1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

Congress Enabled Trump’s Disastrous War Here is what Congress has enabled by not restraining the Trump administration’s actions on Iran: The war has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz and given Iran new leverage, including reported transit fees on some ships. It appears to have strengthened Iran’s hardliners, while also producing heavy civilian casualties, U.S. military deaths, major damage to American bases and other U.S. facilities, enormous costs, and fresh requests for more funding that would take away from programs Americans depend on. The conflict also prompted the Trump administration to partially ease some sanctions during the war itself. Iran’s nuclear program has likely been delayed, not eliminated, and the conflict has further shaken allied confidence in the United States. All this, for what?   The Times reports that prior administrations treated war with Iran as a danger to avoid, while this administration’s decision appears to have followed Trump’s instincts and his bond with Netanyahu, with Congress standing aside even after it became obvious this was not going to be a brief repeat of earlier strikes in Iran and Venezuela.   The American people don’t need more weeks of exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims about this war’s success. Democrats and Republicans in Congress must step up, use your authority, and bring this decisively to an end now.