What was meant to be a presidential victory lap to mark the successful rescue of a downed American airman over the weekend became yet another stage for President Donald Trump to threaten blatant war crimes against Iran, upending nearly a century of American adherence to international treaties governing armed conflict between countries.
He was not yet five minutes into a stem-winding set of remarks on the Iran War from inside the White House briefing room on Monday when he inexplicably threatened journalists with prison terms for reporting last week that an American F-15 fighter had been brought down by Iranian fire, necessitating a high-stakes rescue mission to bring back one of the aircraft’s two pilots who was at large in enemy territory.
