Needless death. Higher costs. Zero strategic gains.

As of today, the war with Iran has lasted exactly 6 months.

And what do we have to show for it?

• The deaths of 18 U.S. service members and thousands more civilians in the Middle East
• A massive global spike in oil prices, which is leading to more inflation across the board
• Showing that Iran has immense tactical leverage through the Strait of Hormuz

Needless death. Higher costs. And zero strategic gains. That's the legacy of Trump's war that Republicans in Congress have shamefully allowed to last for half a year.

The American people did not want this war. And the Trump administration didn't even attempt to explain the rationale. Instead, we all woke up 6 months ago to the sudden news that our country was in a war of choice.

Perhaps Trump was desperate to distract from his already-unpopular economic agenda, or the outrage at his cover-up of the Epstein files. Perhaps Pete Hegseth was desperate to show "warrior ethos," and a bored Trump was convinced. But one thing's for certain: their reckless decisions have put us on course to make the same mistakes as in Iraq.

I voted against that war, almost 24 years ago. Our country learned the hard way that military operations overseas in the name of nebulously defined "regime change" can go terribly awry and drag on indefinitely.

There is still time to prevent this current war from spiraling further — but every day that Congress refuses to rein in Trump, it gets harder.

So we must keep demanding an end to Trump's illegal war. In 67 days, we have the chance to send Senate Republicans packing by electing progressive leaders who will stand up to Trump's agenda of chaos. We must continue to call out the lies that lead to nothing but death. And we must ensure that this time, the tragic lessons of recent history aren't so quickly forgotten.

More soon,

Ron