President Donald Trump’s unhinged war ramblings have left war veterans and former government officials “disgusted.”
The backlash erupted after Trump, 79, warned Tuesday morning that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Tehran does not open up the Strait of Hormuz. A separate post on Sunday threatening to obliterate civilian infrastructure also contributed to the outrage among those who have served.
Naveed Shah, political director for Common Defense and an Army veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, said he is “disgusted and genuinely alarmed” by Trump’s “increasingly unhinged rhetoric.”
He told the Daily Beast on Tuesday: “I know over the last decade we have become desensitized to Trump’s locker room talk, but language like that is beneath the dignity of the office and dangerous for our troops on the ground.”
He took particular issue with the “sarcastic Praise be to Allah line” from Trump’s post on Sunday, which he labeled “grotesque” because it mocks a faith practiced by millions, “including many who fought alongside us in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“Trump’s statement today about the ‘whole civilization’ is the opposite of a responsible Commander-in-Chief,” he added.
He drew attention to the 13 troops the U.S. has lost during Operation Epic Fury, as well as the hundreds injured, and said, “Every casualty is a bill we pay in blood while the President heckles from the cheap seats.”
“Threatening to expand this war without any regard for the damage it has caused and what it will cost demonstrates his contempt for our troops, the American people who do not support this, and the innocent people caught in the middle,” Shah said.
He said that it appears that the president and his close advisers on the war are “not negotiating or looking for off-ramps.”
“Instead, he’s issuing ultimatums via tweet. Without clear, realistic conditions for de-escalation, we’re surging towards another forever war in the Middle East,” he said.
Rick Shimek, of the American Legion chapter in Miami, told MS NOW’s Alex Tabet that he was “totally against” the route Trump is taking with respect to Iran.
“It’s a war crime. I mean, how do you win a war by destroying the country?” Shimek said. “It’s just, he even said it! It would take years to rebuild the infrastructure that he wants to blow up tomorrow. So let’s hope they negotiate and this never happens.”
Brian Finucane, a former state department lawyer, told the Beast that Trump “appears desperate and is using threats to try to coerce Tehran to reach a deal.”
He said the situation is “unprecedented and suggests that he is in over his head.”
Foreign officials have also warned of the legal issues that would arise if Trump follows through on his threats.
“Under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk.
Many prominent conservative voices in the U.S. have also turned on the president. Former congresswoman and Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday called to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the president from office.
“Not a single bomb has dropped on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness,” she said.
When reached for comment, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Beast that Iran has until 8 p.m. Tuesday to “meet the moment and make a deal with the United States."
“Only the President knows where things stand and what he will do,” Leavitt said.
