In our topsy-turvy world, Donald Trump announced that the US war on Iran would begin in the next 10 days. The announcement came at the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, a spin-off of the genocidal war on Palestine, now expanded to “oversee” the work of the United Nations. No reason for this war was forthcoming: its immanence was apparent in the assembling near Iran of perhaps the most powerful armada in world history. The Pentagon assured the President that, as of Saturday, all the pieces would be in place for military action.
The background, illegality, immorality, and sheer stupidity of the coming war is explained in the news analyses assembled below. Congress, now on vacation but back to work on Monday, has of course not been consulted, not withstanding the Constitutional requirement that only Congress can declare war. The Republicans support whatever the Dear Leader wishes. Sadly, many of the Democrats, including leaders Schumer in the Senate and Jeffries in the House, support whatever Israel wishes; and Israel’s wish to destroy Iran is now three decades old.
In the House, Representatives Khanna and Massie intend to bring about a vote on a War Powers Resolution, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, that would require Trump to get congressional approval before going to war. Polls show that US voters are overwhelmingly opposed to a war against Iran. 48 percent oppose military intervention, while 25 percent support it. Only 7 percent of Democrats support a war. When the pollster’s question included concern about the Iranian government’s suppression of Iranian protesters, an even larger number of US voters supported military action. The Clintonian concept of “humanitarian intervention,” the use of US military force to end human rights abuses, no longer has any traction. The US people are solidly opposed to this war.
Westchester’s own representative, George Latimer, is a bought-and-paid-for supporter of Israel, and has made anti-Iran noises since gaining office last year. The $19 million he received from AIPAC in his Democratic primary campaign in 2024 against incumbent Jamaal Bowman binds him to doing whatever it is that Israel wishes, and if nothing else, Latimer is a man of his word. When bought, he stays bought. Nevertheless, it is worth reminding him that he is supposed to represent us, not Israel, in Congress, so please give him a call at (202) 225-2464 and ask him to support the War Powers Resolution soon to be voted on in the House of Representatives.
Needless to say, Trump policy can turn on a dime, and a black swan may suddenly appear. But the expert analyses below stress that the war against Iran may be a long one, and sustained opposition may be not only the honorable course, but even an important one. So please do what you can to support/generate opposition to the “war against Iran.” Thanks.
Frank Brodhead
914-478-3848
SOME USEFUL READING ABOUT TRUMP’S WAR ON IRAN
(Video) Jeremy Scahill: Despite Ongoing Talks, Trump Admin Is “Obsessed with Destroying Iran”
From Democracy Now! [February 20, 2026]
---- Despite chairing the first meeting of his newly formed Board of Peace on Thursday, President Donald Trump continues to threaten war against Iran as the Pentagon positions a massive fighting force in the Middle East. Trump said he would give Tehran about two weeks to reach a deal on its nuclear program, but media reports indicate that he could launch an attack within days. Iran maintains its nuclear enrichment program is for peaceful civilian purposes. Journalist Jeremy Scahill says Trump already “used the veneer” of negotiations to attack Iran last year, and that despite ongoing talks between the two countries, he has essentially already decided to launch a new war that could quickly spiral out of control. “I’ve been told by military experts who spent decades working in the Pentagon that there’s a spirit of delusion that has just taken hold in the administration,” says Scahill. “You have elements here who are absolutely obsessed with Iran and destroying the Islamic Revolution.” [See the Program]
No, even a ‘small attack’ on Iran will lead to war
By Trita Parsi, Responsible Statecraft [February 20, 2026]
---- The Wall Street Journal reports that President Donald Trump is considering a small attack to force Iran to agree to his nuclear deal, and if Tehran refuses, escalate the attacks until Iran either agrees or the regime falls. Here’s why this won’t work. First of all, the “deal” Trump has put forward entails Tehran completely giving up its nuclear program in return for no new sanctions, but no actual sanctions relief. This is, of course, a non-starter for Iran. /… Second, according to my sources, Trump recently also floated the idea of a smaller attack, with the Iranians responding symbolically by striking an empty U.S. base. But Tehran refused and made clear that any attack would be responded to forcefully. … Third, since the U.S. strategy, according to the WSJ, is to escalate until Tehran caves, and since capitulation is a non-option for Iran, the Iranians are incentivized to strike back right away at the U.S. The only exit Tehran sees is to fight back, inflict as much pain as possible on the U.S., and hope that this causes Trump to back off or accept a more equitable deal. … None of this, of course, serves U.S. interest, has been authorized by Congress, enjoys the support of the American people or the support of regional allies (save Israel), is compatible with international law, or answers the crucial question: How does this end? [Read More]
