Jim Jones, Idaho Capital Sun

I called in artillery in Vietnam — I can tell you Trump and his henchmen are full of it

Idaho’s U.S. Sen. Jim Risch proclaimed in a Dec. 11 meeting of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the “attacks in the Caribbean are absolutely, totally and 100 percent legal under U.S. law and international law.”

Those strikes have produced a body count nearing 100 since Sept. 2.

Oregon U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley effectively debunked Risch’s argument, pointing out that only Congress has the power to declare war under the U.S. Constitution.

Risch incorrectly claimed that the killings were “clearly not a war, but kinetic action,” as though that somehow got around the Constitution. His response makes no sense because the violence of war is always kinetic action.

There is no need to get into the legal weeds about the legality of Trump’s Caribbean killings because that has been well established in the last three months. Even the Department Of Defense’s new AI chatbox, which Secretary Pete Hegseth proudly announced on Dec. 9, said that an order to kill two survivors of a boat strike would be “an unambiguously illegal order.”

On Oct. 28, Reuters reported that some U.S. military officials have been required to sign non-disclosure agreements with regard to Trump’s Latin American adventures. That adds an element of guilt awareness to those operations.

Let me give the input of someone who was in the position of pulling the trigger on suspect people on the ground during the Vietnam War. I spent hundreds of hours as an aerial observer flying at about 800 feet in a small two-seat “bird dog” aircraft. I had at my disposal six 8-inch guns (200-pound shells) and six 175 mm guns (165- pound shells) from my heavy artillery battalion.

Most of my combat missions were over “free fire zones” where everyone was presumed to be an enemy. The war had been approved by Congress in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (later found to have been based on false information).

Even though we could fire on practically anyone in the free fire zones, we were prohibited from firing on civilians. I would not have done so anyway. I lived with South Vietnamese soldiers, respected the Vietnamese people and would not have exposed civilians to danger.

On the other hand, I had no qualms about calling fire upon North Vietnamese Army soldiers because my job was protecting U.S. troops and our South Vietnamese friends.

When you saw people near the edges of the free fire zones, you had to evaluate the circumstances and determine whether or not there were indications of military affiliation. The two kids with a water buffalo on the edge of the free fire zones were definitely not targets. The man driving his donkey cart into the free fire zones was most likely a woodchopper. The three guys on bikes in the middle of the free fire zones were definitely North Vietnamese Army and legitimate targets.

The other aerial observers that I knew, and the pilots who flew them, acted in a similar manner. We followed the rule of engagement, which included U.S. and international rules of war.

Had I been overhead for any of the Trump/Hegseth strikes, I would not have pulled the trigger — no declared war, no enemy combatants, clearly civilians and no justification for “kinetic action.” The proper course of action would be to call the U.S. Coast Guard to interdict and search the boats, like they have historically done. Last year, the Coast Guard seized 225 metric tons of cocaine. The U.S. would have to destroy a heck of a lot of narco speed boats to equal that tonnage.

These present boat strikes have a feature that was not in existence back in Vietnam days. Then, the aerial observer and pilot were the only people who knew the situation on the ground. We were largely on the honor system in deciding who should live or die.

Now military personnel up and down the ladder may have eyes on the situation. Not only that, but a video record is being made of each strike. Any person who sees a strike being carried out and does not raise concerns about its legality may be called to account, even years later.

Keep in mind that both Trump and Hegseth have gleefully announced the strikes and vowed to kill all other alleged “narco-terrorists.” They might be surprised to learn that several victims of the Sept. 2 strike were not drug merchants.

The U.S. Supreme Court essentially immunized Trump against any kind of charges that could result from the strikes, but Hegseth and the military personnel with eyes-on participation in the strikes could find themselves in legal hot water down the road for these summary executions.

Sen. Risch should study the law and avoid covering up for MAGA lawbreakers.

Jim Jones served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He also publishes at substack.com/@jjcommontater.

These Republican cowards won't call out Trump even as he decimates their state

There was a time in the distant past when Idaho elected officials had moral compasses and were dedicated to serving the interests of the Gem State. Since agriculture is so important to the Idaho economy, they were constantly on guard against federal plans and schemes that would harm that vital industry. As legislative assistant to former U.S. Sen. Len Jordan in 1970-72, I had a front row seat to the action.

Every time there was even a hint of Idaho water being poached by another state, the entire Congressional delegation – Sens. Jordan and Frank Church and Reps. Orval Hansen and Jim McClure – spoke out loud and clear against it.

When President Richard Nixon ended beef import quotas in June of 1972 so as to bring in more beef and lower prices, the delegation collectively raised hell.

Jordan always vigorously opposed actions that would harm farmers in other states, figuring there was strength in numbers.

Len Jordan was the epitome of courage, having stood up to a president of his own party numerous times. He spoke out and voted against Nixon’s two segregationist U.S. Supreme Court nominees – Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell. He led the Senate floor fight in 1972 to force Nixon to spend funds lawfully appropriated by Congress. He supported the president when he thought he was right and opposed him when he was wrong.

With Jordan’s example in mind, it is frightening to see the craven cowardice of Idaho’s top politicians – Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher and Gov. Brad Little. When Donald Trump acts against the interests of farmers, we don’t hear a peep from these officials who are supposed to represent our interests.

When Trump announced to Californians a year ago that he wanted to send them Columbia River waters, our politicos remained silent. His Jan. 24 executive order meddling with irrigation water in federal storage did not elicit a peep. We can only hope he doesn’t try that in Idaho, as it does not appear our elected heroes will push back.

Our congressional delegation is afraid of telling Trump that the constitutional power to set tariffs is theirs, not his, and that his tariffs are raising farmers’ costs for fertilizer, machine parts, lumber, chemicals and practically everything they buy.

