(Lack of) US Iran Peace Agreement Part 5

The Police have to obey the law, and there are still Police. In fact, we can see with ICE in the US what happens when politicians call for them to be immune from the law. If the police can manage to recruit, I don't see how the military cant.

On "the other side" doing war crimes. If they do it, does that mean the "good guys" need to do it ? For what advantage ?

If by war crimes you mean deliberately targetting non-combatants or combatamta who have surrendered then no argument from me, prosecute away.

OTOH chasing personnel through the courts because they have acted in accordance with information they had at the time is another matter. If those making targeting decisions are acting in good faith, and as far as they can tell iaw with the LoC then they shouldn't have to be worrying about the UN or others prosecuting them in the future.

When the orders come down, the blame should go up.

The potential war crime we are talking about is the bombing of a school during school hours.

Yup. And for me any potential charges for that should go up. To the guy who is pushing AI, who done a political ideology purge, who is now ordering testosterone checks on the military. And who done all he can/ is doing all he can to cover the whole thing up.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth last week. The House were meant to vote of them however in what some call a sleight of hand House speaker Mike Johnson sent the Reps home early (he also repeatedly changed the schedule to avoid Epstein release votes). They won’t reconvene until November 9th after the midterms.

[From Google AI]

On September 15, 2026, Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Massie introduced the resolution on the House floor, accusing Hegseth of abusing his office, bypassing Congress, and executing unlawful or unconstitutional military actions. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Summary of the 8 Articles of Impeachment
According to the resolution details published on the Official Press Release from Rep. Massie's Office, the articles accuse Hegseth of the following high crimes and misdemeanors:

Article I: Waging War Against Iran Without Authorization – Accuses Hegseth of launching and maintaining hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran starting on February 28, 2026, without a declaration of war, statutory authorization, or an imminent threat/national emergency as required by Section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. [7]
Article II: Defying Congressional Directives to Remove Forces – Charges Hegseth with continuing the war in Iran despite both Houses of Congress passing a concurrent resolution directing the withdrawal of U.S. forces. [8]
Article III: Violating War Powers Time Limits – Accuses Hegseth of keeping U.S. forces engaged in Iran past the strict 60-to-90-day statutory termination window mandated by the War Powers Resolution. [8, 9]
Article IV: Ignoring Laws Minimizing Civilian Casualties – Charges Hegseth with failing to adhere to legal and operational frameworks meant to protect civilians during military campaigns. [8, 10]
Article V: Extrajudicial Killings at Sea – Alleges that Hegseth unlawfully bypassed maritime law enforcement by using military force against suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific, resulting in at least 221 deaths. [4, 8]
Article VI: Suppressing Free Speech – Accuses Hegseth of abusing his power by retaliating against Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who had posted a video advising troops on their constitutional right to refuse illegal orders. [11, 12, 13]
Article VII: Unlawful Kidnapping of a Foreign Leader – Focuses on Hegseth's role in "Operation Absolute Resolve" in January 2026, during which U.S. Special Forces apprehended and extracted former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife without proper legal authority. [12, 13]
Article VIII: Unauthorized Warfare in Yemen – Accuses Hegseth of executing "Operation Rough Rider" (a bombing campaign in Yemen) without congressional approval, violating mandatory reporting guidelines, and causing significant civilian casualties. [4, 12, 13]

Current Status
Because Massie introduced this as a privileged resolution, House leadership would normally have been forced to call a vote within 48 hours. However, Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the House early for a seven-week recess, a move Massie publicly labeled a "Hegseth holiday" intended to shield Republican members from taking a controversial vote before November. [2, 14]

[1]
[2]
[3] https://www.pbs.org
[4] https://www.theguardian.com
[5] https://massie.house.gov
[6] https://journalrecord.com
[7]
[8] https://massie.house.gov
[9] https://www.youtube.com
[10]
[11] https://www.npr.org
[12] https://www.cbsnews.com
[13] https://www.foxnews.com
[14] https://thehill.com

@BelleHathor

This thing with shooting up the boats should not be allowed to vanish. I would say this is a case where it should maybe go down through the ranks, because there were people potentially following illegal orders there.

And the thing is, because SOLAS laws were being broken, it should really be the Coastguard doing the prosecuting. But here the Coastguard were potentially involved.

