The war we can’t afford to lose
As of this weekend, the United States of America has once again entered a state of war in the Middle East. Despite promises from this administration that no such thing would happen under its watch. Despite unfounded claims that the opposition in the last presidential election would lead us to exactly this point if given power.
Moreover, the administration has now admitted it attacked Iran despite there being no proof Iran was planning a preemptive strike against any U.S. troops or military bases.
Nearly 200 Iranians, including scores of young girls, died on the first day of the conflict—collateral damage in the joint effort between the U.S. and Israel to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader.
At least six U.S. troops have already been killed, with the administration resigning itself to the fact that many more may follow.
And all of these actions were undertaken without the consent of the Congress we elect to represent us, which has the sole ability to declare war. That means this war is, quite literally, happening without the consent of the American people—some of whom may be sent forth to die in an armed conflict they didn’t ask for.
But if you’ve been watching what this administration has been doing since it came to power, this is no surprise to you. Because the executive branch has done everything possible to give itself the unilateral authority to do anything it wants without being accountable to us. Because its goal is not democracy and dialogue. It’s domination.
As soon as the administration took power, it declared a national emergency at the southern border as a means for kicking off its cruelly aggressive immigration enforcement. This set the stage for what has unfolded across the country, more than a year of federal agents deporting, brutalizing, and killing people.
It used the threat of drug trafficking to declare drug cartels as terrorist organizations, leading to unapproved strikes on boats off our eastern and western coasts, which may have killed innocent people, not drug traffickers.
It imposed reciprocal tariffs on foreign nations without Congressional approval under the guise of a national emergency to address our trade deficit—a reasoning the Supreme Court just refuted in striking down those tariffs.
It deployed the National Guard against United States citizens after proclaiming a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital, as retaliation for citizen protests against its immigration policies.
Allies of the president have started circulating a draft executive order that would increase presidential authority over our elections to combat foreign influence in American elections. (How ironic.) Though the president has declined to take action on that order, his consistently alarming rhetoric about the 2020 election and upcoming midterms and promotion of the SAVE Act mean such election interference isn’t off the table.
