Sen. Tom Cotton on Monday called for the U.S. military to give “no quarter” to those who engage in theft and property destruction amid demonstrations against police brutality and the Minneapolis Police Department’s alleged murder of George Floyd. The phrase “no quarter” began to trend on Twitter after Cotton’s tweet was publicized. Several lawyers quickly noted that calls for such use of force are tantamount to calls for the military to commit war crimes against the American people.
“Anarchy, rioting and looting needs to end tonight,” Cotton tweeted. “If local law enforcement is overwhelmed and needs backup, let’s see how touch [sic] these Antifa terrorists are when they’re facing off with the 101st Airborne Division. We need to have zero tolerance for this destruction.”
Reporter Jamie Dupree took a screenshot of the original tweet and publicized it. Cotton quote-tweeted the Cox Media reporter and added: “And, if necessary, the 10th Mountain, 82nd Airborne, 1st Cav, 3rd Infantry—whatever it takes to restore order. No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters.” ...
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“A no quarter order is a war crime, prohibited even in actual insurrection since Abraham Lincoln‘s signed the Lieber Code in 1863,” conservative attorney David French tweeted. “Such an order is banned by international law and would, if carried out, be murder under American law.” ...
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The Lieber Code’s Article 60 expressly prohibits “no quarter” orders except for one specific set of facts.
“It is against the usage of modern war to resolve, in hatred and revenge, to give no quarter,” the document notes. “No body of troops has the right to declare that it will not give, and therefore will not expect, quarter; but a commander is permitted to direct his troops to give no quarter, in great straits, when his own salvation makes it impossible to cumber himself with prisoners.” ...
The U.S. Department of Defense Law of War Manual is also explicit on the prohibition against “no quarter” orders in Section 5.5.7 ...
Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions–to which the United States is a state signatory–also prohibits such calls for unrelenting use of violence by armed forces.
Thomas Bryant Cotton, Captain, US Army, 2005--2009 (active), 2010--2013 (reserve).
506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
3d Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
