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MS NOW investigation reveals troops were ordered to carry out Iran and boat strikes they say violate international law

In an investigation published August 26, 2026, MS NOW reported that multiple U.S. service members described being ordered to carry out military strikes they believe violate international law, including strikes on Iranian infrastructure they said were not military targets and strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats without confirming who was aboard. The service members, who spoke anonymously to protect pending conscientious-objector applications, said the Center on Conscience and War has seen conscientious-objector applications rise sixfold since the U.S. war with Iran began in February 2026 -- the sharpest increase the group has recorded in 25 years.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On August 26, 2026, MS NOW reported that multiple U.S. service members described being ordered to carry out military strikes they believe violate international law. One service member who supported Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign against Iran that began in February 2026, said the military struck bridges in Iran the service member did not believe were military targets; when the service member raised the concern with their chain of command, superiors said the targets were "dual-use" -- serving both military and civilian purposes. Another service member who loaded weapons onto aircraft supporting Operation Southern Spear, the campaign of strikes against suspected drug-trafficking boats that has killed more than 210 people since September 2025, said they never learned whether the people the aircraft's weapons were used against had been confirmed as smugglers.

The Center on Conscience and War, which helps service members apply for discharge as conscientious objectors, told MS NOW that applications have risen sixfold since the Iran war began -- the sharpest increase the group's director, Mike Prysner, said he has seen in 25 years of doing the work. The GI Rights Hotline at Quaker House separately reported a comparable spike beginning in March 2026. MS NOW spoke to five service members who had started the conscientious-objector application process, citing being ordered to violate international law, rising civilian casualties, and open-ended deployments with no clear strategy among their reasons for leaving; MS NOW withheld identifying details about their assignments and service branches to protect them while their applications remain pending.

Asked separately about the legality of the boat-strike campaign, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said neither President Trump nor Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ever issued an unlawful order, calling suggestions otherwise "seditious." Lawmakers and legal experts have separately argued the boat strikes violate U.S. and international law because they kill people without confirming their identities or providing them any legal process.

Why we recorded this

Due process requires that the state not punish or kill people outside lawful judicial process, a principle international humanitarian law extends to armed conflict by barring strikes on people and infrastructure that are not confirmed military targets. Multiple U.S. service members said they were ordered to strike Iranian infrastructure their own chain of command could not confirm was military, and to fire on boats without confirming who was aboard -- a practice the Department of Defense has separately acknowledged it does not always verify before striking. This archive records the disclosure because when the people carrying out an order say it directs them to kill without confirming who they are killing, and are seeking discharge in numbers a 25-year veteran of conscientious-objector counseling calls unprecedented, that is evidence the practice is policy rather than an isolated error.

Sources

  1. Troops fighting against Iran and drug smugglers say they're being asked to violate international law — MS NOW primary accessed August 26, 2026
  2. There's growing disquiet in the military. The Iran war made it worse — NPR investigative accessed August 26, 2026
  3. Nonprofit groups offer legal assistance to U.S. troops amid debate over boat strikes — NBC News primary accessed August 26, 2026

See also