Defiance.org and Whistleblower Aid have launched an ad campaign offering confidential legal guidance to U.S. service members who think they received unlawful orders. The effort — including billboards that read “Obey Only Lawful Orders” — is focused near U.S. Southern Command in Doral and U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, where personnel involved in recent boat strikes are based. The campaign arrives amid debate over the legality of the administration’s strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels and follows a video by six Democratic lawmakers urging troops not to follow unlawful orders.
‘Obey Only Lawful Orders’: Nonprofits Offer Confidential Legal Help to U.S. Troops Amid Boat-Strike Dispute
An Army patch on the sleeve of an American soldier. (Artur Widak / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Two nonprofit organizations launched an advertising campaign on Tuesday offering legal information and confidential advice to U.S. service members who believe they may have been given unlawful orders.
What The Campaign Includes
The initiative features billboards reading “Obey Only Lawful Orders” and online posts linking to support groups and informational resources designed to ensure troops understand their rights and options, organizers told NBC News.
Who Is Behind It
The effort is led by Defiance.org, which says its mission is to "defend democracy," in partnership with Whistleblower Aid, a legal organization that assists public- and private-sector workers who expose wrongdoing. Miles Taylor, a former senior Department of Homeland Security official and founder of Defiance.org, said the campaign is intended to remind service members that even the commander in chief is bound by law.
“If you believe you’ve received a ‘manifestly unlawful order,’ you are protected by law and you are not alone,”
Why Now
Organizers said the campaign arrives amid a heated debate over the legality of the Trump administration’s military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in Latin America. The administration defends the strikes as necessary to counter drug cartels it says threaten national security and contribute to tens of thousands of U.S. deaths from narcotics.
Billboards, posters and digital messages will be concentrated near military communities connected to the operations — specifically around U.S. Southern Command in Doral, Florida, and U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida — where personnel involved in the strikes are based.
Responses And Developments
In August, the senior military lawyer at U.S. Southern Command reportedly disagreed with the administration’s legal conclusion that the strikes were lawful; that lawyer was later overruled by higher-ranking officials. Last month, six Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds posted a video urging service members not to follow unlawful orders. President Trump condemned the video as traitorous.
Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell sharply rejected the campaign’s implication that leaders had given unlawful orders, saying:
“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have never given an unlawful order. Those who continue to encourage seditious behavior are scum and should be ashamed of themselves.”
The Pentagon has opened a review into Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a retired naval officer who appeared in the lawmakers’ video; Kelly has called the inquiry baseless and an attempt to silence dissent.
Legal Context
One online posting from the campaign cites the U.S. military’s manual for courts-martial:
“A general order or regulation is lawful unless it is contrary to the Constitution, the laws of the United States, or lawful superior orders.”
The campaign emphasizes confidential legal guidance and information so that service members can assess their options if they believe an order is manifestly unlawful.
Originally published on NBCNews.com.
