[austin-cheney]

The people in charge of any such operation would be unit commanders, military officers, who have greater legal restrictions on their conduct than either the President or the SECWAR. Regardless of the orders upon them military commanders are obligated to follow the law and are provided legal representatives for clarity.

[hairofadog]

I'm hopeful that'll be the case. But can SECDEF (it's still called the Department of Defense, regardless of stationery changes) hand-pick the unit commanders and military officers?

[austin-cheney]

No. The closest they could get is hand picking a specific military unit, but there are limitations on even that.

[hairofadog]

Thanks. I appreciate your comments in this thread.

[sheikhnbake]

That's great on paper, but we saw what happened in international waters and Venezuela after the SOUTHCOM shake up