Editorial: What happened to America First? Keep the US out of Israel-Iran war

The Editorial Board, The Orange County Register on Jun 20, 2025

Published in Op Eds

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The ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran should not involve the United States beyond diplomatic efforts to bring the fighting to an end. A bipartisan resolution in the House of Representatives to block U.S. involvement is a welcome one and deserves support.

Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna and Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie announced their invoking of the War Powers Resolution to stop the president from involving the United States in the conflict.

As of this writing, more than 200 people have lost their lives as Israel and Iran exchange missile and drone attacks.

On Tuesday, NBC News reported, “Trump is considering a range of options when it comes to Iran, including a possible U.S. strike on the country, multiple current and former administration officials said after he met with his national security team inside the White House Situation Room.”

Any American involvement beyond diplomacy would be unacceptable. Trump campaigned heavily as an anti-war candidate. He was not elected to be yet another interventionist president meddling in the affairs of nations across the planet.

As Brandan Buck of the Cato Institute argues, “The idea that the United States ought to continue to write diplomatic, moral, and fiscal blank checks to a client state on the other side of the world, all the while incurring the risk of war, would seem utterly appalling to those who coined the phrase America First.”

He’s right about that. There’s nothing “America First” about risking American blood and treasure because another country wanted to go to war with Iran.

“This is not our war,” said Rep. Massie on X. “Even if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our Constitution.”

This is a point seemingly every president has chosen to ignore over the last couple of decades to justify countless military interventions. If the president of the United States wants to involve Americans in a war, the president should get the approval of Congress. That’s how our system of government is supposed to work.

“No war in Iran,” declared Khanna. “It’s time for every member to go on record. Are you with the neocons who led us into Iraq or do you stand with the American people? I am proud to co-lead this bipartisan War Powers Resolution with Rep. Massie that is privileged and must receive a vote.”

This is how things ought to go. It would be helpful to know if representatives support ridiculous wars or not.

We don’t care for the government of Iran and hope to see that country free someday. But that’s for the people of Iran to handle.

For now, we should be pushing peace and nothing else.

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