Donald Trump has repeatedly announced his intention to commit war crimes by bombing Iranian cultural sites. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that won’t happen—but he’s not in charge.
“We will follow the laws of armed conflict,” Esper told reporters, and agreed that it’s against the laws of armed conflict to target cultural sites. That’s a nice thing to say (well, actually, it’s the bare minimum thing to say, but if you grade on the Trump curve, it’s a nice thing to say), but what’s Esper going to do to prevent Trump from breaking the law?
Sen. Lindsey Graham told The New York Times that he talked to Trump on the phone and conveyed the basic “don’t commit war crimes” message. “I think the president saying ‘we will hit you hard’ is the right message,” he said. “Cultural sites is not hitting them hard; it’s creating more problems. We’re trying to show solidarity with the Iranian people.” (So it’s solidarity when border agents detain Iranian Americans returning home from Canada?)
The bottom line is that it’s all very well for some of the people around Trump to claim that they’ll temper his worst impulses, but there’s only so much they can do—or are even willing to try to do—to stop him. Meanwhile, Trump is surrounded by people like Kellyanne Conway and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who are busy trying to convince the public that Trump isn’t saying what he’s saying, and if he were, there’d be nothing wrong with it. Mark Esper can say, “We will follow the laws of armed conflict” all he wants, but he’s not giving any reason to believe that’s the case.