Will our military follow a despot’s illegal orders?

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just completed their remarks to our nation’s commanding military general and flag officers at Marine base Quantico. If there was ever any doubt about the lengths that the president is willing to go regarding the proper use of the military, this meeting made it abundantly clear that there is no red line.

The president emphasized that those officers and their enlisted advisers swore an oath to defend the country from domestic enemies. He said this was a fight with vicious people (the left) and that, “We are under invasion from within and we are stopping it very quickly. It is a war from within.” He continued, “We should use these cities as training grounds for our military.”

Referring to a soldier being spit upon by a civilian, the president said he was removing any legal or operational constraints saying, “If it’s OK with you Generals and Admirals, I’ve taken that off. I say, they spit, we hit.”

“Last month I signed an executive order to provide training for quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control, but it won’t get out of control once you’re involved at all.”

“Our history is filled with military heroes who took on enemies both foreign and domestic. You know that phrase very well. That’s what the oath said, both foreign and domestic. Well we also have domestic.”

If you don’t believe the words then you should believe the actions. President Trump has utilized the military to destroy four narco-traffickers’ boats thus far by claiming that they are invading our country. He declared on the night of Charlie Kirk’s murder that he was going after “the radical left.” He then declared Antifa a domestic terrorist organization.

The Supreme Court ruled that the president is immune from prosecution while serving as president. Trump himself will never be held accountable for any laws he breaks or violates while president, impeachment being the sole exception. But those military leaders don’t have such protection. If the president directs them to violate our nation’s laws as he laid out today, they can and should be held accountable.

It is only a matter of time before our military leaders will be faced with a hard choice. Follow the unlawful orders of the president or resign and retire from the military. I hope each and every one of them has the conviction to remember their oath to protect the Constitution of the United States rather than commit the illegal acts of despot.

John Oakley, COL (Ret), Army National Guard, lives in Cedar Rapids.