Trump’s Iran strike ignites Capitol Hill fight

Washington: US President Donald Trump’s military campaign against Iran has triggered a sharp political confrontation in Washington, with Democrats calling it an unjustified war while Republicans say the action was needed to neutralise Iranian missile threats.

Democratic leaders accused the administration of launching the United States into a widening Middle East conflict without a clear strategy or authorisation from Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer told reporters that lawmakers left a classified intelligence briefing with more concerns than reassurance.

“I left the intelligence briefing more concerned than reassured,” Schumer said. “If the case for war were strong, it would be consistent. Instead, the rationales change by the hour.”

Schumer said the administration had offered multiple explanations for the military action.

“Regime change, nuclear weapons, missiles, defense, preemptive, which is it? When the justification keeps shifting, a strategy is missing. There is no strategy,” he said.

He warned that the conflict could escalate further and impose broader economic costs.

“The conflict is widening. Oil prices are already skyrocketing. Wars without clear objectives do not remain small. They get bigger, bloodier longer and more expensive,” Schumer said.

Democratic lawmakers also pointed to the loss of American personnel in the early days of the conflict.

“Six American service members are dead,” Schumer said.

Senator Patty Murray criticised the decision to launch the operation without congressional approval.

“This president sent our kids into a war of choice from his beach club in Florida without clear objectives or any sense of an end game, and without any authorization from Congress,” Murray said.

She argued that Americans were struggling with rising costs at home and did not want the country drawn into another Middle East war.

“They do not want to spend billions in taxpayer dollars to bomb Iran in a war that already tragically resulted in the deaths of American service members,” she said.

Senator Tim Kaine said the country should reflect on the long history of costly conflicts in the region.

“Haven’t we learned anything from 25 years in the wars in the Middle East,” he said.

Kaine warned that military action without a clear rationale could put US troops at greater risk.

“We protect our troops when we do it the right way. We put them at risk when we do it the wrong way,” he said.

Democrats are pushing a War Powers Resolution that would require Congress to vote on whether US military operations against Iran should continue.

In the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said lawmakers had not seen evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States.

“There is no evidence that has been presented to us that the United States was under threat of imminent attack from Iran. Zero evidence of that,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries told reporters that the conflict had already spread and resulted in American casualties.

“Donald Trump, without justification and without coming to Congress, has gotten America into a Middle Eastern war that we know will not end well,” he said.

Republican leaders defended the president’s decision and said the strikes were necessary to counter Iranian capabilities.

At a separate press conference, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Trump had acted within his authority to protect US national security.

“I think the president has the authority that he needs to conduct the activities, the operations that are currently underway there,” Thune said.

He described the action as a pre-emptive response to Iranian threats.

“I think it was clearly a preemptive strike, and I think there was an imminent threat there,” Thune said.

Thune said Iranian ballistic missiles and regional military assets posed serious risks to American forces and allies.

“There is no country in the world that has more American blood on its hands than Iran,” he said.

“There’s a lot of controversy around questions around the War Powers Act, but I think the president is acting in the best interest of the nation and our national security interests by ensuring that he’s protecting Americans and American bases and installations in that region, as well as those of our allies,” Thune said.

Thune said the president has broad authority under Article 2 of the Constitution when it comes to defending America’s national security interests. And the authority that he is using is very similar to that used by President Obama in Libya, going back prior to that previous administrations, he argued.

IANS