Eight Democratic War Mongers Voted With Trump Today Against The War Powers Resolution

This morning Bernie introduced the No War Against Iran Act with support from co-sponsors Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Marie Cantwell (D-WA) plus Congress members Ro Khanna (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

"When I look back upon America history," Bernie said this morning, "I remember the two most significant foreign policy mistakes our country made in the modern era, and those are the war in Vietnam and the war in Iraq. And let us be clear—; we were led into both of those wars by a series of lies. The result: the war in Vietnam cost us 59,000 American deaths and many others who came home wounded in body and spirit. In fact, a whole generation was devastated by that war. The casualties in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are almost incalculable." Then he moved to speaking about Iraq.

In 2002 and 2003, in terms of Iraq, we were told that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, that he was working with Al Qaeda, and that we needed to invade Iraq unless we wanted to see another 9/11—or even worse, a nuclear attack.

Those claims were lies.

The war in Iraq led to the deaths of some 4,500 U.S. troops, and the wounding—physical and emotional—of tens of thousands of others. It led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and the displacement of over 5 million people.

The war in Iraq cost trillions of dollars—-- money that could have been spent on rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, education, health care, and environmental protection.

And after all that, the Iraqi parliament voted earlier this week to boot U.S. forces out of the country.

And now we have a president who abandoned a nuclear agreement we signed with our allies, has turned to a policy of escalation, and appears to be walking us toward another disastrous war in the Middle East.

And let’s be clear: another war in the Middle East could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars and lead to even more deaths, more conflict, more displacement in that already highly volatile region of the world.

I will do everything that I can as a United States Senator to prevent such a war.

Just as we were led into Vietnam and Iraq by lies, the Trump administration is misleading us on Iran. They have justified the assassination of Qassem Solemani by claiming that he was planning “imminent attacks” on hundreds of Americans in the region. And yet they produce no evidence that would justify this claim, not even in a classified setting.

And that is why it is so important that we are all here today together. Because under our Constitution, it is the Congress that has the responsibility for declaring war, not the president. Our Founding Fathers understood that it was only too easy for a president to lead the country into a disastrous military conflict. That is why they gave the exclusive power over war and peace to the people’s elected representatives.

We cannot remain bystanders right now. It is imperative that the United States Congress provide the kind of leadership that our country needs by passing this legislation and defending the Constitution and the rule of law.

Last year, I am proud to have helped lead the effort to pass a War Powers Resolution on Yemen, in which the Congress, for the first time in history, used the powers laid out in the 1973 War Powers Act to constrain the president on matters of war. While President Trump vetoed that resolution there is no question that it played a major role in signaling to the region that the American people do not support the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

And now is the time for us to once again come together and make certain that the president will not have one penny to spend on a war in Iran unless there is Congressional authorization.

Late this afternoon, the House voted on  House Resolution 83, which Pelosi let Elissa Slotkin put her name on, "to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran." The Resolution passed 224-194. Independent Justin Amash voted with the Democrats for the resolution as did 3 Republicans-- Matt Gaetz (FL), Francis Rooney (FL) and Thomas Massie (KY). Meanwhile 8 Democratic war mongers voted with the Republicans to let Trump go to war on anyone he wants to for any reason he wants to and without consulting anyone. They have violated their constitutional obligations:

• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)

Right after the vote I was corresponding with Riverside County progressive Liam O'Mara, a history professor specializing in the Middle East and the Democratic Party nominee for the congressional seat held by Trumpist Ken Calvert "Calvert," he told me, "took to Twitter Thursday to call efforts to stop war against Iran 'partisan,' and made a pair of characteristically stupid arguments. He said the bill was unnecessary because we were not engaged in hostilities with Iran, which is insane given we committed an act of war by assassinating a senior general in their military. Then he turned around and claimed it would make us less safe because our military could not preëmptively eliminate threats from Iran! Is he really stupid enough not to see that his two arguments are flatly contradictory? What Calvert wants is a military freed of civilian control and oversight, handed directly into the hands of a dictatorial executive. This is not how our Constitution works, and if Ken is too spineless to uphold his oath of office, he should step down."

I also spoke with Kara Eastman, the Omaha progressive running for the seat occupied by Trump lackey Don Bacon, who, of course, voted against the war powers resolution today. "I agree with Republicans like Sens. Mike Lee and Rand Paul-- who are demonstrating courage-- that elected officials must be able to fully debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran. This is especially the case when the lives of American servicemen and women and their families are at stake. It is absolutely Congress' prerogative and imperative to demand transparency and accountability, and the Trump Administration and Rep. Don Bacon are wrong to suggest otherwise."

Pelosi said that the House could also "soon" consider additional related measures, including Barbara Lee's resolution to repeal the Iraq Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) resolution from 2002, as well as recent legislation proposed by Ro Khanna to prohibit funding for military action against Iran not authorized by Congress.