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After President Donald Trump warned that the United States could target Iran\u2019s energy infrastructure, critics overlooked that such strikes have been a standard practice of modern warfare for nearly a century.<\/p>\n
\u201cTuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,\u201d Trump posted Sunday on Truth Social. \u201cThere will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*ckin\u2019 Strait, you crazy bastards, or you\u2019ll be living in Hell \u2013 JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reiterated the warning Monday, telling reporters, \u201cEvery bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o\u2019clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again. I mean complete demolition by 12 o\u2019clock, and it will happen over a period of four hours if we wanted to \u2014 we don\u2019t want that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Critics responded by warning such actions could violate international law. A spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned<\/a> against targeting civilian infrastructure. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-NJ) accused Trump of proposing \u201cmass war crimes,\u201d arguing that destroying bridges and power plants would both harm innocent civilians and fail to reopen the Strait. Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International similarly stated<\/a> that attacks on power plants are \u201cgenerally prohibited\u201d and could be unlawful if they cause disproportionate civilian harm.<\/p>\n Yet targeting energy and infrastructure has long been a cornerstone of military strategy.<\/p>\n During World War II, during the Ploe\u0219ti Raids<\/a> in 1943 (Operation Tidal Wave), U.S. bombers launched a high-risk raid on the Romanian oil refineries that supplied roughly 30% of Nazi Germany\u2019s fuel. By 1944, relentless bombing<\/a> of coal-to-liquid fuel plants (like those at Leuna) helped cripple German military operations due to fuel shortages.<\/p>\n In the Korean War, Operation Pressure Pump<\/a> in 1952 saw U.S. forces attack major hydroelectric plants, knocking out roughly 90% of North Korea\u2019s power grid and even causing blackouts in parts of China.<\/p>\n During the Vietnam War, in Operation Rolling Thunder<\/a>, the U.S. targeted North Vietnamese petroleum, oil, and lubricant (POL) storage facilities. Later in the war, during\u00a0Operation Linebacker, the U.S. used \u201csmart bombs\u201d (laser-guided) to strike the thermal power plants in Hanoi, significantly disrupting the city\u2019s electricity.<\/p>\n In the 1991 Gulf War, U.S.-led coalition forces destroyed<\/a> or disabled nearly 90% of Iraq\u2019s national power grid within days. The United States used specialized \u201cGraphite Bombs\u201d (non-lethal wire-dropping canisters) to short-circuit electrical substations.<\/p>\n More recently during the 2011 Libya intervention, NATO forces targeted<\/a> fuel and logistics infrastructure (including refueling equipment)\u00a0used by Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s military. In the war against ISIS, Operation Tidal Wave II \u00a0targeted<\/a> the oil infrastructure controlled by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n