On February 28, the United States and Israel launched coordinated military attacks on Iran, marking the beginning of Operation Epic Fury. Congress did not officially declare war, nor was there a public referendum on the war before troops were mobilized. This isn’t the first time America has done this. In fact, Congress has not formally entered war against another country since World War II.
Every single conflict America has participated in since 1945 has been justified constitutionally as an Authorized Use of Military Force (AUMF) under Article II of the Constitution. Article II establishes the executive branch and outlines the powers of the president, most importantly that of managing the military as Commander-in-Chief of the United States armed forces. With this power, the president is able to make executive decisions on their own and enter the nation into conflicts even if they aren’t official wars.
America has not had a majorly popular war since WWII, which happens to be the last time a president asked Congress to declare war. Ask any PHS student who has taken U.S. History II or AP U.S. History, and they might recall learning about the highly controversial Vietnam War. Through the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, former president Lyndon B. Johnson was granted a blank check for military force in Southeast Asia, spiraling into prolonged conflict. Protests were widespread, especially amongst young people who did not want to put their lives on the line for a conflict they did not agree to.
This manifested in the 1965 Tinker v. Des Moines case, when high school students in an Iowa public school wore black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War. After this caused controversy with the school administration, the Supreme Court ruled that students had the right to express their political opinions unless it caused a reasonable disruption to learning. This critical lens view of democracy still applies to today’s conflicts. Shouldn’t we work toward a world where conflicts are resolved with peace, and wars are only carried out after deliberation by congresspeople who represent their constituents? For too long have generations of young Americans grown up hearing news of the country’s latest costly military endeavors while homeland prices skyrocket. With Trump’s recent war, Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has increased gas prices by upwards of 50 percent.
What the United States has been pursuing since the early 1800s is not noble “counterterrorism,” but a foreign policy merry-go-round driven by a delusional sense of American superiority. In this narrative, anything we do is justified and for the greater good of democracy. The bald eagle finds its way into every nest, every den, and every corner. The government makes a mockery of democracy, forcing their will on the majority that is the American public. In wake of the crumbling international order, our military has become an unwieldy tool for regime change rather than the force that protects citizens’ well-being.
The constitutional loophole that allows for undemocratic, unpopular, and utterly useless wars needs to be patched. We must dismantle the mirage of American exceptionalism and restore the power to the people, for that is what true democracy is. Our issue was realized over 50 years with the infamously unpopular Vietnam War, where Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973 that allows presidents to extend military intervention only if approved by Congress. If America wants real democracy and a foreign policy rooted in legal legitimacy, legislation like the War Powers Resolution must be enforced by the people. When we stop viewing the globe as a chessboard, we can actually improve our standard of living at home and truly carry out the moral authority we claim to represent abroad.
Operation Epic Fury is not an anomaly, but rather the executive branch’s continuation of expansionist precedence. A nation that funnels democracy through the barrel of a gun while bypassing the consent of its own citizens is not a true republic; it is hypocrisy. As the future generation of America, it is time to call the bald eagle back to its nest. Wars we fight should be our own.