Americans woke up on Feb. 28th to news that the United States and Israel bombed Iran, according to PBS News author Amy Sherman in her news article titled “Fact-checking statements made by Trump to justify U.S. strikes on Iran.”
This news comes amid peace talks between the United States, Iran, and Israel, according to Sherman’s article. Sherman highlights that Trump’s main reason for the attack was the threat of nuclear bombs. However, according to weapons expert Gary Samore, the bombs Iran owns are special bombs that are short or medium range, around 2,000 kilometers. For reference, the distance from Capitol Hill in the United States to Tehran, Iran is 10,000 kilometers.
So, did Trump have legal authority to bomb Iran without getting Congressional approval? No, he did not, according to expert David Janovsky, who participated in an interview with Times News posted on Feb. 28 titled ”Did Trump Have the Legal Authority to Strike Iran? An Expert Explains.”
Janovsky explains that the Commander-in-Chief, President Trump, does have some authority over conducting expedited attacks without prior approval, but this is only in extreme cases of immediate danger. He explains that because there was no tangible danger to the United States, the actions of the President are unconstitutional and illegal.
Amid the bombings, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran was confirmed to be killed in the bombings according to the NBC News Article “Iran’s hard-line supreme leader is dead after major military strikes, Trump says” by Corky Siemaszko and Daniel Arkin, published on Feb. 28. However, he wasn’t the only one killed, as NBC News reported at least 200 people killed, and 747 injured.
Mohamad El Chamaa says in his article titled “Reported airstrike hits Iranian girls’ school” with The Washington Post published on Feb. 28, that more than one hundred children were killed in a girls’ elementary school in Iran. While there is potentially a military base located near the school, the death of a hundred children is hard to compare to the destruction of weapons. At the school site, there are bloody backpacks strewn across the wreckage, and dozens of body bags being loaded away.
Despite the large number of civilian casualties, Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Feb. 28, that “The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!” Though Iran is without a leader, the United States plans to continue bombing the country. The future of the conflict is unpredictable, but it appears violence may continue unless Iran makes a deal with the United States.
