Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s offhand remark that the U.S. would show “no quarter, no mercy for our enemies,” in Iran. In military context, “no quarter” means killing enemy combatants without allowing surrender.
This alarmed legal experts, who warned the statement could constitute a war crime. Even just saying it could count as a violation of international law and U.S. military code, they added.
Wall Street Journal national security reporter Alex Ward flagged the comment as violating international humanitarian law under the Geneva Convention.
Claremont McKenna College professor Jack Pitney cited the Defense Department’s own Law of War Manual, which explicitly forbids declaring no quarter will be given. International Crisis Group senior adviser Brian Finucane, a former U.S. government war crimes lawyer, stated that even declaring no quarter constitutes a war crime punishable by up to life imprisonment under the DoD Manual for Military Commissions.
Stanford law professor Tom Dannenbaum confirmed declaring no quarter is prohibited under international humanitarian law and itself amounts to a war crime.
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