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Deliberately attacking a purely civilian object violates the principle of distinction, which is bedrock customary law the US has never disputed. > “better than
by nickvec 4mo ago
Deliberately attacking a purely civilian object violates the principle of distinction, which is bedrock customary law the US has never disputed.
> “better than carpet bombing”
The lawful alternative is attacking military targets, not worse civilian targets.
> “why is it legal for Iran to bomb oil tankers?”
Iran’s conduct being illegal doesn’t legalize this strike. Whataboutism is a scourge.
- OutOfHere 4mo agoCustomary law is not formal law. Trump flies above the bedrock. The thing to realize is that US could have destroyed 10-100x more civilian infrastructure. Instead it only gave Iran a small taste of what it's capable of. In undertaking this action, just as with the nukes in WWII, the gambit is to end the war quickly, not to prolong it. I am not saying whether the gambit will work, but why is prolonging war not illegal? Spatial whataboutism is perfectly fair in war. A tit-for-tat strategy forms a highly stabilizing bedrock.