Does Trump Risk Turning America Into a Rogue State?

Suppose Iran dispatched operatives to Mexico, where, from the Texas border, they fired a missile at an American base and, unintentionally but carelessly, demolished a nearby American school, killing 175 people.

What if they then blew up fuel depots, showering a chemical rain on residents? Then struck homes, schools and clinics, as Iran’s leader warned that “death, fire and fury” would so pulverize America that it could never be rebuilt?

In that case, President Trump — and all of us — would howl at outrageous attacks on innocent civilians. And we’d be right.

War achieved an industrial savagery in World War II: After the firebombing of Tokyo, the United States boasted that it might have killed more people (perhaps 100,000) in six hours than ever before in history. After the war, in sober reflection, the United States helped lead a global effort to try to tame the savagery of conflict and, in particular, to shield civilians. The additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions, for example, stipulate that it is impermissible to destroy infrastructure that civilians depend on — such as “drinking water installations.”

In recent years, that veneer of civilization has seemed to slip away. After invading Ukraine, Russia bombed civilians and cut off their heat and electricity. In Gaza, Israel starved Palestinians, targeted children and destroyed health care and education systems, according to a U.N. commission. In Sudan, the United Arab Emirates has backed a militia that has starved civilians and engaged in mass murder and mass rape.

The United States supplied weaponry used in Gaza and has failed to call out the Emirates, but it still — inconsistently, halfheartedly — professed to uphold the laws of war. Now in Iran, I fear we may be retreating even further from the principles we once proclaimed, loosening the shackles that civilized nations place on themselves to protect our shared humanity.

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Nicholas Kristof became a columnist for The Times Opinion desk in 2001 and has won two Pulitzer Prizes. His new memoir is “Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life.” @NickKristof

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