Trump’s decision to bomb Iran fits his need for immediate praise and aggrandizement without considering the circumstances. He didn’t care that pulling out of the multi-nation agreement that froze Iran’s nuclear program would bring it closer to a nuclear bomb and end in the present crisis.
Worse, now there’s the concern that , in reaction to Iran’s inevitable retaliation, Trump will, desperate to redeem himself, drop a nuclear bomb on Iran– an idea he’s already uttered. Don’t default to an oh-that will-never-happen mantra. It took General Mark Milley to prevent Trump from misusing America’s nuclear arsenal in the last month of his first presidency. There’s no Milley there now, only a classified-info-leaking, alcoholic, Fox News co-host and a band of surrounding sycophants.
Trump insists that the bombing would force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, and cease its support of terrorism in the Middle East and its missile attacks on Isreal, and not retaliate against the United States.
So far, not so good. Iran already fired two volleys of missiles across Israel, penetrating its air defenses, hitting residential buildings and wounding dozens of people. Many medical forces had to gather in Tel Aviv as stunned residents whose homes were damaged packed suitcases and began evacuating.
Although, not surprisingly, Trump was quick to claim that the US strikes had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities, it remains unclear how much physical damage had been done. The UN nuclear watchdog said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the three locations after the strikes, which would be expected if the facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated.” And its health ministry reported that those who were injured showed no evidence of nuclear contamination.
The uranium enrichment facilities at Fordow – the primary target of the operation – are buried below the Zagros mountains. Experts have suggested that the thick layering of sedimentary rocks would make it difficult to strike the centrifuges in the facility. The Pentagon added that the damage assessment was still ongoing.
Also at odds with Trump’s claim of “complete obliteration,” two Israeli officials said the site had not been completely destroyed, and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency remarked, “neither us nor anybody else could … tell you how much it has been damaged.”
Disturbingly, there are plenty of Iran’s options to worry about. Trump has “made it far more likely that Iran becomes a nuclear state … that that Iran will want to obtain nuclear weapons … Even if the raids knocked out all of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran will now be more motivated than ever to rebuild their capabilities and pursue not just uranium enrichment but actual weaponization.” said the director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities.
Iran is still a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It is likely to withdraw and expel the inspectors, leaving it free to resume its efforts to build a nuclear bomb that can reach the United States.
Iran, Hamas and the extreme anti-Israel Houthis, both part of Iran’s so-called “Axis of Resistance” have also vowed retaliation. The Houthis in Yemen could resume their attacks on American ships in the Red Sea and close the Strait of Hormuz, blocking oil tankers from leaving or entering the Persian Gulf, driving up global oil prices.
Around 40,000 American troops are still deployed in the Middle East, many of them within easy striking distance of Iran’s missiles, let alone possible terrorist attacks within the United States.
In the unlikely event that the bombings fully destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and that Iran chooses to negotiate instead of retaliating, then Trump’s blatant violation of Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, which grants Congress the sole power to declare war, will be overlooked.
If however Iran and its proxy nations launch the massive retaliation they’re capable of, then Trump’s violation will highlight the troublesome outcomes that the Constitution is intended to prevent and the imperative need for the Spinless Congressional Republicans and the Trump-leaning Supreme Court to enforce its provisions.
