Peter Espeut | All is not fair in love and war

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F**k**’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH!” – Donald Trump, on Truth Social, Easter Sunday, April 5.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will”. – Donald Trump, on Truth Social, Tuesday, April 7.

As I wish you, my readers, a Happy and Holy Easter, I must also ask you to pardon my French, although it is not my own. It comes from the head of arguably the most powerful nation on Planet Earth, who was put in office by fundamentalist Christians who support him because he is pro-life!

But he is also a pyromaniac! You could see his glee as he released video footage of the explosions as boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific he alleged were carrying drugs were blown up by the US military. Since Operation Southern Spear began in September 2025 up to March 25, 2026 at least 47 strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific have resulted in over 160 deaths.

Drug trafficking – even if that is what is happening – is a crime under civil, not military law. Alleged offenders are to be arrested and brought before the courts, confronted with the evidence against them, and given an opportunity to defend themselves. Human rights organizations have condemned the strikes as unlawful extrajudicial killings, arguing they violate international law by targeting individuals without due process.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions which contain the laws which govern warfare by civilized countries, have been ratified by all 196 states on the planet, including the USA. All is not fair in (love and) war. Breaching the Geneva Conventions may constitute war crimes, punishable under international law.

The Geneva Conventions demand proportionality when it comes to the use of military force.

If the “war on drugs” is a military matter – and that has not been shown to be so – then drug dealers would be classified as enemy combatants, not civilians. If the alleged drug vessels were gunboats with deadly firepower, and they disobeyed orders to surrender, then force may be used to disable the vessels. Blowing them out of the water without warning causing loss of life would seem to be a breach of both civilian and military law, and would amount to war crimes. Especially if survivors are blown out of the water.

All human actions – civilian, military, or political – are subject to ethical and moral analysis. Politicians can pass laws that make their immoral actions legal; but their actions remain unethical and immoral.

Under the Geneva Conventions, civilians must not be targeted, and they must be allowed to leave targeted areas before the fighting starts. Only actions necessary to weaken the enemy’s military capacity are allowed. It is forbidden to use weapons or methods that cause suffering beyond what is necessary to achieve military goals.

Bombing residential areas amounts to a war crime.

Could it be that the mighty US did not foresee that Iran would put up more of a fight than Venezuela? Don’t they remember that it took 7,600 US troops between four to eight days to capture little Grenada (population 94,948) in 1983? And they had the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, the 82nd Airborne Division, the US Army Delta Force, the US Marines, Navy SEALs, elements of the former Rapid Deployment Force, and a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) from the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron of the US Air Force.

Was their intelligence so poor that they were unaware of the extent of Iran’s stock of missiles and cheap drones? Could they not foresee that Iran would take control of the narrow Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and halt all international shipping?

Last week, Donald Trump demanded (using expletives) that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping by 8 pm EST Tuesday evening or he would use US forces to destroy Iran’s 7,000-year-old civilization by attacking bridges and power plants, and destroying their freshwater supply (largely obtained through desalination). Some international law experts and world leaders have declared that should these attacks on largely civilian infrastructure take place, they would be illegal, amounting to war crimes.

This week Tuesday in Brampton, Ontario, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that leaders involved in the war in Iran must “choose their words” and act prudently, and that all parties in the Iran war need to respect international law. “That means not targeting, certainly civilians, or civilian infrastructure. And we urge all parties in this war to follow those responsibilities”.

Good for him! At least somebody has cojones!

Two days ago, Pope Leo XIV urged Americans to contact their political leaders and congressional representatives and to remind them that attacks on civilian infrastructure are “against international law” and a “sign of the hatred, the division, the destruction human beings are capable of, and we all want to work for peace”.

On April 7 across the US, theologians, priests, academics, authors, media personalities, bishops and others took to social media to warn that military strikes on civilian targets and infrastructure in Iran would constitute grave evils and violate the Catholic Church’s just war criteria.

“Unfortunately, if President Trump carries out his threat, two civilizations will die and humanity will be left wounded,” Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, Spain, wrote on X. Archbishop Argüello, President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, said that the “end, which in this case is not even good, never justifies the means.”

Many Americans believe that President Trump is unhinged. The quality and effectiveness of the much vaunted US Constitution will be put to the test in dealing with this threat to US civilization.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and development scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com