From the article, quoting Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM):
“‘The administration’s approach to Iran is ripped straight out of the same playbook that launched us into the failed invasion of Iraq, and Congress needs to assert its constitutional authority and halt the march to war,’ said Udall. ‘Every day, the president and his saber-rattling foreign policy advisors like John Bolton are inching us closer and closer to conflict, endangering our national security, jeopardizing our diplomatic interests and alarming our allies. The consequences of war with Iran would be catastrophic, risking the lives of thousands of Americans while squandering our global reputation, with little chance of improving our long-term security.'”
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I can’t remember the last time any member of the U.S. Congress — outside of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), generally, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), regarding Yemen — was this on point, with regard to foreign policy.
Apart from failing to mention the likelihood of catastrophic loss of life in Iran… well done, Sen. Udall!
Now if only there were a filibuster-proof majority of Senators willing to vote for Udall’s “Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act of 2018,” that would really be something. (I’d fall out of my chair, but it would be worth it to see any institution of the U.S. government make an actual stand against the illegal wars Washington’s been waging for the past several decades.)
While I’m on the subject, I think we should also be encouraging our representatives to support Rep. Gabbard’s “Stop Arming Terrorists Act” — which would end U.S. support for al Qaeda and ISIS in the Middle East… only that bill, too, would require a 180-degree turn from current policy.
What a shame our last several presidents have done little but terrorize the world: fomenting coups; instigating wars; arming neo-Nazis and terrorists; spying on allies, journalists, and enemies, alike; kidnapping, torturing, and murdering on suspicion alone; shattering economies and the rule of law; leaving millions of dead civilians in their wake, creating many million more refugees…
We’ve spent the past several decades filling the world with generations of people who think of Americans as ultra-violent, environment-collapsing psychopaths.
If we wish to counter that perception, we should also be urging our representatives to sign on to H.Con.Res.81 – Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Republic of Yemen.
In other words, we need to tell our government to stop backing the Saudi genocide in Yemen, which threatens to kill some 18 million people by year’s end, per the United Nations.
Three bills, legislating respectively, that Washington must stop: 1) threatening Iran with an illegal war (beyond the illegal aggression we’ve already been waging, assassinating scientists, waging cyber war on Iran’s infrastructure, supporting anti-Iran terrorism in neighboring countries, etc.); 2) arming Saudi-linked Sunni terrorists for the purpose of regime-change in nations allied with America’s geopolitical rivals; and 3) U.S. support for the ongoing genocide in Yemen… while we still can.
It’s amazing that there’s so little institutional support for such obvious, desperately needed remedies for what ails U.S. foreign policy (rapacious-empire-itis).
But if we could finally pivot from our nation’s neoconservative killing spree of the last few decades, we could begin repairing our image in the world and restoring our nation’s credibility.
We could begin actually improving our national security, something no drone strike or assassination has accomplished yet.