End the U.S. War on Iran Now
Trump’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities are a dangerous act of war. Congress must act now to end the attacks and stop the U.S. from getting involved in another forever war.
Phyllis Bennis
The reckless, illegal U.S. bombing of Iran on Saturday night opens another new and profoundly dangerous phase of conflict across the Middle East, and potentially even further. This was an act of war, launched in violation of both United States and international law. While various White House officials claimed during the first hours after the bombing was announced that this would be a “one and done” operation, and that no more strikes were planned, this is in fact the beginning of what is likely to be a medium-to long-term U.S. war. And we are far from knowing how it will end.
For its part, Israel made no such claim of one and done — indeed, Tel Aviv continued bombing Tehran, a city of 10 million people, even as U.S. warplanes were attacking the nuclear facilities elsewhere in Iran. Just 24 hours before the U.S. bombing raids, the head of the Israeli military warned its population of the need to prepare for a long war.
President Trump said that there will be either “peace or tragedy” for Iran. He didn’t mention what it would mean for the people of Iran — Israeli bombing has killed at least 430 people since the strikes began on June 13. And he certainly showed no concern for anyone else — not for the 40,000 U.S. troops in the region, for neighboring countries, for Palestinians, for Israelis, or for the United States. Trump also didn’t mention the role of Israel’s rarely-discussed nuclear arsenal — of around 90 or more nuclear bombs at the Dimona plant — in destabilizing the region, in undermining non-proliferation and in violating international law.
And as this U.S.-Israeli driven horror unfolds across Iran, Gaza cannot be forgotten. Israel has killed more people in Gaza in the nine days since its latest war against Iran began than the total that have been killed in Iran and Israel combined (at least up until the June 21 U.S. bombing for which we don’t yet know the human toll).
U.S. B-2 bombers dropped massive bombs on three of Iran’s most important nuclear facilities — including the Fordow enrichment site south of Tehran, whose complex was built half a mile below a large mountain. Despite Trump’s claim that the Iranian facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated,” we still don’t actually know how much damage was done, either at Fordow or at the other two sites, in Natanz (which Israel had attacked on the first day of the war) and in Isfahan.
It remains unclear whether daylight observation from drones or planes will be sufficient to confirm the level of damage to the Fordow plant, or to determine what may have happened to the small amount of 60% enriched uranium (higher than Iran had agreed to, but significantly too small for building nuclear weapons) thought to be stored in Isfahan. If Israel and the United States decide to continue their attacks on these sites, it’s possible that covert operations by teams of Mossad agents — who Israel has admitted are in Iran — will be involved, as well as further bombing. Those agents were reportedly involved in the targeting and intelligence work that made the initial Israeli attacks so lethal against political and military leaders as well as nuclear scientists, and their families.
We don’t know how this new war is going to impact U.S. politics — whether Trump’s MAGA base will hold on to its opposition to “forever wars,” or will give up that opposition to embrace Trump with even more fervor as he claims the war as his own victory. It was significant that for his short (and quite bizarre) White House speech announcing the attacks, Trump was accompanied not only by two of his key Iran hawk advisers — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — but also by one of his formerly leading isolationist opponents of new wars, Vice President J.D. Vance, who was quite visibly nodding approvingly during the three minute speech.
It is crucial that Congress moves to stop this war. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is leading an effort for a new War Powers Resolution in the House. It not only reaffirms that only Congress, not the president, can declare war, but goes on to explicitly direct the president “to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.” It strengthens the earlier war powers resolutions already pending in the House and Senate. Members of Congress must be pressured to reclaim their Constitutional obligations, and to end this war.
Trump did not use the word “preemptive” to describe the unprovoked bombing raids, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did when the Israeli military launched its bombing a week earlier. But much like Israel’s actions, what the U.S. has actually preempted with its B-2 bombings is not an Iranian threat but the chance for diplomacy. Iran came to the negotiating table and reports indicated that negotiators were getting closer to a potential agreement. The U.S. bombed the country anyway. Israel and the United States remain the key obstacles to diplomacy and ultimately to peace. We have learned over many years that diplomacy provides the only way that non-proliferation can be achieved — in Iran or any other country. We need to demand that the U.S. government pulls back its military, pursues diplomacy, and respects international law, human rights and equality for all.
Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and serves as international adviser for Jewish Voice for Peace. She is the author of the new book Understanding Palestine & Israel, from Interlink.
