Ex-CIA Chief: US Military Would Defy President Trump's Orders
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Retired Gen. Michael Hayden, the former head of the NSA and CIA, said the US armed forces would likely refuse to follow certain orders from Donald Trump if he is elected president of the United States.
“I would be incredibly concerned if a President Trump governed in a way that was consistent with the language that Candidate Trump expressed during the campaign,” the retired general said in an interview with Bill Maher on Friday.
Hayden argued that some of Trump’s campaign remarks are so unlawful that they cannot be followed, including his call to revive waterboarding and “take out” the families of terrorists.
“If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act,” he stated, Press TV reported.
“You are required not to follow an unlawful order that would be in violation of all the international laws of armed conflict.”
Trump, who is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination, has promised to order torture techniques a “hell of a lot worse” than waterboarding against suspected terrorists.
The billionaire businessman has also suggested that he would order the US military to kill the family members of terrorists, a charge that would be in violation of the internationally recognized Geneva Conventions.
In addition, Trump has proposed a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the United States.