March 11, 2026 | The Washington Post
America is fighting a war that Iran chose
U.S. military action is justified because of longstanding armed conflict.
March 11, 2026 | The Washington Post
America is fighting a war that Iran chose
U.S. military action is justified because of longstanding armed conflict.
Excerpt
The latest U.S. military attacks against Iran have been criticized by several members of Congress — including Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) — who argue the Iranian threat, nuclear or otherwise, was insufficiently imminent to justify self-defense.
Warner condemned President Donald Trump for launching a “war of choice” against Iran. Without releasing classified information, it might be difficult for the administration to rebut criticism relating to the imminence of Iran’s nuclear threat.
Geoffrey Corn is a professor of law at Texas Tech University School of Law and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who served as an intelligence officer and military lawyer. Orde Kittrie is a professor of law at Arizona State University, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former lead State Department attorney for nuclear affairs.