since the Civil War's Lieber Code, which governed how armies should behave during war. The Hague and Geneva conventions and U.S. protocols later built on the Lieber Code's principles."
Legal experts have condemned statements resembling 'no quarter' orders as patently illegal under established military law. NYU law professor Ryan Goodman warns that such rhetoric puts the American military on a track toward lawlessness and risks losing allies. The U.S. military has prohibited such orders since the Civil War's Lieber Code, with principles reinforced by The Hague and Geneva conventions. The Pentagon's law of war manual explicitly identifies such statements as war crimes. Senator Mark Kelly clarified that 'no quarter' means taking no prisoners and killing them instead, which violates the law of armed conflict and constitutes an illegal order that endangers American service members.
Read at Axios
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