View of Pentagon Photo: VCG

The US used a secret aircraft that painted to look like a civilian plane in a military operation that killed 11 people last September, it was exposed by the New York Times on Monday. A Chinese expert said on Tuesday that, if the case turns out to be true, using aircraft in civilian disguise for military operations violates international law, and it is an immoral behavior that could severely undermine the international order of civilian aviation. The expert also warned all parties to raise vigilance, as the case further exposed the US’ recklessness in resorting to foul means in military operations.

Citing officials briefed on the matter, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first attack on a boat that the Trump administration claimed was smuggling drugs, killing 11 people last September. The aircraft also carried its munitions inside the fuselage, rather than visibly under its wings, they said.

But the laws of armed conflict prohibit combatants from feigning civilian status to fool adversaries into dropping their guard, then attacking and killing them. That is a war crime called “perfidy,” the New York Times noted.

The report quoted retired major general Steven J. Lepper, a former deputy judge advocate general for the United States Air Force, as saying that if the aircraft had been painted in a way that disguised its military nature and got close enough for the people on the boat to see it — tricking them into failing to realize they should take evasive action or surrender to survive — that was a war crime under armed-conflict standards.

“Shielding your identity is an element of perfidy,” he said. “If the aircraft flying above is not identifiable as a combatant aircraft, it should not be engaged in combatant activity,” according to the New York Times. 

The New York Times reported that questions about perfidy have arisen in closed-door briefings of Congress by military leaders, according to people familiar with the matter, but have not been publicly discussed because the aircraft is classified. The public debate has focused on a follow-up strike that killed the two initial survivors, despite a war-law prohibition on targeting the shipwrecked.

The press office for the US Special Operations Command, whose leader, Admiral Frank M. Bradley, ran the operation on September 2, declined to comment on the nature of the aircraft used in the attack. But the Pentagon insisted in a statement that its arsenal has undergone legal review for compliance with the laws of armed conflict, the New York Times reported, noting that the White House did not respond to a request for comment.

It is not clear what the aircraft was. While multiple officials confirmed that it was not painted in a classic military style, they declined to specify exactly what it looked like, according to the New York Times.

Wang Yunfei, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that using aircraft in civilian disguise for armed conflicts is a violation of international law and related provisions about armed conflicts, which could bring many uncertainties and severely undermine the global civilian aviation order.

“Given this case, if it turns out to be true, when you encounter a US civilian aircraft, wouldn’t you worry that it could be a military aircraft in disguise?” Wang asked, calling this a very irresponsible, vicious and immoral move that would also weaken the international community’s trust in the US, bringing more uncertainties and instabilities that could lead to regional conflicts.

The legitimacy and motives behind the US’ military operations in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean, carried out in the name of combating drug trafficking, are already questionable in the first place, and the latest report about using aircraft in civilian disguise for attack only adds to those doubts, Wang said.

Against the backdrop of the US’ forcible seizing of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife earlier this month, it was further exposed by media that the US could resort to reckless, foul means previously unimaginable to reach its goals, Wang said, calling for other countries to be more vigilant and to prepare to defend against similar attacks.