The Drunken Vizsla

Hi there, Rep. Khanna. Retired Army JAG here & current prof of int'l law. And you are way out of your depth. You should consider sticking to legislating & leaving #LOAC commentary to actual specialists. Like me. Allow me to explain. First off, if a power plant is "dual use," then attacking it is, by definition, NOT an "indiscriminate bombing." Here's why. As DoD Law of War Manual notes, this term is often "used to describe objects that are used by both the armed forces and the civilian population, such as power stations" (pic 1). The Manual also correctly points out this term has no legal significance. Either something qualifies as a military objective such that directing an attack against it is permitted, or it's a civilian object such that it may not be made the object of attack. See the problem yet? That's right! If something is "dual-use," it qualifies as a military objective...and directing an attack against a military objective is, by definition, NOT "indiscriminate" (pic 2). Back to pic 1, the Manual also notes that when attacking "dual-use" objects, "it will be appropriate to consider in applying the principle of proportionality the harm to the civilian population expected to result from the attack on such a military objective." You might notice I emphasized "proportionality" & "expected" there, and I did so because it's a preview to your next massive error. Here's what you claim about proportionality in your 🧵: "Proportionality forbids attacks where expected incidental civilian harm including effects like loss of hospital power, water pumps failing, food spoilage or extreme heat or cold exposure. This is excessive compared to the concrete military gain per Article 51(5)(b)." We'll get to your selection of source (AP I) later. For now, let's focus on how badly you botched the proportionality rule. To describe what the actual rule is supposed to look like, let's go back to the Manual. As it observes, personnel engaged in hostilities "must refrain from attacks in which the expected loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, and damage to civilian objects incidental to the attack would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage expected to be gained" (pic 3). Now, I added bold text to the "expected" at the beginning & end because this highlights your next mistake. Yes you correctly note expected incidental harm is part of the equation, but you left out "expected" on the military advantage component. This is a massive error because you need to be able to tell what the expected incidental harm is & the expected (or anticipated) concrete & direct military advantage is for each attack in order to assess whether the former was "excessive in relation to" the latter. And, do you have any intel indicating what degree of incidental harm AND concrete & direct military advantage is for each attack you purport to be addressing? No, of course you don't. As such, you're not conducting a legitimate proportionality assessment. Which, is easy if you don't properly articulate law. Hell, you can make pretty much anything seem illegal if you can come up with any bullshit articulation of the legal standard you feel like fabricating. But we're not allowed to do that in actual practice. And so, you shouldn't either in public discourse, or else you're creating a false impression that potentially lawful conduct is illegal. And another thing - I noticed you left off the direct part of "concrete & direct military advantage" in your bullshit version of proportionality. That matters because remote harms need not be factored (pic 4). Some prospective harms you mentioned probably are direct enough, but others...not so much. Finally, I also noticed you claim AP I binds 🇺🇸 "as customary international law." But not all of AP I is customary, which is why I draw from the Manual instead. I'll finish off with a simple pro tip: stay in your lane. Leave LOAC analysis to @DeptofWar. And actual experts...like me.

@Scaramucci Time for a breathalyzer release for Anthony’s X privileges.

Here’s the question nobody in Washington is asking about the Diego Garcia strike: how did Iran know exactly where to aim? They don’t have satellite coverage of the Indian Ocean. Someone gave them the targeting data. Who? And what does that make this war?

@Rep_Stansbury Why? Because he’s calling out the lefts desire to support civilian killing terrorist regime? Look in the mirror. Democrats are protesting in support of the IRGC.

This man is off his rocker.

@The_BeckhamNY Any radical faction is a threat. Islam, Christian, Jewish.

Muslims in the United States reacted strongly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "Radical Islam is a threat to the entire world." Do you agree with him? Yes or no?

@johnkonrad There goes the GA market again. Impatient rich people gobbling up small planes for domestic travel.

Forget TSA lines, the real problem with air travel in the coming weeks is fuel. Some cargoes are already diverting toward the U.S. on a Jones Act waiver, so domestic travel might hold. Europe? Different story. About 1.77M barrels/day of jet fuel moves by oil tankers and it was already >$202/barrel on March 17, before strikes hit Kuwait’s two key refineries. Kuwait exports ~260k bpd ~10% of the seaborne Jet Fuel market. Now look at the water: According to @WindwardAI 73 LR1/LR2 (LR = Long Range) tankers are currently loaded with Jet Fuel globally but only 10 headed to Europe 8 are stuck west of Hormuz Europe gets hit first—France, Netherlands, Belgium. They depend on imports. There’s no backup plan. Europe has little in Jet Fuel in reserves and most of what they do have is for the military. Less supply. Stuck cargo. Refineries needing major repairs in Kuwait. Even if the Strait of Hormuz opens tomorrow there could still be airline cancelations this summer. This is how supply chains fail quietly, then all at once. Watch the tankers.

