America’s Post-Deliberative Wars

Over the last eight weeks of war with Iran, America’s two deliberative institutions, Congress and the media, have largely abandoned their duty to sustain public debate on the most important question a republic can face—the choice between war and peace. Neither institution performed perfectly during the Global War on Terror. Yet on Capitol Hill there was debate before the initiation of hostilities, and the media made considerable efforts to manufacture consent. By today’s standard, these activities seem almost admirable.

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