George Polycranos

Port Matilda

Sound presidential decision-making requires guidance from experienced advisors. No president should take the United States to war because “he had a feeling,” or claim he’ll end it “when I feel it in my bones.” Yet Donald Trump has failed to provide the American people–or Congress–with a clear, consistent objective or endgame for the war in Iran.

Even some of his own allies are raising alarms. Former U.S. counterterrorism chief Joe Kent resigned, stating he could not support a war in which “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”

The costs are mounting: American lives lost; billions added to a $38 trillion national debt; strained military readiness; depleted weapons stockpiles; rising gas prices and inflation; increased instability.

Meanwhile, the consequences are spreading. Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted global oil markets, sending prices higher and exposing the absence of a coherent strategy.

Trump now seems bewildered that NATO allies–many he has publicly disparaged–are reluctant to join the conflict.

At home, Republicans appear more focused on political survival than accountability, pushing the misleadingly named SAVE Act even as public support for this war was never strong and is fading fast.

This is the result of unchecked power. Congressional Republicans have enabled a president willing to engage in open-ended conflicts.

Is Iran just the beginning?

If Congress won’t act, then voters must. Pennsylvanians should demand that Senator Fetterman, Senator McCormick and House Republicans reassert their constitutional authority–and end this misguided and unnecessary war.