First lethal blows, but still no unified call for war in Congress, responsiblestatecraft.org

Calls for President Joe Biden to take direct military action against Iran are ratcheting up following this weekend’s drone attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members and wounded over 30 others.

Biden has said that “it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq” and vowed “to hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.” Tehran has denied involvement in the attacks.

This is the latest major escalation in the Middle East since Hamas’s incursion into Israel on October 7, and Tel Aviv’s retaliatory war on Gaza. The Biden administration has maintained that it does not want a war with Tehran and that it continues to seek paths to de-escalation in the region — but following the first known deaths of U.S. personnel since the war in Gaza started, members of Congress are pushing for a swift response. […]

But not all members, including Republicans, want to lurch headlong into war. And not all of them think the president has the unilateral authority to do so. The administration was already conducting strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen without seeking congressional approval, drawing harsh criticism from a bipartisan host of senators and House members. Läs artikel