Apocalyptic Threats: Trump's Strategic Weakness Revealed

Apocalyptic threats from the US president have shamed the office and raise serious concerns about the nation's moral and strategic standing. Donald Trump's recent expletive-ridden social media post, if acted upon, would constitute a war crime under international law.

Article 52 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions prohibits attacks on civilian targets. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military officers and officials responsible for attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as these assaults and missile strikes on cities and towns to terrify and demoralize the population constitute war crimes. The same would apply if Trump's threats to bomb Iran back to the 'stone age' this week were carried out.

These basic tenets of international law must be reiterated at a time when Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, appear to speak from a bloodthirsty fever dream. Hegseth, an Evangelical Christian, has gloried repulsively in the Pentagon's capacity to order death and destruction, presenting Operation Epic Fury as a 21st-century crusade 'to break the teeth of the ungodly'.