The US is on the brink of a major new war that Trump has not even bothered explaining
By Glenn Greenwald [February 20, 2026]
---- President Trump has spent two months ordering a rapidly expanding and now-massive military buildup near Iran, with a focus on the Persian Gulf and nearby permanent U.S. military bases in close proximity to Iran (Iran, of course, has no military bases anywhere near the U.S.). The deployment includes aircraft carriers and other assets that would enable, at a minimum, an extremely destructive air campaign against the whole country. The U.S. under both parties has been insisting for two decades that it must abandon its heavy military involvement in the Middle East and instead “pivot to Asia” in light of a rapidly rising China. Yet in the midst of those vows, Trump has now assembled the largest military presence in the Middle East since 2003, when the U.S. was preparing to invade Iraq with overwhelming military force. One of the most striking and alarming aspects of all of this is that Trump — outside of a few off-the-cuff banalities — has barely attempted to offer a case to the American public as to why such a major new war is necessary. [Read More]
Inside the Iran War Industry
By Jamal Abdi, The Nation [February 19, 2026]
---- US policy on Iran is one of the most aggressively one-sided political contests in Washington. The sprawling ecosystem pushing for war includes foreign leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who rushed to Washington this past week to run interference as US talks with Iran showed signs of promise. It also includes the lobbying power of groups like AIPAC and their affiliated dark-money political operations like Democratic Majority for Israel and United Democracy Project. And it includes think tanks like the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which frequently dominate the roster of expert witnesses invited to testify at Iran-related congressional hearings. Campaigns for regime-change wars often follow a familiar playbook, and there is no shortage of actors vying to play the role of Ahmad Chalabi, who fed the George W. Bush administration false intelligence and promises that the United States could create democracy on the cheap to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Today, the leading candidate may be the US-based son of the deposed shah, Reza Pahlavi, who has openly aligned with the Netanyahu government, defended Israel’s June war on Iran, and is now appealing to Donald Trump for US military intervention. [Read More]
Iran Crisis Exposes the Impotence of America’s Neoliberal War Machine
By Nicolas J.S. Davies, Code Pink [February 20, 2026]
---- There is a grave danger that the U.S. government is preparing to exploit the genuine sympathy of people all over the world for the Iranian civilians massacred during protests in December and January as a pretext for an illegal military assault on Iran. A new US war on Iran would be a cynical and catastrophic escalation of the crisis already swallowing its people, piling the unimaginable death and suffering of a full-scale war on top of many years of economic strangulation under US “maximum pressure” sanctions and the repression of the recent protests. … The renewed US threats against Iran have made it clear to Iran’s leaders that their symbolic strikes on Al Udeid air base in Qatar in June 2025, in retaliation for US strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran, were an insufficient deterrent to future US and Israeli attacks. So Iran has signaled that it will respond to any new Israeli or U.S. attacks with more deadly and destructive retaliation against US forces in the region. Foad Azadi at the University of Tehran reports that Iranian leaders now believe they would need to inflict at least 500 US casualties to successfully deter future attacks. [Read More]
Tracking the rapid US military build-up near Iran
By Elizabeth Melimopoulos, Aljazeera [February 20, 2026]
---- The United States administration is intensifying its build-up of a vast array of military assets in the Middle East, as President Donald Trump says Iran has “10 to 15 days at most” to agree a deal over its nuclear programme and stock of ballistic missiles. As well as the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, which is reportedly joining the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea, key force multipliers such as E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft have been deployed. … Here is what we know about the recent US deployment of military assets in the Middle East – which has also led to a dispute with the United Kingdom over the use of its joint military base in Diego Garcia. [Read More]
