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San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro said on Sunday that President Trump's decision to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran was illegal, done under false pretenses and risks forcing the U.S. into another protracted war in the Middle East.
"This is a very dangerous situation that could cost American service members their lives, unfortunately, that could cost this country billions or trillions of dollars and could lead to a larger and longer war in the Middle East and in the region," Castro said.
President Trump authorized Saturday's attack after a week-long bombing campaign waged by Israel.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said its campaign was a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear program.
"If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time," Netanyahu said.
Castro, a Democrat who sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees, acknowledged that Israel is a long-time ally of the United States but said he's seen no evidence that Iran was on the verge of completing a nuclear weapon.
"A lot of the focus has been on enriching uranium. But remember, there are a lot of other steps that a country has to take to actually have a functional, working, deliverable nuclear weapon," Castro explained, "And Iran was nowhere close to that."
Abandoning diplomacy and moving to a war footing now, Castro said, also makes the U.S. appear untrustworthy.
President Trump had suggested that Iran had two weeks to negotiate. Now that bombs have been dropped, instead, Iran may be closed off to talking at all.
"They have an extreme incentive to become like North Korea or Pakistan or other nations who have nuclear weapons, who believe that that's the only thing that's going to fend off other countries from attacking them or invading them," Castro said.
This appearance of variability in U.S. foreign policy may signal a larger issue.
Personnel changes at the highest ranks of all branches of the military and the Joint Chiefs of Staff suggest instability.
"The Trump administration has been in disarray when it comes to the Department of Defense," Castro said.
One cabinet secretary, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, has spoken against the president's premise that Iran was close to having a nuclear bomb. Castro said this supports his opinion that Trump ordered the bombing under false pretences.
"We're in a situation where there has been no intelligence ahead of time that says that there's an imminent threat, and yet the president says that Tulsi Gabbard is wrong, ignores the intelligence assessment, and says we're going to go to war anyway," Castro explained. "To me, those are false pretenses."
"It puts us in a very bad position when you're talking about a potential war with a country like Iran, and perhaps a larger regional war as well," Castro added. "That makes us really vulnerable."
A bipartisan "war powers" resolution was introduced in the House last week, and Castro hopes it will come to the floor for a vote, even though bombing has already begun.
"I hope that people from both parties in Congress will decide that Congress has to have a vote on going to war, that the president has to have authorization to act from here," he said.
The best possible outcome following Saturday's bombings, Castro concluded, is that Iran comes back to the negotiation table regarding the containment of its nuclear program.
"Because I do think that it should be contained. That's the best-case scenario," he said. "That's what I hope President Trump will pursue."
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