SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Democrats have added their voices to a growing chorus of dissent over the recent U.S. strikes against Iran over the weekend.
“Overnight and without congressional approval, (President) Donald Trump initiated major combat operations against Iran,” said Brain King, the chair of the Utah Democratic Party, in a statement released on Saturday.
“Every dollar spent on another foreign war is a dollar taken from schools, hospitals and the paychecks of working families here at home. Striking Iran does nothing to address affordability, to ease the burden of everyday Utahns or strengthen our communities.”
The joint U.S.-Israeli air attacks began overnight on Feb. 28 and reportedly have continued throughout the weekend. They apparently successfully targeted that county’s Islamic leadership and its war fighting capabilities.
In a video announcing the strikes, Trump told restive Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
The possibility of regime change in Iran may be exaggerated, however. The Islamic nation responded to the latest strikes by launching hundred of missiles and drones into Israel and targeting U.S. military installations throughout the Middle East.
While acknowledging that Iran has sanctioned terrorism for decades, the chair of the Democratic National Committee Ken Martin nevertheless condemned Trump’s plunging the U.S. into what he called another “open-ended conflict.”
“Our nation deserves better than a government that shoots first and asks questions later,” Martin said on Mar. 1. “Americans do not look fondly on presidents that force us into deadly, expensive, endless conflicts.”
Over the weekend, most Democratic critics of the president’s actions against Iran urged Congress to evoke the federal War Powers Act as a first step toward regaining control of the Pentagon.
The War Powers Act of 1973, which was passed by Congress over a presidential veto in the wake of the disastrous Vietnam War, is a federal statute intended to check the U.S. President’s power to commit armed forces to hostile action without congressional approval.
It requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops and limits engagement to 60-90 days unless Congress authorizes a longer conflict or declares war.
American strikes last June against Iran’s ambitious nuclear program greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program, according to the Associated Press. U.S. sanctions and global isolation, meanwhile, have decimated Iran’s economy.
Months of nationwide unrest have followed those attacks, with average Iranians taking to the street to protest against the ruling Islamic clerics.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency says that it has confirmed that more than 7,000 deaths have occurred during the Iranian government’s response to those demonstrations and possibly thousands more. The government itself has acknowledged more than 3,000 killed.
Despite that background, King has joined most Democrats in condemning the U.S.-Israeli air strikes against Iran, saying that Trump “once again has bypassed Congress and put our troops in harm’s way.”
The leaders of the Democratic minorities in Congress seem more than ready to reassert their admittedly limited authority.
Over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) faulted Trump for not providing details about the Iranian threat and called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “be straight with Congress and the American people about the objectives of these strikes and what comes next.”
From the other side of the Capitol, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed Schumer’s message, saying that the administration must explain its actions to Congress and the American people.
Strictly as a matter of principle, some Republican lawmakers have cautiously agreed with their Democratic colleagues.
“I look forward to robust engagement between the administration and Congress as this situation unfolds,” Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) suggested in a brief statement on Feb. 28.
The only Democrat who voiced any support for the president’s action was maverick Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
“I might be a Democrat,” Fetterman said in a Mar. 1 post on Facebook, “but in this specific case, the president is absolutely correct to do these kind of actions.
“I’d like to remind my colleagues over in the House that Iran has massacred 30,000 of their own people … But this war is not about the Iranian people. It’s about this poisonous regime.”
Here in Utah, King is urging all citizens to take action against Trump by calling the Capitol switchboard in Washington at 202-224-3121 and leaving a message for their congressional representatives and senators demanding that they stand against this new war.
“Demand they vote for an Iran War Powers Resolution to block further illegal acts of war,” King emphasized.