At a press conference on Monday, President Donald Trump did more than just defend his morally reprehensible threat to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure if the country does not comply with his demand to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by 8 p.m. on Tuesday night. He warned that all of Iran “can be taken out” in one night. That comment seemed to echo his more specific (and vulgar) post on Truth Social on Sunday.
If the United States does in fact conduct such strikes, they would disable much of Iran’s economy, wreak havoc on its health care system and otherwise cause untold suffering across the civilian population.
The president’s advocacy of potential war crimes comes amid his increasingly desperate bid to get a leg up on Iran. But while the threats are ominous, the intimidation is highly unlikely to succeed strategically — and could even backfire.
This is a preview of Zeeshan Aleem’s latest column. Read the full column here.
