To clarify, I mean “plans” in the noun, not the verb. It seems that, yes, the United States has penciled some plans for a military strike against Iran. Unbelievable as it may be, it’s true.

“I’ve seen some of the planning … You’re not talking about a surgical strike,” said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the State Department’s bureau of intelligence and research until March 2005.

“You’re talking about a war against Iran” that likely would destabilize the Middle East for years, White told the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington think tank.

“We’re not talking about just surgical strikes against an array of targets inside Iran. We’re talking about clearing a path to the targets” by taking out much of the Iranian Air Force, Kilo submarines, anti-ship missiles that could target commerce or U.S. warships in the Gulf, and maybe even Iran’s ballistic missile capability, White said.

Amazing. And keep in mind that Bush still refuses to take military action against Iran “off the table”. That’s not my issue, though. It’s that anyone is acting like the issue is ON the table. As I’ve detailed time and time again, the United States has ZERO authority to get into a war with Iran.

It doesn’t matter if you think it’s a good idea, if you think Iran would be easy, if you think it would be justified, whatever. None of that has any bearing on this issue. The simple fact is that nothing in the Iraq War Resolution that says Bush can move into Iran. The only way for the potential war to be legal would be if Congress gave him the authority to do it.

The only possible argument, which seems to be suggested, is that Bush has the inherent authority thanks to his “war powers”. Now, that can easily be refuted by pointing out that Bush had to go to Congress to get the authority to invade Iraq, since apparently the war in Afghanistan didn’t give him the power to move on into other countries.