𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍: “𝐁𝐘 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐒, 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍.”
The left is screaming “𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴” over Trump’s strikes on Iranian infrastructure. VDH has a simple response: 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭.
Because if targeting dual-use infrastructure is a war crime, then every president in modern American history is guilty.
World War II: the United States firebombed Japanese cities, targeting civilian workshops and factories. We leveled Dresden alongside the British. Nobody was indicted.
Korea: Truman ordered the destruction of North Korean bridges and hydroelectric plants. Vietnam: Johnson and Nixon ran bombing campaigns that hit civilian infrastructure for years.
The 1991 Gulf War: Bush and Colin Powell 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 across Iraq. Clinton bombed Danube bridges in Serbia in 1999. Obama launched an unauthorized bombing campaign in Libya in 2011 that toppled a government and left a failed state.
Not one war crimes trial. Not one indictment. Not one congressional investigation into “𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
But Trump hits Iranian military and nuclear sites and suddenly the entire commentariat discovers international humanitarian law. The standard only applies to presidents they hate.
VDH’s conclusion is devastating: this isn’t a legal argument. It’s 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 dressed up in the language of The Hague.
𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐃𝐑. 𝐎𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰.