It Doesn’t Seem Wise to Let Trump Decide What War Is

Opinion|It Doesn’t Seem Wise to Let Trump Decide What War Is

President Trump has done it again.

He is attacking a genuine and serious problem recklessly, heedless of the consequences and, in this case, of human life.

On Tuesday I watched Trump proudly display grainy footage of a military strike on what he said was a boat full of narco-terrorists on their way to the United States with a load of drugs.

Typically, when the Coast Guard or another branch of the military or law enforcement spots a boat suspected of carrying drugs, we seek to stop the boat, search it, seize any drugs and arrest and question the crew. If these drug smuggling suspects open fire, American forces can respond, but they cannot simply execute someone on the mere suspicion of drug trafficking.

We do not kill those suspected of being criminals from the air.

The thing that separates war from murder is the law, and the law of war contains two key components. They go by two Latin terms: jus ad bellum and jus in bello.

Jus ad bellum refers to the limited legal right to go to war. In other words, when is it legal to fight?

Jus in bello refers to conduct within the war. If it’s lawful to fight, then how must I fight?

For the use of military force to be lawful, it must satisfy the requirements of both doctrines. There must be a legal basis for the use of force, and the force that is used must also be lawful. Russia’s war in Ukraine would be lawless, for example, even if President Vladimir Putin confined himself to conducting airstrikes against only military targets, and even if his troops behaved scrupulously in the field.