Congress sleeping as Trump plots an illegal war against Iran in the Middle East

While we are witnessing the systematic terrorization of American communities, peace activists descended on the Capitol, issuing a stark ultimatum to a Congress they accuse of sleepwalking toward disaster.

With the Trump administration amassing what experts describe as the most significant strike force in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, anti-war groups are demanding lawmakers block the president from waging what they warn would be a devastating and illegal attack against Iran, a nation of more than 90 million people that ranks 17th globally in both size and population.

The sense of urgency is palpable.

“Like the votes before the Iraq War, this could be one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions in a generation,” said Medea Benjamin, founder of the women-led anti-war group CodePink.

Her voice carrying the weight of two decades of regret, Benjamin and others are pinning their hopes on a long-shot bid by Reps. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican.

Khanna and Massie want to force a House vote on a war powers resolution that would prohibit President Donald Trump from striking Iran without explicit congressional authorization.

The resolution, a blunt instrument aimed at reining in executive power, declares that the president must terminate any use of military force against Iran unless Congress has formally declared war or passed a specific authorization.

“Trump officials say there’s a 90% chance of strikes on Iran. He can’t without Congress,” Khanna posted on social media, vowing to use a rare procedural move to pry the measure from committee and onto the floor for a debate that many in the capital seem eager to avoid.

Trump moved two aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships to the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East more than two weeks ago.

“Planning to force a vote on a war powers resolution that would require Trump to obtain Congressional approval before any Iran strike would have been a great idea, but the opportunity was squandered long ago,” said New Jersey peace advocate Lisa McCormick. “Congress should have worked on laws that prevent the abuse of American military power against our own citizens or foreign governments that have not provoked violence by threatening our interests.”

“We’ve learned the hard way what happens when Congress sleeps at the wheel. Trump’s Iran war bluster is a huge red flag. Trump must seek authorization for any military action. If he ignores Congress, Congress must cut the funding,” said VoteVets Senior Advisor, Major General (Ret.) Paul Eaton.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups are actively working to assert Congress’s constitutional authority to declare war, but McCormick says she is pessimistic because the fascist president is sending a very ominous message.

Speaking Thursday at the inaugural meeting of his newly formed “Board of Peace”—a body he claims will oversee global conflict resolution—Trump openly dangled the prospect of war while engaging in a heist in broad daylight.

While pledging to transfer $10 billion from the U.S. government to his “Board of Peace” for reconstructing Gaza and resolving disputes, he turned his attention to Tehran with a countdown.

“Maybe we’re going to make a deal. Maybe not,” he told the gathered dignitaries. “You’re going to be finding out over the next, probably 10 days.”

Later, his aides stretched the timeline to 15 days.

The juxtaposition was jarring.

On a stage built to celebrate peace, the commander in chief spoke of impending military action while his Pentagon assembled one of the largest concentrations of American airpower seen in the region in years.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, is steaming toward the Middle East, joining the USS Abraham Lincoln and a host of supporting warships, fighter squadrons, and strategic bombers.

More than 500 combat aircraft are now positioned within striking distance of Iran’s borders.

It is a buildup that current and former officials describe as preparation for something far more extensive than the surgical strikes Trump launched against Iranian nuclear facilities last June.

This time, the presence of heavy bombers, aerial tankers capable of sustaining weeks of operations, and stealth fighters suggests a campaign designed to degrade Iran’s military capacity systematically.

Ted Lieu told reporters that the Epstein files contain allegations that President Trump raped and threatened to kill children, adding that Republicans are trying to “distract” from those allegations. War with Iran could be another effort to draw attention away.

Officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive planning, say an attack could come within days, potentially as soon as this weekend, though the president has not yet given a final order.

For the peace campaigners massing outside the Capitol, the parallels to 2002 and 2003 are sickening.

They see an administration painting Tehran into a corner with maximalist demands—that Iran not only abandon any nuclear ambitions but also dismantle its ballistic missile program and sever ties with regional allies—demands they believe Tehran can never accept. Diplomatic talks mediated by Oman in Geneva this week were described by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as “constructive,” with both sides agreeing on “guiding principles.”

U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, struck a far more skeptical tone, insisting Iran has not budged on the president’s “red lines.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, poured fuel on the fire with a taunt directed at the American armada.

“The Americans constantly say that they’ve sent a warship toward Iran. Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware,” he posted on social media. “However, more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea.”

It is that kind of rhetoric that keeps military strategists awake at night. While the U.S. and Israel hold an undeniable military advantage, Iran possesses a formidable arsenal of ballistic missiles and a web of proxy forces across the Middle East capable of turning a conflict into a bloody, multi-front war.

U.S. troops stationed across the region would be vulnerable. Global oil markets, already jittery, could be thrown into chaos if the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for 20% of the world’s supply, is threatened or closed.

Inside the Capitol, the political math is treacherous.

Iran would probably retaliate, but Israeli and U.S. officials believe that any consequences would be more limited now than at some time in the future.

In a closely divided House, the Khanna-Massie resolution would need to win over nearly every Democrat and at least a handful of Republicans to succeed.

A similar effort last month to limit Trump’s actions in Venezuela failed in a 215-215 tie, with only Massie and one other Republican crossing the aisle. The margins are that thin. Massie, a libertarian-leaning conservative, is blunt about his motivations.

“I will vote to put America first, which means voting against more war in the Middle East,” he said.

Going in the other direction, Senator Cory Booker joined a bipartisan group of Senate Foreign Relations Committee members who introduced a resolution condemning the Iranian regime for suppressing its citizens’ right to peacefully assemble.

“The United States Senate continues to stand with the Iranian people in their struggle for dignity and basic human rights,” said Booker. “I am proud to join this resolution condemning the Iranian regime’s brutal violence against its own citizens peacefully protesting, including mass killings, arrests, and torture, and I commend the bravery and resolve of the Iranian people who have risked their safety to pursue freedom and a society unchained from oppression.”

The administration, for its part, shows little interest in being restrained. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to travel to Israel on Feb. 28 to coordinate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce advocate for crippling Iran’s military power. The White House insists all options remain on the table, and that diplomacy and military pressure are two sides of the same coin.

But for the activists who remember the march to war in Iraq, the coin is already in the air. They see a president who has spoken openly of regime change in Tehran as “the best thing that could happen.”

They see a massive military machine almost fully assembled, its commanders awaiting only a final nod.

And they see a Congress that, for two decades, has ceded its constitutional authority to declare war, leaving the fate of American troops and Iranian civilians alike in the hands of a single person.

“Every recent U.S. president has pledged to keep Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. Obama tried diplomacy with the 2015 nuclear deal, but Trump scrapped it,” said McCormick. “Now Trump says he wants a new deal, he also hints at regime change, and just a few weeks ago he bombed the country’s nuclear sites.”

“Trump threatened to hit Iran if they killed protesters before the regime killed 30,000 civilians,” said McCormick. “It was another classic case of TACO and chaos, but that is not going to drive anyone to the bargaining table with a lawless madman.”

“Congress has the sole power to declare war under the United States Constitution, but these cowards have abdicated every other responsibility, while Trump simply ignores court orders and laws with almost absolute impunity,” said McCormick. “We need wholesale change in Washington, because our senators and representatives have failed to do anything except raise money for their rigged election campaigns.”

“Congress must act now,” Benjamin pleaded. “We’ve seen this before in Iraq. We can’t let history repeat itself.”