President Trump started another conflict in the Middle East on Saturday, after US and Israeli missiles rained down on Iran in what was initially termed as a 'preemptive strike' on its geopolitical adversary.
We now know that these early strikes were aimed at decapitating the Iranian regime and were, by all accounts, far more successful than expected, both taking out the country's religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, and up to 40 other high-ranking officials.
But though this follows the might makes right doctrine of Trump's second term, there are serious concerns that this attack, which looks very much like a way, may indeed violate the US Constitution, the War Powers Resolution, and established international law on attacking other countries.
Without this legal backing, the White House will be looking for a broad base of support as with the early days of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, but a new Ipsos/Reuters poll of the American public shows they might be sick of becoming entangled in foreign wars.
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This is despite Trump campaigning against such wars in his first run for president, where he said 'regime change is a proven, absolute failure,' and said the US should “stop racing to topple foreign regimes.”
Because of this, barely a quarter of the population supports President Trump's unilateral attack on Iran (27 percent) while a much larger proportion disapproves with his use of military force (43 percent). 29 percent of respondents said they had no idea.
Naturally, public opinion did somewhat split down party lines, with three quarters of Democrats disapproving of the attacks, while 55 percent of Republicans approved. These polls were conducted before Trump confirmed on Sunday that three US service personnel had died on the first day of the conflict.
With Congress returning today to begin talks that will lead to a vote on the president's war powers, it remains to be seen whether this calamitous public opinion of the attacks on Iran will be reflected among representatives and senators.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rachel VanLandingham, who was the chief international lawyer for US CENT COM, told the Intercept: “Not only does this violate international law in numerous respects, it clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Resolution.”
However, one major spanner in the works for Congress, which is defined in the Constitution as the body that declares war, is whether they would be able to gain the super majority required to bypass Trump's inevitable veto of any law that would bind his hand in the conflict.
This would mean two-thirds of the Republican-held House and Senate voting to override the president at a time of war, which is unlikely, even if it is one he started.
The polling also showed further divides on whether Trump, who had campaigned as a peacemaker, was getting involved in too many conflicts - after also bombing Syria, Nigeria, and Venezuela in recent months.
Over half of the public believes that the president has been to quick to opt for military action (56 percent), with 87 percent of Democrats supporting this position. Just 23 percent of Republicans feel this way, according to the Ipsos/Reuters survey.
However, in a warning sign for the president as Iran continues to retaliate across the region, 42 percent of those supporting the GOP also said they might stop supporting Trump's aggression if it leads to 'US troops in the Middle East being killed or injured'.
Topics: Donald Trump, Iran
William Morgan