Trump Iran threats put U.S. military in moral crosshairs
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- Trump posted Tuesday that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," escalating a series of public warnings to destroy Iran's bridges, power plants, and other infrastructure.
- Rachel VanLandingham, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former legal advisor at U.S. Central Command, argues Trump's threat itself constitutes a war crime, citing the impermissibility of using threats of violence for the prime purpose of sowing civilian terror.
- Trump shrugged off Monday questions about potential U.S. war crimes in Iran, telling reporters: "You know the war crime? The war crime is allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted top military lawyers he perceived as potential "roadblocks" to enacting the president's agenda, removing a key internal check on unlawful orders.
- More than 100 attorneys, academics, and former government officials signed an April letter expressing "profound concern" about comments by U.S. officials regarding the Iran campaign.
- Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group warns of a "wrinkle" from the Caribbean boat strikes precedent: if the DOJ blesses an order as lawful, it becomes "much harder for anyone to push back" against potentially illegal commands.
Why it matters: With Hegseth having ousted top military lawyers he saw as "roadblocks" and the DOJ potentially pre-blessing orders as lawful — as it did with the Caribbean boat strikes — the traditional safeguards protecting service members from unlawful commands have been weakened from both sides. Officers who refuse potentially illegal strikes could face discipline; those who comply could face international war crimes scrutiny, with the retired Air Force colonel arguing the threats alone already cross the line.
