U.S. Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) criticized U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz for defending President Donald Trump‘s renewed threat to destroy Iran’s energy infrastructure (power plants) and civil infrastructure, even as Trump sends Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan again for another round of purported peace talks.
[NOTE: Iran has reportedly said it has “no plans” at present to attend the talks, which were announced by the White House with the expiration of the two-week ceasefire just days away.]
Trump’s renewed threat echoed his enormously controversial pronouncement, made two weeks ago, that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not agree to the ceasefire, a statement many interpreted as a threat of genocide.
Addressing Waltz’s support for Trump’s new threat, Lieu wrote: “Dear @USAmbUN: You are wrong. Federal law requires our military to follow the principle of proportionality. Bombing ‘every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge’ causes excessive civilian harm, which are war crimes. And there is no statute of limitations for war crimes.”
Dear @USAmbUN: You are wrong. Federal law requires our military to follow the principle of proportionality. Bombing “every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge” causes excessive civilian harm, which are war crimes.
And there is no statute of limitations for war crimes. https://t.co/G9iDXXfo0t
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 19, 2026
Trump supporters say no such “proportionality” law exists. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Buzz Patterson, a military aide to President Bill Clinton from May 1996 to May 1998 and one of five individuals entrusted with carrying the “nuclear football” — the bag containing the codes for launching nuclear weapons — replied to Lieu: “There is absolutely NO law requiring our military to do any such thing. Apparently, Ted didn’t study law in law school.”
[NOTE: Lieu, a graduate of Georgetown Law School, is likely referencing the Law of Armed Conflict, also known as International Humanitarian Law, which is applied in the Defense Department’s Law of War Manual. It’s a set of international rules “to protect those not participating in fighting (civilians, medics) and those no longer fighting (wounded, prisoners), while restricting the methods of warfare.” Violations of the IHL can be prosecuted under the War Crimes Act.]