At 9:40 a.m., on February 28, the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several other top Iranian officials were assassinated.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was not a good man. He lorded over Iran, rigging elections and unashamedly establishing a brutal dictatorship that lasted for decades. Most recently, he ordered the violent suppression of peaceful protesters in January of this year in response to public outrage over a failing economy.

However, violence and oppression do not warrant violence and oppression. Bombs and guns rarely bring long-lasting peace or freedom. The Trump administration has inserted itself into the affairs of Venezuela, and now Iran. With a concerning disregard for international and domestic law, America has professed an occasional interest in abolishing violent dictators, all while President Trump’s lawless behaviors practically breed them.

Firstly, President Trump’s war is illegal. According to the Constitution, the president of the United States must obtain congressional approval prior to declaring war on another country. This guarantees accountability for the president’s actions, while ensuring representatives of the population have a say. Not only did President Trump completely ignore this integral guardrail enshrined in the Constitution, Republicans such as Markwayne Mullin, the new head of Homeland Security, deny that a war is even being waged.

International law, created in response to the erratic, unpredictable behaviors of world leaders that resulted in both world wars and countless lives lost, has also been violated. The preservation of civility between nations, regardless of size or military prowess, is integral to achieving even a semblance of peace.

What Trump is now calling an “excursion” is spiraling out of anyone’s control at an alarming rate as the death toll increases daily and the involvement of outside countries expands. When asked why the war was taking place, inconsistent remarks from various members of President Trump’s Cabinet beg anxiety and uncertainty about the future of the war. Some say the purpose is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon or to obliterate their ballistic missile capacity. Some call it a war of regime change, and Marco Rubio claims that American military calculations had revealed a high likelihood of Israel’s attack on Iran yielding a retaliation that put America under threat. Republicans are falling over themselves to present some semblance of reason, some semblance of legality to their actions.

Even more disturbing is the fact that multiple objectives ensure that no one knows specifically what the administration aims to accomplish with this war, and when it may end.

“Operation Epic Fury” has, as of March 9, left 7 service members dead. 1,300 Iranians have perished due to U.S.-Israeli air strikes, and over 600,000 have been displaced. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba Khamenei has assumed the role of Iran’s new supreme leader, and internal rebellion seems unlikely. American oil prices are rising, the stock market fluctuates unpredictably, and the “limited military operation” continues to expand.

Meanwhile, President Trump sits idle, surrounded by golden curtains and golden walls and golden chairs, as he watches the world begin to burn.