Early Sunday morning, after I learned that the U.S. had bombed Iran, I commented to a friend, “We are at war.” My friend responded, “Are we?” The answer was, in my opinion, yes. But now that a ceasefire appears to be at hand, the answer is “maybe.”
Regardless of how you want to categorize the attack on Iran, President Trump launched the attack without authorization from Congress.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution gives Congress, not the President, the right to declare war. President Trump decided that following the Constitution was not practicable or didn’t apply.
Congressional Democrats are questioning Trump’s action. Representative Al Green (D-TX) introduced an impeachment resolution, but the House voted to table the resolution (kill it) yesterday by a vote of 344-79. One hundred twenty-eight Democrats joined 216 Republicans on the vote.
Is the issue of whether President Trump violated the Constitution “water under the bridge?” Of course not. If Iran violates the cease-fire, the President will launch more military strikes. And “hostilities” could continue for a long time.
Thus, I was glad to hear that Congressman Pat Ryan (D-NY), joined 11 other military veteran Democrats in introducing a War Powers Resolution so the issue can be debated. The Democrats support Trump’s action, but not the absence of Congressional approval.
But enough about whether the President had the authority to launch the attack. What I worry about is what will happen now. I doubt the cease fire announced with great fanfare and self-congratulation by Trump will hold. I hope I am wrong.
Iran has not awakened to the error of its ways. Instead, it may simply be taking a breather from trying to wipe Israel off of the face of the earth and trying to retaliate against the U.S. Israel also is unlikely to stop its attacks on Iran if it concludes doing so is not in its best interests.
And what about the possibility that, despite President Trump’s innumerable claims that the attacks were a complete success, Iran still has weapons-grade enriched uranium? What if Iran’s close ally, Russia, told Iran to stand down for now and promised to assist Iran with retaliation against the U.S. once its war with Ukraine is over, which, unfortunately, could be sooner than most of us appreciate?
Is the Middle East entering a period of peace? No. Iran hates Israel as much as it always has. And it hates the U.S., the “Great Satan,” more than it ever has. And those hatreds will continue for decades.
I am not ready to congratulate Trump for “victory” in Iran, but I won’t criticize him for the attack either. As I have written elsewhere, I hope the attack did some good. I don’t want Iran to have nuclear weapons, but I would have preferred that goal to be reached through diplomacy rather than B-2s and 30,000-pound bombs.
Despite the “cease-fire,” which may be violated by the time you read this, I believe America remains at war. Only time will convince me that the risk of additional retaliatory strikes, including attacks inside the U.S., is over.
This week, I won’t be writing about Trump’s ethical issues, about his crude language, or about his One Big Beautiful Bill, which I still hope fails to pass. For the short term, I will be focused on the horrifying possibility of a long-term war with Iran and pray that doesn’t happen.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government but, too frequently, on President Trump. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean also writes for Dean’s Issues & Insights on Substack
