Trump shouldn't get away with threats of annihilation — nuclear or otherwise

President Trump’s warning to Iran to meet his deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz was one of the most chilling statements ever issued by an American president. Trump wrote on social media: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” adding that it will be “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World.” That is not strategic language: It is the language of annihilation, with a president threatening to commit one of the greatest war crimes ever contemplated. Less than two hours before Trump’s 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline, he announced a two-week ceasefire on the condition that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz. That is good, of course. But the effect of his extraordinary rhetoric will remain indefinitely. No American president should ever casually speak of wiping out a civilization. No president should publicly imply that tens of millions of human beings may be reduced to an expendable object lesson or a bargaining chip. Trump did not explicitly say he was threatening nuclear weapons. But that is exactly why the statement is so dangerous. The eradication of a civilization — especially a huge, historically important one like Iran’s — would not be possible with any number of conventional weapons. Trump’s message strongly implies that the most destructive weapons ever developed may be on the table. Even if the message regarding the use of nuclear force was not direct, …