Peter Beinart writes:

Given the gravity of this moment, Democratic leaders should be holding news conferences, addressing mass protests, even bringing Congress to a standstill with all-night filibusters in order to prevent an unauthorized, unjustified war. The public is deeply weary of conflict. And yet top Democrats are not boldly rallying them against the possibility of another.

This is a serious blunder. It’s a foreign policy blunder because Iran — a corrupt and brutal regime interested primarily in staying in power — poses no more of a direct threat to the United States than Iraq did nearly a quarter-century ago. An American strike on the Islamic republic would probably violate international law and further erode whatever credibility the United States has left when it criticizes Chinese aggression toward Taiwan or Russian aggression toward Ukraine. American intervention in Iran could also fracture the country, as the United States did when it bombed Iraq and Libya — in both cases creating greater dangers than existed before.

In addition, both Republicans and Democrats should realize that yielding the right to authorize war to the president alone has costs that go beyond foreign policy. For at least 50 years, historians have noted that wars expand presidential power. In peacetime, Mr. Trump has had to invent national emergencies to justify his authoritarian power grabs, like sending the Marines to Los Angeles. It’s terrifying to think what he might do if America is actually at war. [Continue reading…]