A War Should Not Be Scheduled Around an Election

President Trump told the country on Thursday that the United States will not attack Iran “at any time prior to the Midterm Elections.” Any pause in a war that has run nearly eight months is better than an escalation, and if the talks he describes as productive lead somewhere, that would be good news for everyone. But the way he framed the decision should trouble Americans of every party.

Decisions about war are supposed to turn on the national interest: the threat, the odds of success, the cost in lives and money. Mr. Trump instead pegged the timing to a date on the political calendar. He did so after NBC News reported that military planners were readying options to restart major combat, which CNN said included Iranian energy and nuclear targets, and only a day after telling a rally, according to CNBC, that a deal was not really what he wanted. His post said nothing about what happens after the votes are counted. In September, the Guardian reported, he said he expected the war to end almost as soon as the voting was over.

Read plainly, the message to voters is that the hard choices are being held until they can no longer weigh in. The message to Tehran is that it can wait out the next four weeks. Neither is how a democracy should run a war.

The costs of this conflict are not abstract. Gasoline averaged about $4.36 a gallon on Thursday and diesel about $6.28, both far above where they stood when the United States and Israel struck Iran in late February. Diesel moves the trucks that stock grocery shelves, so families feel it twice. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains a small fraction of what it was before the war. Public support has fallen with it: a Reuters/Ipsos poll in August, as cited by CNBC, found just 31 percent of Americans backed military action against Iran.

The administration’s strongest argument deserves a fair hearing. It says sustained pressure, backed by a credible threat of force, is the best way to keep Iran from a nuclear weapon and reopen the shipping lanes; according to CNN, that pressure now includes a naval blockade and new sanctions on Iran’s shadow tanker fleet. Announcing restraint may even give diplomats room to work. Those are serious points, and no one should want Iran to get the bomb.

But a credible strategy can be explained in public. If the president intends to restart large-scale strikes after November 3, Americans are entitled to hear the case for it now, while they can still express a view at the ballot box. If he intends to pursue a negotiated settlement, he should say what terms he would accept.

Congress, which holds the constitutional power to declare war, has a duty here regardless of which party controls it. Members should demand testimony on the options the Pentagon has prepared, the expected costs and the plan for ending the conflict, and they should hold a recorded vote before any major escalation. Voters, meanwhile, should ask every candidate on their ballot a simple question: what do you think should happen in Iran on November 4? The answer should not be a secret until then.