Choosing War is Not Peace Through Strength

Floor Speech

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, as Baghdad was first bombed 23 years ago, Americans were bombarded with lies. When that giant statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down, the lies were paired with attacks on all of us who opposed what was ultimately recognized by almost all as a colossal American blunder.

Though later President Bush announced ``mission accomplished,'' the killing continued. Ultimately, over 4,400 American lives were lost and $2 trillion spent on this unwarranted invasion that, unfortunately, only benefited Iran.

Now, as Tehran is bombed, we are once again being bombarded with lies. Our trigger-happy President issued his personal declaration of war without approval of Congress, without exhausting nonviolent alternatives, and without any real plan after the bombs stopped falling.

Just months ago, Trump told the Nation that he had obliterated the Iranian nuclear capability. With no imminent threat to our country, he declared war just because he likes issuing decrees.

He loves issuing imperial decrees, whether it is imposing new tariff taxes, obstructing our voting rights, or declaring himself the acting President of Venezuela. It is the American people who will pay the price in blood and treasure for his military adventurism.

Trump callously has responded already ``that's the way it is'' to the deaths of American servicemembers and so many innocent civilians. With his war spreading across the Middle East, Trump is not ruling out ground troops, since airpower alone will not be sufficient to accomplish the regime change that he is obviously seeking.

While certainly not mourning the death of Iranian tyrants, despicable people, rarely has assassination of such foreign leaders produced a peaceful result. Two decades of experience in Afghanistan and Iraq tell us that even boots on the ground are insufficient to accomplish a peaceful democratic society. Only the Iranian people can do that.

Of course, Trump is also sending a message to fellow authoritarians Xi and Putin that might makes right. Use war if it is helpful.

Ironically, we learned that President Trump's action does not demonstrate strength, but rather weakness. Secretary Rubio has confirmed that Trump was just yielding to Netanyahu's planned attack by saying, essentially, ``me, too.'' He was too weak to tell Netanyahu no, as President Bush had wisely done. Trump talks tough and brandishes a very powerful military, but he cannot stand up to powerful leaders like Netanyahu and Putin.

Choosing war is not ``peace through strength.'' It is a means of diverting attention from multiple Trump failures here at home. Coming just after revelations from the Justice Department of hiding documents accusing Trump of sexually abusing a minor, this war of choice may even be useful as a distraction from the Epstein files that have not been fully disclosed.

In Trump's own words, this is a war that could go on ``as long as it takes,'' perhaps as long as it takes for him to interfere in the November elections and secure a Congress that will continue to be little more than a doormat for him.

With war so much easier to get into than to get out of, it is imperative that this Congress act swiftly this week to approve the War Powers Resolution to save American lives and stop another destabilizing, bloody conflict that will have repercussions for generations to come.

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