Mark Kelly Says Same Strikes He Flew as Pilot Now 'Illegal' When Trump Orders Them
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona has grabbed onto the Democratic talking point that if President Donald Trump goes forward with his threat to target Iranian infrastructure, that would be a war crime.
Well, the Desert Storm veteran Navy fighter pilot is apparently accusing himself of being a war criminal, because the massive air campaign conducted during that war involved targeting Iraqi infrastructure, including bridges and power plants.
In fact, the history of modern aerial warfare, dating back to World War II, has meant targeting the enemy’s ability to function, produce war materials, and transport them to the battlefield.
On Monday, Kelly responded to a Truth Social post by Trump in which the president announced, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up into one.”
Keep in mind, Trump is always looking for leverage in negotiations with Iran and has stated multiple times that it would be his preference not to hit the country in this way.
Nonetheless, Kelly felt compelled to assert, “Threatening to target power plants and other non-military targets is not strength. If those words become orders to destroy civilian infrastructure with no valid military purpose, it’s hard to see how they would not violate the laws of armed conflict.”
“Illegal orders to make civilians suffer would be a black mark on our military and our country,” he added.
As a reminder to Kelly, according to an official Air Force historical account of Desert Storm, the air campaign — which the Navy also participated in — was the largest since World War II, and it targeted infrastructure.
The Washington Institute chronicled, “Wary of underestimating Iraq, Desert Storm planners inflicted massive damage on the country’s economic infrastructure. For example, instead of targeting rapidly replaceable electricity transformer yards and refined oil storage sites, U.S. forces destroyed hard-to-replace generator halls and cracking (distillation) towers.”
Former Navy fighter pilot and Top Gun instructor Matthew “Whiz” Buckley reminded Kelly of his involvement in this undertaking during a Tuesday interview on Fox News.
“The people frothing at the mouth today, clutching their pearls about alleged war crimes, if the president decides to target infrastructure, and I’m going to target a fellow Navy aviator — the guy’s just making my skin crawl right now — is Captain Mark Kelly,” Buckley said.
“Captain Kelly flew A-6s in Desert Storm. I’m sure all of you on the panel remember ‘shock and awe.’ In the first 24 to 48 to 72 hours of Desert Storm, all we targeted was infrastructure: power plants, TVs, bridges, roads,” he continued.
CONTEXT: Retired fighter pilot Wiz Buckley points out that Mark Kelly targeted civilian infrastructure as a pilot.
He targeted power plants, TV stations, and roads in the opening hours of that war, while up until now, President Trump has avoided hitting civilian infrastructure… pic.twitter.com/vQIT1O9xOA
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) April 7, 2026
“The first thing you do in any air campaign is to target the infrastructure,” Buckley expounded. “So the president is actually doing this in reverse. He has avoided targeting infrastructure. Why? Because he wanted to leave a lot of this stuff intact for the great Iranian people.”
The Navy veteran concluded, “Allegedly, Mark Kelly is admitting to committing war crimes when he flew A-6s in Desert Storm, because we obliterated their infrastructure. Now he’s out there saying that if the president does this, it’s a war crime. If it wasn’t for their double standards, they’d have no standard at all.”
Recall Kelly was also a member of the so-called Seditious Six, who participated in a video last fall instructing military personnel that they could disobey Trump’s orders if they deemed them illegal.
Perhaps Kelly is trying to raise his profile and bona fides among the radical left base of his party for a 2028 presidential run, but his almost nonstop over-the-top commentary against Trump continues to reduce his credibility among the people of Arizona and the American public overall.
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