Several major newspapers are reporting that Pentagon officials are warning President Trump that a war with Iran would be disastrous. The media reports that the person issuing that warning is General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. President Trump calls this fake news. He says General Caine thinks that a war with Iran would be “easily won.” He also says that no one but him will make that decision. It’s not supposed to work that way. Congress is supposed to declare war, according to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress, not the president, the power “to declare War.” Yet President Trump is signaling that he alone will decide whether the United States goes to war with Iran. The President is reportedly frustrated that a war with Iran would not be a quick one-and-done victory for the U.S. and Israel. We have seen this play out before. In 2003, then–Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that stabilizing post-invasion Iraq would likely require “something on the order of several hundred thousand soldiers.” That estimate directly contradicted much lower troop projections coming from the Pentagon’s civilian leadership. Shortly afterward, then–Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz publicly dismissed Shinseki’s assessment as “wildly off the mark.” Shinseki was also informed he would be retiring earlier than some expected, which many observers interpreted as retaliation for his testimony. History has proven General Shinseki correct. U.S. troop levels rose above 160,000 during the 2007 surge. His warnings were not heeded, and a deadly and expensive war was dragged on. Is General Caine this decade’s General Shinseki? Let’s pray we don’t find out. The post Make This War Easy! appeared first on Redacted.