'Would You Rather Go Back to War?' Critics Ask Democrats Fuming Over Trump's Iran Deal

Supporters of a diplomatic resolution to the illegal war that US President Donald Trump launched against Iran earlier this year are pushing back against Democratic critics of the interim peace agreement signed on Wednesday, warning it is politically and morally foolish to attack efforts to end a conflict that has killed thousands and plunged the global economy into chaos.

"Would you rather go back to war?" Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy and a former adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), asked Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), one of several Democrats joining war-hawk Republicans in openly decrying the new memorandum of understanding (MOU).

In a series of social media posts on Wednesday, Blumenthal pointed to "bipartisan condemnation" of what he called "a disgraceful deal" and "unconditional surrender" on the part of the US. The senator added that "anything like this deal will be dead on arrival in the Senate" and declared, "It must be approved here to have enforceable effect."

Other prominent Democrats offered similar critiques. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said it is "hard to imagine a more thorough capitulation," while Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) called the deal a "dangerous giveaway" to "this enemy," referring to Iran.

"His war proved only one thing: that diplomacy was the answer all along."

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, warned Thursday that such criticisms of the interim peace deal imply that "a war should not be brought to an end until it has produced better terms—even when the war itself is failing."

"Taken seriously, that logic leads to a dangerous conclusion: that a failed war must continue until the battlefield fortunes somehow improve and a more favorable outcome becomes attainable. Perhaps that day will come. Perhaps it never will. In the meantime, the costs—in lives, treasure, regional stability, and strategic credibility—are treated as secondary considerations," Parsi wrote. "This is how endless wars are born."

Parsi expressed disappointment at the rhetoric of some Democrats "because it echoes the same bad-faith tactics Republicans deployed" against the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Trump ripped up in 2018, setting the stage for war.

"To be sure, Trump has invited some of this treatment. He spent years attacking Obama’s agreement with a barrage of misleading arguments and exaggerated claims," Parsi noted. "But that does not make it wise for Democrats to return the favor. Trump currently owns this failed war, but if the Democrats help torpedo the MOU and war resumes, then they will co-own the next war. Trump’s disaster will become theirs as well."

Many Democrats appear to understand that risk and are welcoming diplomatic progress—while also condemning the illegal war and its consequences for the US and the world.

"Matters of war and peace must rise above partisan politics," said Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). "Democrats must not replicate Republicans’ irresponsible opposition to the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear agreement, which placed real constraints on Iran’s nuclear program before President Trump foolishly tore it up, setting the stage for this disastrous war."

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), in a Thursday morning appearance on Fox News, said the emerging deal between the US and Iran "is not as good as the JCPOA was," while also expressing support for efforts to end the war.

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Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) wrote in a social media post on Thursday that "any move toward diplomacy and away from violence is welcome news," calling Trump's Iran war "reckless" and "illegal."

"This war should be a lesson. The push for military adventurism and regime change by neocon war hawks was, unsurprisingly, an unmitigated disaster," said McGovern. "After three months of death and destruction, the rest of us are now left paying the price. His war proved only one thing: that diplomacy was the answer all along."