President Donald Trump’s threat to obliterate Iran’s civilian infrastructure would almost certainly constitute a war crime, and may even backfire spectacularly, national security experts warned in a New York Times column published Monday.
Writing for the Times, W.J. Hennigan laid out the case that Trump’s social media ultimatum threatening to destroy Iran’s electrical generating plants, oil wells and desalination facilities if the regime doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz would violate the laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law.
“It’s wanton destruction that would bring about clear and foreseeable catastrophic effects on the civilian population,” American University law professor Robert Goldman told Hennigan.
Former State Department lawyer Brian Finucane, an expert in laws of war, agreed.
“Whether a power plant would constitute a military objective or civilian object would depend on the facts and circumstances, but the president’s categorical statement represents a threat to target even civilian objects regardless of the requirement for distinction, which would be a war crime,” warned Finucane.
Some 90 million Iranians depend on the infrastructure Trump threatened to destroy.
The column also highlighted a stunning admission from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has publicly dismissed what he called “stupid rules of engagement,” the legal framework American military lawyers use to protect civilians.
“If the U.S. military follows through with the president’s proposed attacks, it will surely open an even bloodier new chapter as the war continues in its fifth week. It would be a major escalation that risks even greater Iranian retaliation against allies’ energy sites across the Gulf, causing a domino effect of suffering for civilians across the Middle East,” Hennigan said.
What’s more, it could blow up in Trump’s face.
“It would also be self-defeating. Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel have repeatedly called upon average Iranians to revolt and overthrow the regime. A bombing campaign against the critical utilities these very people depend on to live their lives is hardly an inspiring call to action. More likely, it would propagate a new generation of enemies for Americans to fight,” he concluded.
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