One principal aspect of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is the rule that militaries are required to use force only against enemy combatants or military objectives, writes CERL Advisory Council Member Benjamin Farley at Foreign Policy. President Trump’s repeated threats against all Iranian infrastructure, far from distinguishing military from civilian targets, would violate IHL if executed.  

Benjamin R. Farley is special counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, a Visiting (non-resident) Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Human Rights Center, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law. Read his bio here.     

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.