00:00Trump says that every time Iran attacks a ship on the Strait of Hormuz,
00:03the US will take out an Iranian bridge or power plant. It's not that simple. Let me explain.
00:09Think of the laws of war like rules of engagement. You can't just hit something because you're angry,
00:14and you can't trade one target for another like Pokemon cards. Before the military strikes a
00:20bridge or power plant, it has to answer three questions. First, what is the target actually
00:25doing? A bridge is usually civilian infrastructure. So is a power plant. But let's say that bridge is
00:31being used to move missiles, troops, or weapons. Well, that can be seen as a bridge helping the war
00:36effort. Same with a power plant. If it is directly powering a military base or weapons system,
00:42it can legally become a target. Directly is the keyword here. Second, what happens after you hit
00:48it? Say destroying the bridge delays a weapons convoy for a few hours, but also cuts off the
00:54only road to a hospital. That's when things get tricky. The military advantage has to be worth
00:59the civilian damage you expect the strike to cause. And you also have to ask whether there is another
01:04way to get the job done with less harm. Can you hit a convoy? Can you wait for the bridge
01:09to be
01:10empty? Can you just take out one section and not the whole bridge? These aren't questions to be nice
01:15or courteous. They are part of a legal test. Third is whether this is the kind of target that could
01:20unleash something much worse. That's where dams, dikes, and nuclear power stations come in. Hit the
01:27wrong part of one of those, and you are not just bombing a building. You are potentially releasing
01:33radiation or flooding civilians. The law gives those three things extra protection for just that
01:39reason. Nobody can touch them. Ever. Not under any circumstances. In April, U.S. officials said they
01:45struck a bridge near Tehran because the Iranian military planned to use it to move weapons and
01:51supplies, which is the type of argument the law understands. Trump's formula is different,
01:56saying one Iranian attack buys the U.S. a bridge or a power plant to blow up. We map the
02:01sites Iran
02:01says have been hit and what the U.S. says it was targeting at Straight Arrow.
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