Antiwar.com’s Weekly Newsletter for February 19, 2026

Contact your House representative and tell them to support H.Con.Res.38

The resolution was introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Khanna, and several other Democrats back in June 2025 amid the 12-day US-Israeli war against Iran, but a ceasefire was reached before a vote was held. Massie was the original sponsor, and the legislation currently has 77 co-sponsors, all Democrats.

Americans can contact their House representative and urge them to support H.Con.Res.38 to prevent a disastrous war with Iran, which appears imminent amid the major US military buildup in the region.

“Trump officials say there’s a 90% chance of strikes on Iran. He can’t without Congress,” Khanna wrote on X. “[Massie] & I have a War Powers Resolution to debate & vote on war before putting US troops in harm’s way. I will make a motion to discharge to force a vote on it next week.”

The California congressman said that he supported diplomatic efforts with Iran but that if “Trump is preparing to bomb Iran soon & others call for troops on the ground, Congress must get on the record so Americans know where their representatives stand.”

The US president convened the meeting as he’s overseeing the largest buildup of US airpower in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq

In a speech at the meeting, Trump referenced his June 2025 attack on Iran, which targeted the country’s nuclear facilities. “Now, we may have to take it a step further – or we may not. Maybe we’re going to make a deal. You’re going to be finding out over the next, probably 10 days,” he said.

Trump also said that Iran “must make a deal. If that doesn’t happen… bad things will happen.”

The US president convened the “Board of Peace” while overseeing what The Wall Street Journal has described as the largest gathering of US airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The US has sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East and deployed dozens of additional fighter jets there in recent days.

While Trump claims Iran has the opportunity to “make a deal” with the US, it’s unclear what sort of agreement he would accept, and his administration hasn’t made a coherent case for why it needs to attack the country.

The opening paragraph adopts a highly militant tone. “The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expired this month. The end of New Start is a watershed moment in American nuclear strategy. Far from a failure of diplomacy, this expiration is an overdue correction of a strategic mistake that left America vulnerable to two nuclear rivals: Russia and China. After years of unilateral restraint, while our adversaries expanded their arsenals, America can finally build a nuclear deterrent for the threats we face.”

Although he contends that Russia has engaged in a “nuclear buildup,” he cites no evidence that Moscow exceeded the limits on the number of warheads specified in New Start.  The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was not a party to the treaty at all.  Both Cotton and President Trump seem even more worried about Beijing’s ambitions with respect to strategic nuclear weapons than they do about Moscow’s moves.  Indeed, Cotton states so explicitly. “China’s nuclear stockpile has surpassed 600 operational warheads as of mid-2024, and it remains on track to exceed 1,000 by 2030. This isn’t incremental modernization. This is a fundamental transformation from a minimal deterrent to strategic parity with America and Russia in both quality and quantity.”

The command said that two of the boats were targeted in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where eight people were killed, and one vessel was struck in the Caribbean Sea, killing three. SOUTHCOM described the dead as “narco-terrorists,” a term the Trump administration uses to justify extra-judicial executions for an alleged crime that doesn’t receive the death penalty in the US.

SOUTHCOM said that the strikes were launched at the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the commander of SOUTHCOM, who replaced Adm. Alvin Holsey, the former commander who stepped down after reportedly voicing concerns about the bombing campaign.

Earlier this month, the US pulled out of the Al Tanf Garrison, a base in southern Syria near the borders of Iraq and Jordan, and the Al-Shaddadi base in northeastern Syria. Both facilities were turned over to the military of the new Syrian government, which is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of al-Qaeda.

News of the pullout comes as the US is building up a massive force in the region to prepare for a potential attack on Iran. US officials told the Journal that the Syria withdrawal was unrelated, though the US bases in the country are vulnerable to Iranian missile attacks.

The report said that one reason the Trump administration has decided to withdraw from Syria was to “reduce friction” with the Syrian military, which US officials have previously acknowledged to the Journal is “riddled with jihadist sympathizers, including soldiers with ties to al-Qaeda and ISIS and others who have been involved in alleged war crimes against the Kurds and Druze.”

Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs said at a conference in Jerusalem that it was unclear when the 60-day deadline would begin, but suggested it could start on Thursday when the so-called “Board of Peace” holds its first official meeting in Washington.

President Trump is convening the US-led board as Israel continues constant ceasefire violations in Gaza, where the IDF has killed more than 600 Palestinians since the truce deal was signed in early October.

Fuchs said that the Trump administration had asked Israel to give Hamas 60 days to disarm, and “we are respecting that.” After Trump and Netanyahu met at Mar-a-Lago in Florida at the end of December, media reports said that they agreed on a two-month deadline for Hamas to disarm.

Dave DeCamp

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