With Trump Threatening a Genocide, Military Must Disobey His Orders, Former Pentagon Officials Say |
Special Investigations
Press Freedom Defense Fund
With Trump Threatening a Genocide, Military Must Disobey His Orders, Former Pentagon Officials Say
“What President Trump is describing as the destruction of ‘a whole civilization’ would be a war crime, plain and simple.”
President Donald Trump threatened to commit genocide in Iran, ahead of warnings of a wave of attacks on civilian infrastructure on Tuesday night. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. This followed a drumbeat of similar threats of wanton and criminal destruction. “The entire country could be taken out in one night. And that night might be tomorrow night,” he said on Monday, having recently warned he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.”
“President Trump has repeatedly threatened war crimes in Iran and now he is expressing genocidal intent,” said Sarah Harrison, an associate general counsel at the Pentagon’s Office of General Counsel, International Affairs during Trump’s first term. “Every single lawmaker and national security leader needs to stand against this and make clear to the U.S. military that these are unlawful orders and if carried out they will someday face criminal prosecution.”
This interpretation was echoed by Rebecca Ingber, a former State Department lawyer and now a law professor at Cardozo Law School. “The U.S. understanding of the definition of genocide in the Genocide Convention requires a ‘specific intent’ to destroy a group — such as a national or ethnic group as relevant here,” she told The Intercept. “That is an intentionally high bar, and one that explicitly would not cover unintended consequences of armed conflict. If acted upon, the President’s statement would be evidence of that required specific intent.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened to obliterate Iran’s civilian infrastructure should the nation’s leaders not heed his demands. “We have a plan because of the power of our military where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12:00 tomorrow night,” he said on Monday. “Where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again.” This echoed an Easter morning missive. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!” Trump ranted on Truth Social. “Open the Fuckin’ Strait [of Hormuz], you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Asked on Monday if he was concerned that his threat to bomb power plants or bridges amounts to war crimes, Trump replied “No, not at all,” and said in another interview, “I’m not worried about it.”
“There is no gray area on this under international law.”
“There is no gray area on this under international law.”
“What President Trump is describing as the destruction of ‘a whole civilization’ would be a war crime, plain and simple,”........