Congress Failed to Act to Prevent Iran War. Now Trump Has Put Millions at Risk.

We need to know all the corporate democrats who authorized this insanity and are complicit with the military industrial complex and the militarism of the American government around the world. Ultimately they all must go! — Molly

Mike Coverdale: When you hear "good democrats" like Derek Kilmer touting the great things included in the recent 740 Billion Dollar Defense Authorization he was proud to vote YES on remember this excerpt from the story below - "But in December 2019, Congress struck language from a military policy bill that would have explicitly denied authorization for a war with Iran and would have repealed the outdated Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (AUMF), which the administration may be using to provide legal cover for this assassination. That same bill authorized $738 billion for war."

By Hassan El-Tayyab

The Trump administration’s assassination of Iranian government official Qassim Suleimani, the leader of Iran’s Quds Force, is a dangerous escalation of violence against Iran at an already explosive time. This reckless move by the administration is likely to set off a series of escalations of violence across the Middle East that could result in all-out war and risk the lives of millions of people.

While both the U.S. and Iran are both escalating the crisis in the Middle East through confrontations on multiple fronts, there is no question that the origins of this crisis are in the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran and then escalate economic and military pressure on Iran.

But the responsibility for this tragedy doesn’t just lie with President Trump. Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war, not the president. Congress has had multiple opportunities to assert this responsibility. But in December 2019, Congress struck language from a military policy bill that would have explicitly denied authorization for a war with Iran and would have repealed the outdated Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (AUMF), which the administration may be using to provide legal cover for this assassination. That same bill authorized $738 billion for war.

In appealing for this language to be stripped from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Pentagon briefed members of Congress that the authority may be needed for future military action. Now we know what they were already contemplating.

“Any member who voted for the N.D.A.A. — a blank check — can’t now express dismay that Trump may have launched another war in the Middle East,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, the lead sponsor of the NDAA measure to prevent war with Iran. “Our Congress let our nation down again by failing to stand up against a war in Iran.”

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