“Shoot First: The Sinking of the IRIS Dena and America’s New Rules of War”

The Sinking of the Iranian Warship, the Iris Dena, without any declaration of war or warning by the US

The Iris Dena was far from home, having recently completed a multinational naval exercise at the invitation of the Indian government. It was not involved in combat, was not threatening any American asset, yet it was sunk by the US in international waters with no warning, in what Pete Hegseth called “a quiet death”, seeming to take great glee in his account of the incident and the deaths of the Iranian sailors.

Hegseth went on to say:

“It was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death – the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II,” added Hegseth. “Like in that war, back when we were still the war department, we are fighting to win.”

With a crew of 180 sailors, 87 bodies were pulled from the sea, and 32 survivors were rescued. They are being repatriated.

• Was this a war crime?

• Was it justified?

• Could they have been warned?

A former US Air Force special operations targeting expert said the following:

“Was that warship actively posing a threat or participating in hostilities?” asked Bryant. “You cannot say that this warship was an imminent threat to anyone. By targeting it, is the Trump administration saying that the imminent threat is all of Iran’s government and military? If so, that’s an incredibly dangerous example of military overreach.”

As with the so-called drug boats that have been blown out of the water recently, our military rules of engagement have changed from one of following the Laws of Armed Combat, to “Shoot first and we’ll deal with the consequences later.” This is not the military that I served, not even close.