1st Lt. Michael C. Behenna; Donald Trump Credit: AP/Getty/Salon

The thing about war crimes is, the military gives you training in how to commit them. That’s not to say that military commanders want you to commit war crimes. There is plenty of training in the rules of engagement with the enemy and the legalities of how to handle prisoners of war. In the army, you are taught how to conduct operations in urban environments so that civilians are not killed accidentally. In the air force, the days of carpet-bombing entire cities are over. Pilots are trained not to engage targets on the ground with so-called “smart bombs” unless cleared to do so by higher command.

But how to do the shooting and bombing necessary to kill the enemy is taught with gusto to military trainees in every branch of service. I covered the court-martial of First Lieutenant William “Rusty” Calley Jr. for his part in the massacre at My Lai in 1968. The trial was held in a small, World War II-era building across the […]