Is U.S. Senator Chris Murphy Detached from Reality?

On June 22, Jessica Bravo and Ken Dixon of Hearst Connecticut Media reported: “While Trump said the U.S. military completed the operation [a bombing raid that destroyed Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites] that resulted in the sites being totally ‘obliterated’ on Saturday night and ‘must now make peace,’ with an Iranian regime that is the ‘bully of the Middle East,’ national political figures led by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy warned that Trump is now putting the United States at-risk. Murphy, D-Conn., called Trump ‘a weak and dangerously reckless president’ who is now putting America ‘on a path to a war in the Middle East.’"

Pointing to “briefings he has received,” from whom Hearst does not tell us, Murphy declared that his intelligence shows “Iran poses no imminent threat to the United States. ‘That makes this attack illegal,’ Murphy said in a statement. ‘Only Congress can declare pre-emptive war, and we should vote as soon as possible on legislation to explicitly deny President Trump the authorization to drag us into a conflict in Middle East that could get countless Americans killed and waste trillions of dollars. All my thoughts tonight are for the safety’ of U.S. personnel.”

Oddly enough, Trump very well might agree with Murphy on some points. Iran, very close before the strike to producing a nuclear weapon, no longer poses an “imminent” threat to the United States, because Iran’s persistent threats of destruction to Israel and the United States, “the Great Satan,” have been effectively countered by the destruction of Iran’s nuclear production sites. Trump has all along been careful to emphasize that the United States is not at war with Iran. That being the case, any declaration of war by the U.S. Congress would be unnecessary.

Murphy’s prediction that, left to his own devises, Trump would “drag us into a conflict in Middle East that could get countless Americans killed and waste trillions of dollars was effectively debunked hours after it was made when Trump announced soon after the successful assault on Iran’s nuclear war production facilities, “that Israel and Iran have agreed on a ‘Complete and Total’ ceasefire, a move he said would end a more than weeklong conflict between the two countries,” according to CBS News.

The United States has been allied with Israel since the nation’s founding. President Harry Truman, against the advice of those closest to him, was the first major Western leader to formally recognize the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. At the very least, Iran no longer has the means to threaten either Israel or the United States with nuclear destruction. The attack on the three Iranian nuclear sites, most intelligence reports indicate, was successful. Removing this threat was the whole point of the assault on Iran’s nuclear war production facilities.

Not all constitutional scholars would agree with Murphy that the War Powers Act renders “illegal” any and every attempt by the chief executive of the United States to carry out his or her constitutional obligation to exercise supreme operational command and control over the United States Armed Forces as well as all federalized United States Militia, as specified in the Constitution. In his capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States, reputable constitutional scholars have convincingly argued, the President is invested with plenary power to launch, direct and supervise military operations, order or authorize the deployment of troops, unilaterally launch nuclear weapons, and form military policy with the Department of Defense and Homeland Security, while the constitutional authority to declare war is vested only in Congress.

The War Powers Act passed by Congress, some constitutional scholars maintain, cannot supersede clear constitutional provisions not amended by Congress. If the U.S. Congress wishes to abridge the command powers of any president, it may do so constitutionally by denying the executive the money necessary to finance military operations. In the war between Iran and Israel, the U.S. Congress has declined to definance executive/congressional operations in the Middle East. One imagines Connecticut’s two U.S. senators would not sign such a measure.

As usual, U.S. Senator Dick Blumenthal was more circumspect than Murphy in his denunciation. “I continue to believe a nuclear-armed Iran is a threat to the entire world,” Blumenthal said in a statement, “including America, but confronting that threat requires strategy as well as strength. History has taught us the unintended consequences of American involvement in Middle East wars. The Constitution and War Powers Act require every President to inform Congress and seek approval for using American military force. President Trump has done neither. President Trump owes the American people, not just Congress, an explanation for this military action. He must now do everything in his power to seek to avoid a wider conflict. We deserve to know a clear, effective strategy for peace in the region.”

Trump was not hiding the possibility of a strike on Iran’s nuclear production sites from the U.S. Congress or any other interested party, and a declaration of war process likely would have made such a strike far more dangerous to U.S. military installations in the Middle East.

It remains an open question whether a sustainable peace deal between the two waring nations, Iran and Israel, is possible, largely because Iran, the principal terrorist financer in the Middle East, has proven over the years to be an agile war maker without somehow alienating the affections of past Democrat presidents. As we say in the journalism business, we shall see. If Trump manages to carry off such a deal, however, there is little doubt that Murphy will be grievously disappointed.