Conflict in the Middle East | “War”, the word not to be pronounced for Republicans

(Washington) When Donald Trump gave the media a brief update this week on the bombing in Iran, he said: “Things are going very well on the war front. »

His use of the word war complicated things for Republicans on Capitol Hill. During the early days of the US-Israeli attacks, they did everything they could to avoid the word, instead calling it a “major operation,” the “mission,” “hostilities” or anything but “war.”

“They declared war on us,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said of Iran, repeating the Trump administration’s argument. Then, he hastened to add, there is no war.

“We are not at war,” he said Wednesday. We are on day 4 of a very precise and clear mission; an operation. »

Semantic contortions

Why these verbal contortions? This war is unpopular and this party, very recently, condemned “eternal wars” in distant countries. Not to mention the legal and constitutional questions, since Mr. Trump launched his offensive against Iran without the approval of Congress.

According to the Constitution, only Congress can declare war. But most Republican elected officials take the position that it is up to the president alone – and not the legislative branch – to decide to commit American forces to a mission whose objectives, scope and duration remain a question mark.

“This is not a war. Officially, war is when Congress declares war, and we have not declared war,” Republican Randy Fine said Wednesday, offering this tautology while marching toward the House of Representatives.

Shortly before a Senate vote on whether Trump should get congressional approval for the mission, many Republicans invoked a very narrow definition of what would constitute war. According to them, what is happening in the Middle East so far is not.

“Committing ground troops would constitute war in the constitutional sense and would require some form of authorization,” said Republican Senator Josh Hawley.

“It’s been about 72 hours. I would call it a transaction for now,” said Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee.

Voldemort

The word “war” has become the Voldemort of the Republicans – “He-Whose-Name-Must-Not-Speak”, in the Harry Potter universe – and those who blurted out this haunted word had to skate very quickly to exorcise it.

“This is war, and we are eliminating the threat,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, said Tuesday, echoing the belligerent language from the White House in recent days. But he quickly backtracked when questioned by reporters at the Capitol.

“We have not declared war,” Mullin said. “They talk about war. I said they declared war on us, but war is ugly. »

When reminded that he, in fact, had the word, Mullin indicated that he had misspoke.

Mr. Trump has spoken of “war” several times. In a speech broadcast shortly after the attack on Iran began, the president warned that the mission could result in American casualties, as “often happens in times of war.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday promised an escalation with — for Democrats — the hallmarks of war when he said the United States was “just getting started” and vowed to rain “death and destruction from the sky, all day long.”

Words that Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, the minority leader, did not fail to remind his Republican colleagues.

“For anyone here who thinks we’re not at war, listen to Hegseth’s press conference,” he told the Senate. He is saying loud and clear that we are at war, and this administration is announcing an escalation. »

But for Republican elected officials, using the word “war” would amount to admitting that the president started one without authorization from Congress.

The conflict has so far resulted in the deaths of six US service members. And the administration offers shifting and conflicting justifications for the attack. For Republicans, this raises legal questions that are easier to handle if they don’t recognize it’s a war. A deeply unpopular conflict: about three in five Americans disapprove of it.

Not to mention that Mr. Trump campaigned and was elected as an anti-war candidate, and many of his supporters – voters of his Republican allies in Congress – are unhappy with this turn of events. Their choice of words perhaps helps minimize the backlash.

This article appeared in the New York Times.

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