Absolutely, not only illegal it was evil, they were unarmed. Hegseth is a disgrace and "just following orders" is not a defence.

FFS during both World Wars both sides rescued their "enemies" that were sunk.

" The distress call came in to Sri Lanka’s maritime rescue coordination centre just after 5am. The ship in trouble, they determined,, was well within Sri Lanka’s obligation for rescue, being just over 19 nautical miles off the coast of the southern city of Galle.

The navy swiftly mobilised and, by 6am, the first search and rescue boat was on its way, another soon close behind. It was hard to see through the thick morning mist but officers onboard kept their eyes peeled for a ship in the distance.

Instead they found a spooling slick of oil on the sea’s surface. Dozens of survivors held on to life rafts and bodies bobbed in the waves, but the vessel was nowhere to be seen. IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship on its way to a friendly port call in Sri Lanka, already sat on the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

It had taken under three minutes for Dena to sink after it was struck by the world’s most powerful torpedo, a Mark 48, launched by the US navy nuclear-powered submarine USS Charlotte lurking silently nearby. At least 84 people onboard were killed .....

......The ship was more than 3,000km (1,864 miles) away from the Gulf and not on an active mission when it was hit by the US submarine, ..."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/15/us-attack-iris-dena-undermines-indian-security-ties-iran

‘If by war crimes you mean deliberately targetting non-combatants or combatamta who have surrendered then no argument from me, prosecute away.
OTOH chasing personnel through the courts because they have acted in accordance with information they had at the time is another matter. If those making targeting decisions are acting in good faith, and as far as they can tell iaw with the LoC then they shouldn't have to be worrying about the UN or others prosecuting them in the future.’

This is where I agree 100%.

We all want ruthless determined armies when we are threatened.

The U.S, as said in the Pentagon report, were doing 1,000 bombing runs daily. One went wrong due to faulty intelligence/AI. I just don’t think this is a war crime regardless of how sad the outcome was.

We have gone from being totally ruthless about war (2nd WW) to believing it is some kind of computer game where we can perfectly target the enemy whilst avoiding civilian casualties. No one will join an army where you can end up being prosecuted for doing your job to the best of your ability.

On the other hand, there are plenty of war crimes going on in the world where civilians are being killed and the intent is not in any doubt.

I think the UN is better postioned in deciding what can be classed as a war crime and what cannot.

I am astounded how easily people say the school bombing was just a casuality of war. Imagine it had been the other way round.

The US got rid of experienced military people/intelligence for daring to questioning Trump, Hegseth

I'm not sure the UN is better positioned at all, or objective these days.

Why?

@TopPocketFind ,

‘I think the UN is better postioned in deciding what can be classed as a war crime and what cannot.’

Whilst I respect the UN’s expertise, I don’t think that they are beyond criticism and never can be disagreed with. The Overton Window has massively shifted on civilian casualties during war time and I think that it has gone too far and is unrealistic now. I know lots disagree. I think it is too easy to criticise those making war, until you are personally involved and then, I suspect, we would be far less squeamish about our military making the odd targeting mistake.

‘I am astounded how easily people say the school bombing was just a casuality of war. Imagine it had been the other way round.’

I would say people care about this in line with their sympathies. A lot of people just don’t seem that outraged about the Iranian protesters slaughtered. Even if the exact number is argued over, it is a minimum of several thousand.

And in the Russo-Ukraine war, we are all outraged over the Russian targeting of civilian infrastructure but no one is talking about Ukraine’s drone strikes on Moscow, despite the pictures of the damaged apartment buildings with no obvious military targets anywhere near.

‘The US got rid of experienced military people/intelligence for daring to questioning Trump.’

Yes, agreed. Hegseth is a disaster. I would have no problem if Trump and him were prosecuted for war crimes.

Well given Iran has just been nominated to the U.N. Committee for Program and Coordination I think it would be reasonable to maybe harbour suspicions about just how objective the UN really is.

I have not said that te UN are beyond criticism or can never be disagreed with. That is just a cop out imo.

The odd targetting mistake is again something completely different than to what happened to the school bombing.

As for not being outraged about Iranian protesters being slaughtered, wtf.
How dare you suggest that.

We had those accusations thrown at us from the beginning. It's tiresome, lazy and untrue.

