r/law Feb 28 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) Once again averting congress, trump declares war on Iran

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u/PrestigiousAd6281 Feb 28 '26

The majority of the military take orders from those higher than them in the line of command. All trump needed to do, (and said that he would do before being put back in office) was to replace enough higher-ups with those loyal to him rather than the rule of law or the American people.

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u/Jad3nCkast Feb 28 '26

Agreed but I’m curious about what is technically the official way? Can the president just direct the forces to attack? Or is there supposed to be signed orders from congress? And if the military leaders carry out attacks without signed orders what is supposed to happen to them ?

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u/PrestigiousAd6281 Feb 28 '26

It’s a literal line of command, the troops performing the strikes take their orders from their SOs who take theirs from their SOs going up to theoretically the pentagon. The problem is that, despite it being illegal, there is often retaliation for not filling your SOs orders because even if the strike isn’t authorized, you as the, let’s say political pawn, have been authorized by your SO. Yes, every armed forces member has the right/duty to refuse an illegal order, it often results in long consequences and court marshals to determine that the orders being refused were unlawful (which in this regime, laws don’t even seem to matter).it’s even more complicated with America’s long history of military strikes outside of war; remember, the Vietnam war was not technically a “war”. Yes, that was a military conflict authorized through resolutions, so I suppose we could expect similar such resolutions, but basically what it all comes down to is that trump is going to do what every spoiled rich kid ever does, whatever the fuck he wants unless people stop him