Sen. Crapo should take a particular interest in the tariff problem because he is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which is responsible for setting tariffs. Somebody should probably wake him up and let him know that Trump tariffs are hurting folks on the farm.

Idaho is not big into soybeans, but Midwestern farmers are desperate for help. China bought $12.6 billion in U.S. soybeans last year, but absolutely none this year, thanks to retaliation for Trump’s erratic tariffs.

Trump admires Argentina’s nutty President, Javier Milei, and spent 20 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars to keep him in office. Milei won at the expense of Midwestern farmers. China bought more than one million tons of Argentinian soybeans to fill its need and will likely purchase Argentinian and Brazilian soybeans long into the future.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) said the Argentine bailout was “probably one of the grossest things” she’s ever seen. Idaho’s top elected officials could not crank up the courage to protest.

Closer to home, Trump is throwing a haymaker at Idaho’s beef producers. I grew up in the cattle business. For many years my father, Henry Jones, had the largest beef operation in southern Idaho. It is kind of a boom or bust business. It happens to be the one bright spot on the agricultural scene in Idaho and across the country, but there have been many bust years and producers finally have a chance to make up for them.

But destroying the market of U.S. soybean farmers was not enough to help President Milei, so Trump now wants to quadruple beef imports from Argentina to knock down beef prices in the U.S. Trump claimed he had to help because Argentina was “dying, all right? They are dying.” Cattlemen in Idaho and across the country are justifiably outraged.

Rep. Greene said, “Honestly it’s a punch in the gut to all of our American cattle ranchers.” Senators representing South Dakota, Utah, Montana and Utah have publicly objected to Trump’s plan, but our congressional delegation and governor have remained silent, apparently frightened to stand up for our farm community.

That’s not really surprising because none of them will say anything about the thuggish tactics employed by ICE against Idaho’s undocumented workers who harvest our crops, milk our cows and do the important work that keeps Idaho’s agricultural sector operating.

If our officials can’t muster the courage to do their jobs, they should either undergo spinal transplants or check themselves into retirement homes.

Jim Jones served as Idaho attorney general for eight years (1983-1991) and as a justice of the Idaho Supreme Court for 12 years (2005-2017). His weekly columns are collected at JJCommonTater.com.

GOP governors are calling it Joe Biden's 'most egregious and tyrannical' action -- it may actually help them save lives

A convergence of three unsettling headlines appeared for my morning reading the day before the nation observed the 20-year commemoration of the tragic deaths of almost 3,000 Americans on Sept. 11, 2001. The very day of the remembrance ceremonies, the 7-day average for loss of American lives to the ongoing COVID-19 catastrophe was 1,666, as we rapidly approached a death toll of 660,000 Americans.

This article was originally published at Idaho Capital Sun

Ninety-eight percent of the COVID deaths since the first of the year could have been prevented by a free and effective vaccine.

The converging headlines read: “COVID-19 hospitalizations in Idaho reach a record level;" “Idaho Gov. Brad Little 'exploring' lawsuit against President Biden's vaccine mandate;" and “Unvaccinated people were 11 times more likely to die of COVID-19, CDC report says." Putting the stories together, Idaho's COVID hospitalizations have skyrocketed for lack of adequate state preventive measures, our governor is thinking of joining a number of other GOP governors in suing the president for trying to increase our vaccination rate, and unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die of COVID than those who have their shots.

Idaho's COVID crisis came about because too many Idahoans simply won't perform their civic duty of protecting themselves and others by getting a life-saving vaccination. That undemanding act would let everyone get back to work, school and regular life.

Federal and state leaders have urged, begged and cajoled people to do their part in bringing the pandemic under control but too many of us refuse to do it, endangering us all. The state of Idaho and many other Republican-led states refuse to require either vaccinations or, the second-best preventive measure, mandatory masking.

Should the federal government throw up its hands and just let the unvaccinated COVID patients pile up in the hospitals and mortuaries? That would be just as irresponsible as the state GOP governors who refuse to implement effective measures to get people masked and vaccinated. The hospitals need to be freed up for patients with other life-threatening conditions, and unvaccinated people need to be prevented from continuing to be virus spawning grounds.

The president's idea of using the Occupational Safety and Health Act to make workplaces of 100 or more employees safe for workers is reasonable and lawful. That will also protect the customers of those businesses and give the public confidence that something effective is finally being done in many Republican-controlled states to bring the pandemic under control.

The economic and health benefits will be significant. We won't have to spend every waking minute fretting that our kids and grandkids will be exposed and infected at schools or businesses.

Republican Party Chairman Tom Luna called Biden's vaccination and testing plan “one of the most egregious and tyrannical violations" of the U.S. Constitution. The legal basis for Biden's action was laid on Dec. 29, 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed the OSHA bill into law. Every Republican senator, except the former segregationist Democrat and Dixiecrat, Strom Thurmond, voted for the law.

I was working for Republican Sen. Len Jordan at the time, and he looked at it as a way to keep workers safe on the job.

OSHA is designed to protect workers from serious health and safety threats at work and is tailor-made for the COVID-19 virus. The mandate for employees to be vaccinated or tested at least once a week for the protection of everyone in the workplace is much like the mandate for school kids to get vaccinated against a whole raft of dreaded diseases as a condition of going to school.

Some of those GOP governors who are running around like Chicken Little, claiming that the sky is falling because of Biden's vaccination and testing mandate, may actually find some secret benefit in it. Biden's actions promise to bring the pandemic under control, whereas the inaction of the governors has only exacerbated it.

The governors can now score political points for railing against the mandate, while their voters are blessed by the lives saved as a result of the president's action.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christine Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com. Follow Idaho Capital Sun on Facebook and Twitter.