Trump Declares Unwise and Illegal War with Iran

Donald Trump claims that the U.S. has bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, effectively declaring a war without the congressional authorization required by the Constitution. Israel had already started bombing Iran (leading to Iranian counterstrikes), and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for his support. There's much more to come, but The Guardian and the Associated Press have some early coverage. Trump's move sadly isn't surprising, but it's unwise, illegal, and deeply concerning.

The BBC has a good recap (and ABC a shorter one) of the nuclear deal brokered with Iran by the U.S. and other nations back in 2015 (during the Obama administration). The deal stayed in place until Trump undermined it during his first administration. The deal was working, although if you do a Web search, it's interesting that many of the results are conservative organizations claiming that it was a disaster.

As with the Iraq War started in 2003 by the George W. Bush administration, this war was not necessary. And only Congress has the right to declare war, even if that's often been ignored in actual practice for U.S. military attacks for decades now.

Trump posted about the attacks today:

Notice the all-caps "NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!" and the bizarre, business correspondence thank you directly after bragging about dropping bombs (and starting a war). This reads like a child punching someone and then screaming he can't be hit back, not to mention something straight out of George Orwell's novel, 1984:

War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.