The best way to avoid war is to talk with Iran, which President Trump has said he wants to do. Prisoner-swap negotiations, to bring home Americans imprisoned or missing in Iran, could create an important channel of communication, and the leadership in Tehran is open to this. But a leader-to-leader meeting can happen only if the United States rejoins the nuclear deal — and at this point that unfortunately seems unlikely.
The good news is that Congress, America’s allies and others can intervene to avert a disastrous conflict.
Although bipartisanship is scarce, caution in sending American troops abroad remains a common cause. Both houses of Congress should immediately hold hearings on the leaked war plans. If the administration won’t provide Patrick M. Shanahan, the acting secretary of defense, as a witness, then Congress should agree to whoever the administration sends and include in the hearing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs or his designee. This hearing should be public, but Congress should also welcome a classified session to discuss leaked intelligence alleging plots by Iran.
Congress should also use its powers to challenge the legal authority for a war with Iran. The Senate is scheduled to mark up the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act next week. This provides an opportunity to limit the use of defense dollars for a new war and gives Congress a chance to develop a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force — another issue with support on both sides of the aisle. Those in Congress who wish to avoid a war need to remind the country that the debate over authorizing the use of force against Saddam Hussein, which was presented as a way to strengthen the president’s hand for diplomacy, ended up giving George W. Bush the authority he used to invade Iraq.
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