@TopPocketFind

The odd targetting mistake is again something completely different than to what happened to the school bombing.

So what do you think was the reason for the school bombing?

Do what do you think was the reason for the school bombing?

A reason is the explanation or justification behind that event, so can be abstract or subjective.(eg as given in pp, 'fog of war').

A cause is the direct source or origin of an event. Causes are typically tangible and concrete. (eg use of outofdate maps, negligence, poor leadership, lack of training)

For starters - Wot the UN said.

Me - There was no reason, just causes.
Carelessness to the point of actual negligence in relying on answers to what were probably lazy AI prompts. Hubris. Brown lives matter less.
Thinking modern day war is like a video game without responsibility or consequences irl.

I read the same sources as you @notimagain and it seems to be down to negligence.

Thinking modern day war is like a video game without responsibility or consequences irl.

I.don't think the military or politicians think like that but TBH I think that's a view a lot of the general public take.

As a result they maybe find it hard to understand that genuine mistakes might still happen ..

I disagree.
I think that the WH Regime and Sec of War in particular, have the mindset of a business entity that is too big to fail. There is less importance on not making mistakes because there will be no criticism/fall out even when costly mistakes are made.

In spite of evidence, the WH has still not accepted any responsibility for the killing of 120 primary aged children, and 36 adults in Minab.

@trumpredcard ,

‘Brown lives matter less.
Thinking modern day war is like a video game without responsibility or consequences irl.’

What evidence do you have for this?

If you think of the amount of ordnance that has been fired at Iran (I am guessing thousands of tons of TNT) and that Iranian civilians deaths are estimated in the low to mid thousands, I would say that is a fairly careful campaign.

And probably a fraction of how many Iranians the Iranian government murdered in cold blood.

In the wake of Houthi success, my current focus is on the defense pacts that some GCC have made. Do Turkey, India and Pakistan now think they have the tiger by the tail?

I think it is a bit odd that Trump is now selling F35 to SA, when SA have a defense pact with Pakistan, and Pakistan are one of the few nations on earth China sells it's advanced fighters to. Especially when the usual rules for selling F35 mean said country is not even allowed to have any Chinese made phone networks and the like.

Bit of a tangent, but connected. Because you know that thing where it is the terrorists who put military bases in civvie areas. Human shields and all that ?

“At the strong request of the United States Military, and for National Security purposes, I have agreed to convert the magnificent Triumphal Arch, planned since the Civil War Era many years ago, at the Receptive Circle adjoining the Arlington Memorial Bridge, into a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch, to house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Wonder if it will have any tunnels attached ?

Remember, his ballroom will also be a military complex.

Trump says proposed triumphal arch will double as military complex | CNN Politics

What evidence do you have for this?

What evidence do you have that race is not implicated in unequal treatment in the US?
What colour are the South Africans invited in by Trump?
What colour are the people being primarily targetted by ICE?
Why is the phrase "DEI hire" used as an insult in the US today?
Why is reversing DEI initiatives one of the chief goals of Project 25?

Trump’s references the 1964 Civil Rights Act as "reverse discrimination" − that White people are victims of racial oppression − animated his presidential campaign, guiding his efforts to obliterate diversity, equity and inclusionpolicies in the federal government and the private sector during his second term.

Led by the Heritage Foundation think tank – which has helped mold the policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan presidency – GOP activists drew up an expansive plan known as Project 2025 in anticipation of Trump’s return to power. One of the chief goals of the presidential transition plan was reversing “the DEI revolution” by eliminating policies such as affirmative action, which Project 2025 called "affirmative discrimination."
Within his first few hours back in the Oval Office, Trump made good on campaign promises by purging DEI initiatives from the federal government and the military, threatening to strip billions of dollars in federal funding and grants from universities and pressuring corporations to roll back programs or risk losing federal contracts.
In another recent escalation, the Trump administration is investigating the diversity initiatives of major companies under the False Claims Act, a federal law the Department of Justice uses to take action against contractors that defraud the government, USA TODAY reported.

View |12 Photos
Rev. Al Sharpton leads Wall Street march against Trump policies
Hundreds of people joined the Rev. Al Sharpton in marching on Wall Street on Aug. 28, 2025, rallying for the cause of diversity and inclusion.