Former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen warns that Trump could order war crimes

In an interview with Christiane Amanpour on CNN yesterday, former Maine U.S. Senator and former U.S. Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen warned that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s foreign policy stances include advocacy for violating the international criminal code.

“I think we have to be very careful on what we are saying to the world. The notion that we would attack and kill the families of terrorists is something that contravenes everything the United States stands for in this world of, now, disorder,” said Cohen. “There’s something called Nuremburg that we have to be concerned about. That you have an order given by the commander in chief that violates every sense of law and order, international law and order, that would make anyone who carried out that dictum as such in violation of the international criminal code.”

Amanpour responded that his words had given her chills and that she couldn’t believe they were discussing how “the next president of the united states could be ordering war crimes to be committed.”

“I can’t believe that we’re not speaking out on these issues,” said Cohen of the Republican party establishment. “We have been strong internationalists. We have been a player on the international scene to promote our ideals. That has been the driving dream of the United States, to say look what a free country can do that abides by the rule of law, that has a sense of respect for individuality, for diversity and for freedom of speech. This is something that is quite dangerous.”

Watch the full video here.

Mike Tipping

About Mike Tipping

Mike is Maine's longest-writing political blogger and explores state politics and policy with a focus on analysis and explanation. He works at the Maine People's Alliance and Maine People's Resource Center.