"I Want Congress to Participate in an Iran War Game"

Jim McDermott (Huffington Post):

Too many times today, we hear the American people and politicians say about the Iraq war, "If I only knew then what I know now I would have not supported it, or demanded more information and assurances beforehand."

This is precisely why I think that Members of Congress- with the American people watching on television -- should participate in an Iran war game. We don't have to be in the dark again like we were in Iraq. We can participate in an Iran war game that objectively and accurately examines the casualties, consequences and outcomes of a possible military strike against Iran.

The Pentagon conducts war games all the time to assess a war scenario. Since the Constitution vests in the Congress the power to declare war, I think it is imperative for members of Congress to openly participate in a war game exercise to consider the range of realistic alternatives. Here are some of the questions a war game would consider:

How many dead? How many wounded? How much destruction? Would we pulverize Iranian targets with bunker buster bombs? Could a U.S. military strike against Iran metastasize like a malignant cancer into a wider Mideast war? What provocation could cause the president to order a strike?

From information gathering to decision making, we can do this openly and honestly. I know it can be done because I have met and spoken with people who can do it. These are recently retired, high-level CIA intelligence officers and a retired Air Force Colonel who used to conduct war games inside the Pentagon. In recent months I have met with these people in groups on several occasions, and they even shared a plan of how to go about staging such an exercise. In other words, the people who can do it and a plan have already been identified.

Conducting an Iran war game out in the open, with the American people watching, guarantees a fair, accurate and honest assessment. The people have a right to know, and an Iran war game is a realistic way to address the possible outcomes of a military strike against Iran. At least that is what I think. I want my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me on this issue, and I hope that the American people and media will strongly support this proposal.

Now it is your turn. Tell me -- and everyone on Huffington Post-- what you think about this idea. Would you support it? If so, can we get Congress to support it? I look forward to your responses.