DeFazio Resolution Against Iran Attack

There has recently been talk from the Bush administration concerning Iran that is highly reminiscent of its pronouncements concerning Iraq in its build-up to our current war on that country. Of course, not even George W. Bush, the man who led us into an astounding quagmire in Iraq, would be willing to send ground forces into Iran at this point. (Unless, of course, he were to re-institute the draft.) However, even a tactical aerial attack on Iran would likely have a major de-stabilizing impact on the Gulf region, and might even lead the Iranians to attack Israel and other powers in that region that are perceived (rightly or wrongly) to be client states of the US. And God forbid if the attack were nuclear! (For the effects of such a nuclear attack-- using the bunker buster bombs the US is currently developing that are slated to be completed by the end of the summer, just in time for an attack prior to the mid-term elections (we must rally behind the controlling party in times of war, mustn't we?)-- see the following educational video prepared by the Union of Concerned Scientists: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/nuclear_weapons/nuclear-bunker-buster-rnep-animation.html .)

Hopefully, you are as concerned as I am about the developments and prospects discussed in the previous paragraph. As such, I ask you to go to the following website: http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?ItemId=20647afccode=afchp . At this website you can send an e-mail directly to your Congressperson asking he or she to support a resolution recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. DeFazio of Oregon condemning military action against Iran without Congressional approval. You can also modify the text of the e-mail to reflect your opinion that even should the issue of an attack come before the floor of the House, your representative should vote against such an attack. In fact, modification of the e-mail is encouraged since such modification will likely result in your Congressperson taking your opinions more seriously. (If you feel too ill-informed to support DeFazio's resolution or to modify the e-mail in a responsible manner, I suggest you take a look at the information on Iran and an attack thereupon available at websites such as the following: http://www.buzzflash.com/, http://www.commondreams.org/, and http://leiterreports.typepad.com/.) The full text of the e-mail in support of DeFazio's resolution is included at the end of this post, after my signature.

In addition to going to the above website to support DeFazio's resolution, I ask that you all inform like-minded individuals about that website and encourage them also to go there. I do not care how you do this, but if you'd like to forward them to this post, I would be more than happy if you did so.

All the best,
Greg [last name deleted from blog post for anonymity]


Original Text of E-Mail in Support of DeFazio's resolution:

I'm writing to ask that you immediately co-sign Representative DeFazio's Sense of Congress resolution that the President cannot initiate military action against Iran without congressional authorization.

You are, no doubt, familiar with Article One, Section Eight of the US Constitution, granting Congress -- and only Congress -- the power to declare war. Despite this President's expansive views of his own powers, it's clear to me that bombing another country is in fact an act of war -- one that must be carefully and thoroughly debated there in Congress.

Some are proposing that bombing raids would cause the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow their government. This is a patently ridiculous assumption -- and is being promoted by the very same individuals who predicted we would be greeted with flowers and candy in Iraq.

Make no mistake about it -- the President of Iran and the mullahs who back him are dangerous, anti-semitic theocrats. However, our own intelligence agencies have agreed that Iran is at least ten years away from having enough weapons-grade material for their first atomic bomb. This problem can be solved through strong cooperative diplomacy in the United Nations Security Council and other multinational bodies -- not with a unilateral and unprovoked act of war.

Please, uphold your oath of office and don't abdicate your Constitutional duties. Sign Representative DeFazio's letter and prevent this President from getting us embroiled in a quagmire even larger than Iraq. Please let me know how you intend to proceed on this issue.