SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Anti-war activist protest in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 2020. (Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Expert Notes US Bombing of Iran That Didn't Target Cultural Sites Would Still Be 'Terrible and Illegal'
The warning comes as President Donald Trump continued to assert the U.S. has a right to attack culturally significant sites.
Jan 05, 2020
As President Donald Trump doubled down Sunday on his threat to target cultural sites in Iran if the country retaliated over the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, one military analyst reminded the public that a more "culturally sensitive" American bombing campaign "would also be terrible and illegal."
The warning came by tweet from Ben Friedman, policy director of Defense Priorities, a pro-military group that advocates a "more prudent, restrained foreign policy."
\u201cGlad everyone is pointing out that bombing cultural sites in Iran would be terrible and illegal, but a culturally sensitive war on Iran that avoids bombing its landmarks would also be terrible and illegal.\u201d— Ben Friedman (@Ben Friedman) 1578275166
Friedman's statement was backdropped by continued scrutiny over Trump's assertion Sunday that the U.S. has a right to attack Iranian cultural sites. The U.S. is party to the 1954 Hague Cultural Property Convention, which makes it a war crime to intentionally attack cultural sites.
Speaking to press aboard Air Force One, Trump said: "They're allowed to kill our people. They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites. It doesn't work that way."
That suggestion came a day after Trump sparked outrage when he tweeted Saturday: "Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD."
Responding to that threat, Iran's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, compared Trump to the Islamic State (ISIS), which has destroyed culturally important landmarks in Iraq and Syria.
\u201c@realDonaldTrump Those masquerading as diplomats and those who shamelessly sat to identify Iranian cultural & civilian targets should not even bother to open a law dictionary.\n\nJus cogens refers to peremptory norms of international law, i.e. international red lines. That is, a big(ly) "no no".\u201d— Javad Zarif (@Javad Zarif) 1578213810
Democratic lawmakers including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Barbara Lee (Calif.) are attempting to rein in Trump's march towards war with Iran with War Powers resolutions to reassert their congressional role.
"The stakes could not be higher," Omar said in a tweet Sunday.
Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, said Monday: "Trump should be impeached for his attacks and threats against Iran. These are far more brazen violations of the War Powers Clause of the U.S. Constitution than anything regarding Ukraine."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As President Donald Trump doubled down Sunday on his threat to target cultural sites in Iran if the country retaliated over the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, one military analyst reminded the public that a more "culturally sensitive" American bombing campaign "would also be terrible and illegal."
The warning came by tweet from Ben Friedman, policy director of Defense Priorities, a pro-military group that advocates a "more prudent, restrained foreign policy."
\u201cGlad everyone is pointing out that bombing cultural sites in Iran would be terrible and illegal, but a culturally sensitive war on Iran that avoids bombing its landmarks would also be terrible and illegal.\u201d— Ben Friedman (@Ben Friedman) 1578275166
Friedman's statement was backdropped by continued scrutiny over Trump's assertion Sunday that the U.S. has a right to attack Iranian cultural sites. The U.S. is party to the 1954 Hague Cultural Property Convention, which makes it a war crime to intentionally attack cultural sites.
Speaking to press aboard Air Force One, Trump said: "They're allowed to kill our people. They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites. It doesn't work that way."
That suggestion came a day after Trump sparked outrage when he tweeted Saturday: "Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD."
Responding to that threat, Iran's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, compared Trump to the Islamic State (ISIS), which has destroyed culturally important landmarks in Iraq and Syria.
\u201c@realDonaldTrump Those masquerading as diplomats and those who shamelessly sat to identify Iranian cultural & civilian targets should not even bother to open a law dictionary.\n\nJus cogens refers to peremptory norms of international law, i.e. international red lines. That is, a big(ly) "no no".\u201d— Javad Zarif (@Javad Zarif) 1578213810
Democratic lawmakers including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Barbara Lee (Calif.) are attempting to rein in Trump's march towards war with Iran with War Powers resolutions to reassert their congressional role.
"The stakes could not be higher," Omar said in a tweet Sunday.
Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, said Monday: "Trump should be impeached for his attacks and threats against Iran. These are far more brazen violations of the War Powers Clause of the U.S. Constitution than anything regarding Ukraine."
As President Donald Trump doubled down Sunday on his threat to target cultural sites in Iran if the country retaliated over the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, one military analyst reminded the public that a more "culturally sensitive" American bombing campaign "would also be terrible and illegal."
The warning came by tweet from Ben Friedman, policy director of Defense Priorities, a pro-military group that advocates a "more prudent, restrained foreign policy."
\u201cGlad everyone is pointing out that bombing cultural sites in Iran would be terrible and illegal, but a culturally sensitive war on Iran that avoids bombing its landmarks would also be terrible and illegal.\u201d— Ben Friedman (@Ben Friedman) 1578275166
Friedman's statement was backdropped by continued scrutiny over Trump's assertion Sunday that the U.S. has a right to attack Iranian cultural sites. The U.S. is party to the 1954 Hague Cultural Property Convention, which makes it a war crime to intentionally attack cultural sites.
Speaking to press aboard Air Force One, Trump said: "They're allowed to kill our people. They're allowed to torture and maim our people. They're allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we're not allowed to touch their cultural sites. It doesn't work that way."
That suggestion came a day after Trump sparked outrage when he tweeted Saturday: "Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD."
Responding to that threat, Iran's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, compared Trump to the Islamic State (ISIS), which has destroyed culturally important landmarks in Iraq and Syria.
\u201c@realDonaldTrump Those masquerading as diplomats and those who shamelessly sat to identify Iranian cultural & civilian targets should not even bother to open a law dictionary.\n\nJus cogens refers to peremptory norms of international law, i.e. international red lines. That is, a big(ly) "no no".\u201d— Javad Zarif (@Javad Zarif) 1578213810
Democratic lawmakers including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Barbara Lee (Calif.) are attempting to rein in Trump's march towards war with Iran with War Powers resolutions to reassert their congressional role.
"The stakes could not be higher," Omar said in a tweet Sunday.
Francis Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois College of Law, said Monday: "Trump should be impeached for his attacks and threats against Iran. These are far more brazen violations of the War Powers Clause of the U.S. Constitution than anything regarding Ukraine."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.