@robertwrighter People often forget. Trump isn’t planning any of this. He’s got experts (as every other modern president had). Trump isn’t Churchill and he knows it.

Does Trump really not grasp that (1) There's 0% chance Iran will open the strait in response to this threat; (2) There's 100% chance that if he follows through on his threat Iran will try to escalate along the same dimension? This man is getting scarier and scarier.

@YeojMars @GeraldoRivera We agree he can be a complete dick, and I don’t agree with everything he says or does. All leaders make bad choices. All of them. If you zoom out though who he says is often overshadowed by what he does. Does that make him great? Only history will tell.

You are a veteran, right? You’ve seen great leaders, good leaders, bad leaders and fucked up beyond belief leaders. If so, then you would understand that the way our current president conducts himself to our allies whether it be to the press or through social media or through tariffs is abhorrent and unprecedented in nature.

It is fucking crazy that our longtime friend and NATO ally Denmark felt it necessary to send troops to Greenland to help prepare defenses against the United States.

@RepDonBeyer You know it and the world knows that they went full retard the moment they chose to support the IRGC. They’re openly supporting a global terror organization. Are you okay with that?

It's important not to shy away from candidly discussing the President's increasingly erratic behavior. His worsening instability is a clear and growing threat, not only to the American people but to the world.

Threatening? More like calling out their leeching behavior. Many NATO nations invest in their defense but many also rely on the US for its massive economy, defense industrial base, and military support. They can’t scale at the moment so they choose us to help defend them. So when countries are balking while we have soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen defending their homeland they should most certainly pay up. At the very least what they swore to contribute. The day of deadbeats is over.

It is fucking crazy that our current sitting president threatens all of NATO and then complains that NATO ISNT COMING TO HELP! It is fucking crazy that our current sitting president has threatened to invade sovereign allied countries AND THEN IS COMPLAINING THAT NO ONE IS COMING TO HELP!

@GeraldoRivera Even more crazy were their actual defense. Who’s going to save them if someone else was going to take it?

@AeroSpaceShark Minimum ASVAB scorer I see?

My soldier just dead ass asked if you're supposed to wear the shower shoes in the shower

@UziCryptoo They can quit or work less they fear losing their lifestyle. That’s the reality.

Just spoke to a married couple in their 40’s from Buffalo, NY: They have: - $320,000: Home equity - $285,000: 401k’s / IRAs - $108,000: Brokerage - $18,500: Cash On paper they’re rich & yet they can’t afford to quit high stress jobs. …Millions of people are in this silent trap.

@Osint613 @DangerousThinkg If that’s their best defense…imagine what their offense would look like.

Iranian state media in a coordinated post across multiple accounts: "Iran's military says its doctrine has shifted from defensive to offensive."

@WilliamShatner @lsferguson This is awesome. Ageless.

At 95, I'm still smokin'! 😝 I’ve learned two things: Never waste a good cigar. Never trust anyone who says you should ‘act your age.’ 😉👍🏻

@james_xond Nope, I actually like my job. I would use it to feed my thirst for burning dinosaurs in the air.

Be honest for a second: would you quit your job tomorrow if you won $2M in the lottery today?

@Brohonatron @TiffMoodNukes 🤥

@beakercmb @TiffMoodNukes Nope.

Frequent meteor sightings in Canada, Texas, Turkey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and here California It’s common that meteorites hit our atmosphere all the time, but I can’t shake the feeling that something much bigger is happening around us or going to happen to us all, and they’re not telling us

@clerpatriot It’s his opinion and he’s entitled to it. If it were me? I’d have my own moments in the privacy of my own home with the people who fought with me along the way.

How do you feel about Trump celebrating Robert Mueller’s death?

@RealKidPoker Yeah, I’d love to be a billionaire too

I play golf with a guy sometimes at the club. He fills every divot, his and others, fixes ball marks anywhere he sees them. He’ll also pick trash from the bushes. Sweet, kind, gentleman. Also a billionaire. Be that guy.

@TonyLaneNV @CRIXUSwasHERE But a fist class ticket and join in the fun.

Are you okay with someone eating a full-course meal on a plane… that they brought ON the plane… while sitting right next to you? 🍽️✈️ A man says it drives him crazy - smells, space, the whole setup. Seat-to-seat… and they’re unpacking like it’s dinner time. Does that bother you, or is it fair game? ⬇️ 🇺🇸

@GBNT1952 And cyberspace. Those pricks and their proxies are all over US govt and US businesses.

The United States of America cannot be attacked kinetically. Our enemies know this. Russia, China, and the Islamist coalition knows this. They know overt military actions against us are futile. That is why they are attacking our minds. That is why they are pushing endless propaganda to divide us. That is why you are seeing so many people 180 from their so called “principles and convictions.” These people have either joined the grift for financial reasons or they have been captured, but either way, they are working to the detriment of our great nation. People must wake up and understand the grift.