Inside the Republican Party’s civil war over whether America’s at “war” with Iran or not

By Matt Laslo

WASHINGTON — A debate’s raging within the Republican Party over whether or not America’s at war with Iran. 

"We're in a bombing," Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told Raw Story. "We're bombing the hell out of them."

Despite the 2,000 targets reportedly hit, 17 naval ships allegedly destroyed and ongoing “24/7 strikes into Iran” — according to Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command  — some of the more MAGA members of the Senate GOP refuse to use the “w” word. 

“No. This regime was the one that was at war with us,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) told Raw Story. 

The Constitution and the War Powers Act of 1973 say Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats were due to force a vote on a war powers resolution. Many Republicans say that’s unnecessary. 

“This is not a war, this is a conflict now,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told Raw Story. 

“War is when you put people on the ground going in there and fight for months and months. This is not going to last that long.”

“You think it'll be easy?” Raw Story asked.

“It's not gonna be easy,” Tuberville said. “It's just gonna be.”

“Some people in MAGA are saying, ‘This ain't what we signed up for,’” Raw Story pushed. 

“That's a different type of MAGA than I deal with,” Tuberville said. 

“That's exactly what I signed up for, making our country first again, protecting our citizens, doing everything they possibly can to make us the number one country in the world again, militarily and financially.” 

‘Undeclared state of war’

Debate over the “w” word would be news to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who have both referred to the ongoing campaign as a “war.” The same could be said of the neocon wing of the GOP, which has been calling for war with Iran for decades.  

“We’re in an undeclared state of war,” one such Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), told Raw Story. “Six dead soldiers, you're at war. So we're in an undeclared state of war that's been going on since 1979.”

Others in the GOP shrug off the semantic debate. 

“Who cares what you call it?” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Raw Story. “Bombs are dropping, bad people are dying. Unfortunately, some good people are dying too.”

To Democrats, there’s no debate, which is why in the Senate the party is forcing its eighth vote on war powers resolutions on Wednesday afternoon. 

“I take the president at his own words. He calls it a war," Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-chair Mark Warner (D-VA) told Raw Story. 

“They're all over the map. Don't take my word for it, look at the four different answers that have come from the President and the senior leadership.” 

‘No exit plan’

While the administration says it’s at war, Democrats aren’t convinced it’s prepared. 

“There was no planning. The best you can say is haphazard,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) told Raw Story. “There's no exit plan. There's no strategy. The risks are so enormous.” 

“A lot of your [Republican] colleagues are telling me, ‘No, there's no fear of mission creep,’” Raw Story said. “I'm like, ‘Have you guys read any history?’” 

“I mean, it's, I don't know. I regret, I mean …” Hickenlooper said, then stopped himself. 

“I'm not often very speechless,” he said. 

After a moment to gather his thoughts, the former Colorado governor found words. 

“I guess I'd say that it's something you're going to have to be very, very careful as we disengage,” Hickenlooper told Raw Story. 

“I don't think anybody wants a real war at scale, but they didn't want that in World War I either.” 

Find the orioginal feature at www.RawStory.com.