The Department of Defense Law of War Manual says that members of the armed forces “must refuse to comply with clearly illegal orders to commit law of war violations.” It also offers an example of a clearly illegal order that hits home: “For example, orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.” All that’s left for the government to try and do this week is to claim that The Washington Post’s report that says it did just that in the Caribbean in September is untrue.