No trifling matter: War requires strict protocols

Signalgate' should worry countries other than the US too. It's a reminder that a rules-based world order cannot be abandoned without putting the world's peace and prosperity at risk

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Donald Trump has sought to dismiss Signalgate as "the only glitch" in his two months as US president for the second time.

But this will not wash with others around the world. Indeed, not even in the US. Even more bizarre than the accidental inclusion of a publication's editor in a Signal chat on a plan for military action overseas is the fact of social media being used for the purpose. This apparently casual approach to the operation-strikes aimed at Houthis in Yemen stands in contrast to the gravity with which US armed forces would presumably have treated it. According to the journalist in question, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, the Signal group had America's topmost security officials as participants. Whatever Americans make of it, to the rest of the world, the revelation signals a deep malaise-a cavalier outlook on matters of life and death.

As reported, emojis like the fist-bump, fire and high-five (or folded hands) populated the chat.