There’s nothing in the military’s 1,200-page Law of War Manual about whether it’s legal to end a civilization, perhaps because nobody could have imagined an American president would make such an apocalyptic threat.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post Tuesday morning, referencing his 8 p.m. deadline for Iran to cry “Uncle” to the US and open the Strait of Hormuz. Trump later Tuesday announced he’d agreed to a two-week ceasefire on the condition that Iran agree to reopen the critical waterway.
Ever the reality TV showman, Trump timed his deadline for Iran to prime-time TV hours in the US — and announced the two-week pause with less than two hours to go before his deadline.
The underlying threat remains, however. Never one to let international law get in the way, Trump is still flirting with ordering the US military to commit war crimes by undertaking civilizational erasure.
Maybe those words are bombast or a “madman theory” negotiating tactic – nobody knows exactly what he’ll do. Maybe they are the obvious result of a president being told by the Supreme Court he has immunity from all law for his official acts as president.
Trump is largely immune from US laws. What about the military?
The same immunity may not exist for everyone under his command. Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, told CNN’s Kasie Hunt that members of the military have an obligation not to follow illegal orders.
“If you’re asked to target civilians, if you’re asked to kill women and children, you’re asked to kill noncombatants, you’re asked to bomb a school, you’re asked to bomb a civilian power plant, that would be a war crime,” Crow said. Service members, he said, have independent obligations to follow the law of armed conflict.
There is bipartisan concern. Right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson, for instance, said officials in the administration should say no if Trump orders the killing of civilians.