WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump took the United States to war without a vote of support from Congress, but lawmakers are increasingly questioning when, how and at what cost the war with Iran will come to an end.<\/p>\n
Three weeks into the conflict, the toll is becoming apparent. At least 13 U.S. military personnel have died and more than 230 have been wounded. A $200-billion request from the Pentagon for war funds is pending from the White House. Allies are under attack, oil prices are skyrocketing, and thousands more U.S. troops are deploying to the Middle East with no endgame in sight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real question is: What ultimately are we trying to accomplish?\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cI generally support anything that takes out the mullahs,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, there has to be a kind of strategic articulation of the strategy, what our objectives are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump said late Friday that he was considering \u201cwinding down\u201d the military operations even as he outlined new objectives and goals and despite the continued buildup of forces in the region. <\/p>\n
Congress stands still<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s decision to launch the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is testing the resolve of Congress, which is controlled by his party. Republicans have largely stood by the commander in chief, but will soon be faced with more consequential wartime choices.<\/p>\n
Under the War Powers Act, the president can conduct military operations for 60 days without approval from Congress. So far, Republicans have easily voted down several resolutions from Democrats designed to halt the war.<\/p>\n
But the administration will need to show a more comprehensive strategy ahead or risk blowback from Congress, lawmakers said, especially as they are being asked to approve billions in new spending.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s casual comment that the war will end \u201cwhen I … feel it in my bones\u201d has drawn alarm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he feels it in his bones? That\u2019s crazy,\u201d said Virginia Sen. Mark R. Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.<\/p>\n
House speaker says mission is \u2018all but done\u2019<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s party appears unlikely to directly challenge him, even as the conflict drags on. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said the military operation will be over quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think the original mission is virtually accomplished now,\u201d Johnson told the AP and others at the Capitol this week. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were trying to take out the ballistic missiles, and their means of production, and neuter the navy, and those objectives have been met,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Johnson acknowledged that Iran\u2019s ability to threaten ships in the Strait of Hormuz is \u201cdragging it out a little bit,\u201d especially as U.S. allies have largely rebuffed the president\u2019s request for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as we bring some calm to the situation, I think it\u2019s all but done,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
But the administration\u2019s stated goals \u2014 of ending Iran\u2019s ability to obtain a nuclear weapon and degrading its ballistic missile supplies, among others \u2014 have perplexed lawmakers as shifting and elusive.<\/p>\n
\u2033Regime change? Not likely. Get rid of the enriched uranium? Not without boots on the ground,\u201d Warner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m advising the president, I would have said: Before you take on a war of choice, make the case clear to the American people what our goals are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The power of the purse<\/p>\n
The Pentagon has told the White House that it is seeking an additional $200 billion for the war effort, an extraordinary amount that is unlikely to win support. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the amount \u201cpreposterous.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Defense Department\u2019s approved appropriations from Congress this year are more than $800 billion, and Trump\u2019s tax breaks bill gave the Pentagon an additional $150 billion over the next several years for various upgrades and projects.<\/p>\n
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said the country has other priorities. <\/p>\n
\u201cHow about not taking away funding for Medicaid, which will impact millions of people? How about making sure SNAP is funded?\u201d she said, referring to the healthcare and food assistance programs that were cut as part of last year\u2019s Republican tax reductions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are things that we should be doing for the American people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Many lawmakers have recalled the decision by President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to come to Congress to seek an authorization for the use of military force \u2014 a vote to support his proposed military actions in Afghanistan and later Iraq. <\/p>\n
Tillis said Trump has latitude under the War Powers Act to conduct the military campaign, but that will soon shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get into the 45-day mark, you\u2019ve got to start articulating one of two things \u2014 an authorization for the use of military force to sustain it beyond that or a very clear path on exit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are really the options the administration needs to be thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mascaro writes for the Associated Press. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0President Trump took the United States to war without a vote of support from Congress, but lawmakers are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10201,2797,467,602,2859,9075,34,196,12297,2795,814,6895,8056,1403,722,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-30158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-administration","9":"tag-american-people","10":"tag-congress","11":"tag-decision","12":"tag-force","13":"tag-goal","14":"tag-iran","15":"tag-iran-war","16":"tag-johnson","17":"tag-lawmaker","18":"tag-military-operation","19":"tag-objective","20":"tag-other","21":"tag-pentagon","22":"tag-president-trump","23":"tag-trump"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116269374814919478","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}