Defending Rights & Dissent Calls for Trump’s Impeachment for War Crimes

Over the weekend, President Trump dramatically escalated his rhetoric against Iran, where the U.S. and Israel have been bombing for weeks, killing thousands. Just today the coalition bombed Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, one of Iran’s most prestigious academic institutions. In social media posts, Trump threatened that “all Hell will reign down” on Iran if they don’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz, vowing to bomb civilian infrastructure, including energy plants.

Defending Rights & Dissent Policy Director Chip Gibbons issued the following statement in response:

“The intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure, such as power plants or bridges, is a clear-cut war crime under international law. Even if Trump’s war of choice in Iran was not unconstitutional, illegal, and immoral, such actions would be serious crimes warranting legal sanction. The U.S. cannot have a president who causally plots war crimes over social media, threatening a country of 93 million with “living in Hell” due to the destruction of civilian infrastructure that makes daily life for ordinary people livable. Congress must not only block funding for these severe breaches of international law or invoke the War Powers Act to end Trump’s unconstitutional war, they need to impeach Donald Trump and remove him from office.”

We will keep up the fight against illegal wars of aggression, and against violations of the U.S. Constitution and international law.