Trump Is Pondering A War With Iran - It Should Not Be His Decision

Donald Trump is considering an attack on Iran - using the giant "Bunker busting" bomb we have to destroy Iran's underground nuclear facility. He has said it's just his decision to make. He's wrong!

Maybe the bomb could destroy that facility, and maybe it couldn't, but either way an attack would be an act of war. And our Constitution doesn't give a president the right to go to war with another country. That is a decision that could only be made by Congress.

Some might think that bombing the Iranian facility would be a single operation. But that is a fallacy. Iran would have to respond to any American attack by taking action against American troops - in the Mid-East or elsewhere. And maybe even terrorist attacks in the United States. Trump would have to respond, and we'd be in the middle of another war (probably a protracted one that would last many years).

Others on the right seem to think this is the opportunity for a regime change in Iran. Evidently, they have forgotten where this kind of thinking has gotten us in the past. We tried to protect a corrupt regime in South Vietnam and topple a communist regime in North Vietnam. After years of fighting and deaths of thousands of American troops, that country is now ruled by the people we were fighting.

We tried it again in Afghanistan. After many years of fighting and deaths of thousands of American troops, that country is again ruled by the people we were fighting.

Did we learn nothing in those wars? While no army can stand against the U.S. military in a conventional war, it is not good at "regime change". That is something the people of a country must do for themselves. We must stop thinking we can use our military to force other countries to adopt a government we like. 

Attacking Iran would be a huge mistake. Congress should stop Trump from doing it. The United States doesn't need another foolish war.