The Unintended Consequences of War

Francis P. Sempa

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In 1990-91, the United States sent a large military force to Saudi Arabia and subsequently to Kuwait and Iraq to defeat Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait. Two years later, Islamists reacted to our “desecration” of their land by setting off a bomb at the World Trade Center in New York.

Ten years later, Islamists hijacked airplanes in the United States and used them as weapons to destroy the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York killing more than 2,000 people, attacking and damaging the Pentagon, killing more Americans, and attempting to destroy either the Capitol or the White House in Washington — an attempt foiled by the courageous passengers of Flight 93. 

Those Islamist attacks on September 11, 2001, resulted in the futile, endless, and costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Global War on Terror.

As the Trump administration ponders joining Israel’s war with Iran, it should factor in its consideration such unintended consequences of war.

The lead-up to the first Gulf War involved extensive debate in Congress, which passed a resolution authorizing the president to use whatever force was necessary to evict Iraq from Kuwait. The United Nations passed a similar resolution. But there was no congressional declaration of war. (RELATED: Why Democrats Are Dodging the Iran Debate)

Similarly, prior to the Afghan and Iraq wars, Congress passed resolutions authorizing the president to wage war but refrained from actually declaring war against Iraq and our terrorist enemies. In the current Israel–Iran War, there has been no formal debate by Congress on whether this country should join Israel in going to war against Iran. 

Congress once again has abandoned its constitutional responsibility to determine whether this nation should go to war. (RELATED: When American Power Meets Jewish Survival)