Senator Says Trump Will Be Guilty of a ‘War Crime’ if President Makes Good on Angry Truth Social Threat
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said President Donald Trump will be guilty of a “war crime” if he makes good on his angry Truth Social post threatening to go after Iranian civilian infrastructure.
On Sunday, Trump took to social media in a furious outburst, demanding the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and warning of attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump wrote. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*ckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Blumenthal expressed concerns about “the stark, hard truth” of Iran’s ongoing capabilities after two U.S. aircraft went down during the ongoing war with Iran.
“Here’s what I think the stark, hard truth is: that the Iranians still have the capacity to attack our aircraft,” Blumenthal said. “Despite the claim and the boasting that we have total superiority and control of the airspace, they still have drones and missiles. We have not destroyed completely their capacity. And the really hard truth is that bombing alone can’t accomplish any of President Trump’s objectives here, whether it’s regime change or controlling the enriched uranium, or giving the Iranian people a chance at changing their regime.”
Blumenthal hypothesized that the U.S. could be on the verge of a ground invasion of Iran.
“What it also tells me is that we are on the precipice, potentially, of a catastrophic invasion, an operation to put troops on the ground, because none of these objectives can be accomplished by bombing alone,” he said. “And that’s been my fear that I’ve expressed repeatedly based on the classified briefings that I’ve received as to what our tactics have been and could be, as well as the fact that the president has dragged us into a war that the American people don’t want, without a strategy, and a tremendous economic cost. But now, mounting casualties among civilians, as well as our own military, 365 wounded.”
When asked by Bash if bombing Iran’s energy and other infrastructure could be an effective strategy to achieve Trump’s goals without a ground invasion, Blumenthal doubled down on his prior statements.
“Not the goals that the president has set for this war, because the Iranians may lose their bridges and their power plants, but they still have uranium, and they continue to have drones and missiles, which don’t rely on those power plants or the bridges for them to fire and continue to wreak havoc on the world economy by controlling and blocking the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
Pivoting from talk of effectiveness to ethics, Bash asked Blumenthal, who was previously the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, if bombing civilian infrastructure targets would be considered a war crime.
“The clear answer is yes, it would be a war crime,” he said. “And that’s why it is so important for Congress now to establish accountability, say no to this war by passing the War Powers Resolution, say no to additional spending in the supplemental that the president apparently is going to request, and why the American people who don’t want this war should impose accountability through elections, and my Republican colleagues, maybe for the first time in any Trump administration, should show some spine and stand up in a moment of national crisis.”
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