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More than 75 organizations signed a letter Thursday urging senators to publicly support and vote for the upper chamber’s War Powers Resolution, in order to prevent President Donald Trump from using the United States military to attack Iran again without prior congressional approval.
The Trump administration launched airstrikes against key Iranian nuclear sites on June 21, an attack widely considered an act of war made without the constitutionally-required approval of Congress. The White House dropped the bombs after facing pressure from Israel, which launched its own war against Iran earlier this month by making the unsubstantiated claim that the country was actively building a nuclear weapon and putting the world in imminent danger.
Before the attack, the U.S. and Iran were making progress in diplomatic talks about limiting the latter country’s nuclear program in a safe, transparent way. Experts, including those in Thursday’s letter, say that Trump’s attack on uranium enrichment facilities has now all but shattered diplomatic talks and endangered Americans.
“Israeli officials have shown that this is not about Iran’s nuclear program, it is about sabotaging the possibility of diplomacy and a peaceful resolution with Iran. There was no imminent threat from Iran’s nuclear program. It is in fact a war of choice,” states the letter, whose signatories include progressive groups, civil and human rights institutions, and foreign policy organizations.
Rod Lamkey, Jr. via Associated Press
The unauthorized attack resulted in bipartisan backlash from Congress. Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced the War Powers Resolution in the House, while Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced it in the Senate. Some Democratic leaders in the House drafted an Iran bill separate from Khanna and Massie’s that could actually end up strengthening the president’s justification for more bombs. The Thursday letter was limited to the Senate.
“The American people do not support or want a war with Iran,” Yasmine Taeb, legislative director for one of the letter’s lead authors MPower, told HuffPost. “We are urging members of Congress to condemn these unauthorized strikes on Iran, stand with their constituents, for the Constitution, and demand an end to all illegal and unauthorized offensive military attacks against Iran.”
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A leaked preliminary intelligence report suggests that Iran was neither committed to making a nuclear weapon, nor did Trump’s bombs actually “obliterate” the facilities like he claims. Senators were finally given an intelligence briefing Thursday on the attack before Friday’s expected vote on Kaine’s War Powers Resolution.
“Nothing I learned from the briefing today would justify President Trump’s decision to bomb Iran or his failure to obtain Congressional approval as required by the Constitution. While we all agree that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon, U.S. intelligence has consistently shown that more time for diplomacy existed,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a statement. “Furthermore the results of this strike show that the only durable path to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is through diplomacy – something that may now be more difficult to achieve.”
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