This question is 100% a provocation. Trump got democratically elected and thousand of soldiers carried out his orders while they could have refused. Now that USA government has made his own “military special operation” are we going to be racist with americans and treat them like russians? Calling them orcs or implying the population is all shit?
Not even close to real? As far as I’m aware, death punishment is not what happened to any of those that refused during Vietnam or Afghanistan.
And also for a certain value of lawful I might add. Last I heard congress didn’t say the USA is going to war with Iran. Making it not exactly a war situation. Hey, now that you say it, suspiciously close to the last time a Republican president decided to play little dictator and fucked up the middle east. Strange how that keeps on happening.
“Life-ending consequences” doesn’t necessarily mean literal death. Court martials for serious offenses (which disobeying orders absolutely is) can come with very heavy penalties. It’s possible that it’s a regional colloquialism, but ‘life-ending consequences’ refers to consequences that end “life as you know it”, typically referring to something that is reasonably impossible to recover from.
Ok yes, then I agree. But deciding to stop a mass murderer has often a possible life ending consequence and I think most agree that it would still be the right way to act.