The Shadow
Since the 1990s, one of the greatest U.S. foreign policy challenges has been Iran.
Iran is a leading state sponsor of terrorism, funding proxy wars and supporting Islamic terrorist groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Despite different approaches to the Iranian regime, the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations all recognized the inherent threat posed by Iran if it obtained the ability to create a nuclear weapon.
Recently, Israel’s bombing campaign, designed to damage Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities, cut into Iran’s defensive capabilities.
It should be no wonder then that President Trump acted quickly in an attempt to eliminate the immediate and significant threat posed by Iran potentially possessing nuclear weapons.
President Trump authorized the deployment of B-2 stealth bombers to drop bunker buster bombs on the nuclear facilities of Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. It should be noted that only the United States of America has this type of massive ordinance penetrator (MOP) bunker busting bomb and the aircraft to deliver it.
Nicknamed “Operation Midnight Hammer”, we continue to monitor reports of the level of damage to Iran.
However, some in Congress are challenging the President’s power to authorize such a strike.
The Executive Branch’s powers related to military action date back to the country’s founding.
President Thomas Jefferson is one of the first who authorized armed forces to protect U.S. assets without Congressional authorization.
Jefferson deployed a squadron of naval forces under Commodore Richard Dale, a Norfolk-based naval officer.
Barbary pirates terrorizing the Mediterranean Sea were an immediate and present threat to safe passage of American vessels, commerce and goods.
Because Jefferson did not have all the information about the threats to American shipping, he instructed Dale to take necessary actions to protect American ships and citizens against potential aggression.
Unbeknownst to Jefferson, one of the Barbary States, Tripoli, had even declared war on the United States!
Dale’s squadron blocked Tripolitan corsairs in Gibraltar, blockaded Tripoli harbor and ensured the protection of American merchant ships.
On August 1, 1801, the USS Enterprise defeated a Tripolitan corsair in battle.
It made sense for Jefferson to act without consulting Congress. But he did not endorse unilateral war power authority.
Later in 1801 in his annual address to Congress, Jefferson asked for formal and expanded powers.
Congress heeded Jefferson’s request, allowing naval commanders to seize Tripolitan goods and vessels.
U.S. Marine Corps action against Tripoli and the other Barbary states during this period is forever immortalized in the Marines’ Hymn, which begins:
“From the Halls of Moctezuma to the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles on the land as on the sea…” ***
Some might say presidential military directives and consequent congressional action during the First Barbary War could serve as a parallel to today.
As I stated to multiple groups before the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear targets, I believed that if the President determined there was an opportunity to eliminate an immediate and significant threat to the United States, the President’s powers as Commander-in-Chief allow him to dispose of such threat.
In this case, the threat was Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump’s limited action consisted of no military presence on Iranian ground, and U.S. strikes were limited to the three nuclear facility targets.
Going forward, Congress has a role in working with the President on addressing more broad military action, as Congress did in the First Barbary War.
Since the U.S. strikes, Iran’s parliament voted to close the Strait of Hormuz. This move could pin U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf with no exit.
Iran also launched retaliatory strikes at a U.S. base in Qatar.
While Congress continues to monitor Iran’s military actions, it is essential that our legislative body exercises its authority to assess what, if any, future U.S. action is needed.
If there is a U.S. mission that is more broad in scope and expands from an imminent threat action, I believe the President must come to Congress for a Declaration of War or an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF).
I pray for the safety of our troops and their families.
But because it has long been the policy of this country to not allow Iran to have nuclear weapons, I stand by Trump’s decision to target Iran’s nuclear weapons sites.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives.
