1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

I write to you with urgency and a plea for sensible leadership in senseless times: under no circumstances should the United States repeat the grave mistakes of the Iraq War. That conflict, built on false claims of weapons of mass destruction, cost this country over $3 trillion and the lives of more than 4,500 U.S. service members. Estimates of Iraqi deaths range from 200,000 to over 1 million. No one was held accountable for this devastating miscalculation. We cannot allow history to repeat itself. Current tensions with Iran must not be exploited by the Trump administration or anyone else seeking political gain through war. The intelligence community, including assessments from 2025, has not concluded that Iran is actively building nuclear weapons. We must not sacrifice American lives and global stability over speculation or sabre-rattling. The United States' direct military involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran by striking Iranian nuclear sites is escalation with potentially grave consequences. Unilateral military action bypassing diplomatic channels risks further destabilizing the region and inflaming tensions. Military strikes will provoke retaliatory actions from Iran, fuel extremism, estrange us from our allies, and endanger innocent civilian lives. Congress has the constitutional duty to authorize war, and your constituents urge you to use every tool at your disposal to prevent an unauthorized, unjustified military escalation. We demand immediate public hearings, binding legislation to reassert congressional war powers, and a commitment to diplomacy. The US should prioritize de-escalation, urge an immediate ceasefire, and pursue a framework for negotiations that can verifiably limit Iran's nuclear capabilities while avoiding catastrophic warfare. Unrestrained violence will only breed more violence and suffering. Our soldiers deserve more than reckless policy built on ego. Our country deserves leadership that learns from the past rather than dragging us into another preventable war. The American people won’t forget who stood for peace and who stood by in silence.