After Classified Iran Briefing, Dems More Convinced Trump Wants Ground Invasion and Forever War

Senate Democrats said after receiving a classified briefing from the Trump administration on Tuesday that they're increasingly concerned about the US-Israeli war on Iran dragging on "forever"—and involving American troops in a ground invasion.

"I am more fearful than ever, after this briefing, that we may be putting boots on the ground," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters, criticizing the Trump administration for not providing the American public with information that was given to senators behind closed doors.

Blumenthal's warning came a day after President Donald Trump publicly declined to rule out a ground invasion of Iran, saying he doesn't "have the yips with respect to boots on the ground."

"Every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it," Trump told the New York Post. The Trump administration's letter formally notifying Congress of the initial attacks on Iran—sent days after the war began—said "no United States ground forces were used in these strikes."

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) emerged from Tuesday's briefing—which included Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and other top officials—"more convinced" that the war on Iran "is going to be open-ended and forever."

"This feels like a multitrillion-dollar open-ended conflict with a very confusing and constantly shifting set of goals," said Murphy. "They told us in that room that there are going to be more Americans that are going to die."

"We shouldn't be voting to proceed to other pieces of legislation until we get a debate on this deeply unpopular, immoral, and illegal war with Iran," Murphy added.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) addressed her concerns to the American public, saying in a video posted to social media that "it is so much worse than you thought."

"You are right to be worried," said Warren. "The Trump administration has no plan in Iran. This illegal war is based on lies, and it was launched without any imminent threat to our nation. Donald Trump still hasn't given a single clear reason for this war, and he seems to have no plan for how to end it, either."

The briefing came after the Pentagon announced it would be sending additional troops to the Middle East as the American death toll rose to six—and the Iranian death toll neared 800 and counting.

The Trump administration, which has neither sought nor received congressional authorization for military action in Iran, has repeatedly declined to provide a clear timeline or objective for the attacks and offered muddled justifications for why they were purportedly necessary.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters after Tuesday's briefings that the administration aims to "systematically" dismantle Iran's ballistic missile program, "destroy their ability to sponsor terrorism," and "destroy their Navy"—goals that go well beyond protecting the United States from a supposedly imminent threat.

On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled Senate plans to begin voting on a war powers resolution aimed at forcing the president to end military operations in Iran.

"Every senator will have to go on the record to declare whether it is in our best interest to send our sons and daughters into conflict against Iran," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the measure's lead sponsor. "I pray that my colleagues will vote to end this dangerous and unnecessary war that has already resulted in the loss of six servicemembers and injured others. We owe it to those in uniform, their families, and all Americans to not make the same mistakes that we made in Iraq and Afghanistan.”