The next day, when I voted against going to war, I wondered if I was also voting to end my political career. This was clearly the most unpopular thing I had ever done.

About a year later, I was scheduled to give the lay sermon at a church in my district. The minister called the Monday before and very apologetically told me that a Deacon who was his largest contributor said he would leave the church if I was allowed to speak there. I told him I understood and agreed not to come.

But, very, very slowly, this very unpopular vote, much to my amazement, ended up becoming one of the most popular things I ever did.

Probably the two most respected foreign policy experts in this Country are Professors John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University.

Both men, and many others, have called the decision to go to war in Iraq possibly the worst foreign policy decision in American history. More important now, both men have said and written that going to war in Iran has been an even bigger mistake.

Many reports in the last few days have said that President Trump may be about to go to war against Iran for the third time shortly after the midterm elections. In fact, Retired General Keith Kellogg said in a television interview on Oct. 29 that the President will restart the war on the day after the election.

I hope not, and very few people have been as loyal to President Trump as I have. After Sen. Rand Paul decided not to run for President in 2016, Trump became the only national Republican running who criticized the war in Iraq.

I became one of the first Republicans in Congress to endorse him for President. I voted for him all three times and served as a Trump delegate at the 2024 national convention. I voted for his policies during my last two years in Congress and continued to support and defend him afterwards in many columns and speeches.

I was very disappointed and saddened that he supported the killing and starving of thousands of little children in Gaza, but I believe he was dragged into it by the evil Netanyahu and the almost unbelievable power of the Israel Lobby. I also was disappointed that he has not ended U.S. support for the war in Ukraine as he promised several times to do on Day One of his second term.