Star Wars: The Clone Wars presented many memorable story arcs that explored the lives and challenges facing clone soldiers of the Galactic Republic. During a 4-episode arc: Darkness on Umbara, The General, Plan of Dissent, and Carnage of Krell, Republic Clone soldiers are faced with a tall challenge when they are assigned to the command of a General who seems to care little for their lives and treats them only as assets on a battlefield. General Pong Krell repeatedly orders the men under his command to undertake dangerous missions that seem to make little sense. Some of the Clone soldiers begin to question the wisdom of the General’s orders, which prompts a discussion among the clones about what they should do. The soldiers had a duty to follow orders, but how far does this go?
We can look to our own world history for some examples. Different countries have different military traditions. Under the American military system the general rule is that an order can only be disobeyed if it is unlawful. This standard provides enough room for interpretation that courts have trended in different directions over the years, with some courts emphasizing the individual over the military, and others siding with the military over the individual.
One oft-cited example is the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War, in which 504 people were killed, including young women and children. The incident involved a cover up, and ultimately 14 men were charged, and one person convicted. This incident is often looked to as an example of an illegal order which a soldier would not have to obey.
Other cases have emphasized that one cannot simply rely upon the defense that they were simply following orders. In one well-known American case, during the War of 1812 crew members of an American privateer were tried for stopping and searching a neutral Portuguese vessel on the high seas, when during the stop the American crew assaulted the Portuguese captain and crew and stole valuables. The court rejected the defense advanced by the crew in which they argued that they had simply been following orders. The justice wrote:
This doctrine . . . . alarming and unfounded, is repugnant to reason, and to the positive law of the land. No military or civil officer can command an inferior to violate the laws of his country; nor will such command excuse, much less justify the act. Can it be for a moment pretended, that the general of an army, or the commander of a ship of war, can order one of his men to commit murder or felony? Certainly not.
The crew was found guilty.
The German military system emphasizes the individual over the military, following a standard whereby a military order is not binding if it is not “of any use for service” or cannot reasonably be executed. German military rules, mindful of history, now forbid the use of the German military to do anything other than defend Germany itself. The German military system emphasizes a military experience built around the inner conscience of each individual. German soldiers can refuse combat assignments or disobey orders with relatively little consequence. This standard has been upheld repeatedly in civil courts.
Most symbolic is the fact that new German soldiers swear their oaths to defend Germany at the Benderblock, a Berlin building where participants of a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler were executed in 1944. Today the building is a museum to German resistance. It is a powerful reminder that new German soldiers are sworn to their oaths not in a place of military obedience, but in a place of military resistance.
This brings up the question, what form of military system would the Old Republic have in place? Given that the Clone Wars aided Palpatine’s consolidation of power, it would seem likely that even if there were some rules to allow for limited judgment by the individual soldier, much of the power would be placed in the hands of the military commanders. By the time of the Galactic Empire, when we see Darth Vader summarily execute officers for alleged incompetence without so much as a trial, there would seem to be very little room for individual judgment. If a soldier objected, it would likely be best to remain quiet rather than risk becoming the victim of a Force choke.
Back to the clone wars episode, after a difficult debate, the clone soldiers continue to follow orders until a fateful confrontation in which it is revealed that they are in fact fighting against another Republic clone trooper regiment. In the heat of battle, Captain Rex senses that something is amiss and discovers the his men are in fact fighting against their own clone brothers. Armed with this knowledge, the clones confront General Krell, who reveals himself to be a traitor, intent upon joining the enemy after first destroying Republic assets. Several clone troopers are killed in the ensuing conflict until General Krell is rendered unconscious. A difficult question now confronts the soldiers: what do they do with the traitorous general?
There is little time for a court martial, and ultimately one soldier cannot bear the betrayal and executes the former General. Ironically, the soldier pulling the trigger is the same soldier who had vigorously defended the General earlier in the story, and could not cope with the idea that their commanding officer had betrayed them. Insubordination, mutiny, and treason. All heavy issues touched upon during this story arc.
