Washington, DC – An eminent Democratic senator presented a bill to force US President Donald Trump to request the authorization of the congress before commanding military strikes against Iran.
The measure, advanced by the senator from Virginia, Tim Kaine, came in the midst of increasing calls by pro-Israeli groups so that the United States joins the Israeli bombing campaign against Iran while the attacks between the two countries are intensifying.
“I am deeply concerned about the fact that recent climbing of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly attract the United States to another endless conflict,” Kaine said in a statement.
“The American people have no interest in sending members of the service to fight against another war forever in the Middle East. This resolution will guarantee that if we decide to place the men and women of our country in uniform in danger, we will have a debate and will vote on it in the Congress. ”
The bill invokes the resolution of the war powers of 1973, adopted during the Vietnam War to force the unilateral presidential powers to engage in military hostilities.
The American Constitution gives the Congress the power to declare war, but the successive American presidents used their positions as commander -in -chief of the armed forces to mobilize troops, initiate attacks and start conflicts without clear authorization from the congress.
Kaine’s proposal adds to the pressure that Trump is faced with anti-war defenders in the two main parties, defenders said.
Hassan El-Tayyab, Legislative Director of Middle East Policy to the Committee of Friends on National Legislation, said that the bill sent a message to Trump against war with Iran and the Israelis that “they are not going to simply obtain American support for the virgin check”.
He could also assess the level of opposition to war with Iran at Congress, especially among the Republicans. An increasing possibility of right -wing legislators warned Trump against being trained in a conflict which, according to them, does not serve American interests.
‘De -escalation signal’
While Trump’s Republican Party controls the two chambers of the American Congress, the resolution can adopt whether conservative legislators who oppose foreign military interventions join the Democrats to support him.
To become law, the bill must go to the Senate and the House of Representatives and be signed by Trump, who would probably block it. But the Congress can be over a presidential veto with two third majorities in the House and the Senate.
During his first mandate, Trump succeeded in two resolutions of war powers, including a bill in 2020 which aimed to limit its authority to strike Iran, which was also led by Kaine.
El-Tayyab said that the 2020 push helped to warn Trump against new strikes against Iran after the murder of the first Iranian general Qassem Soleimani despite the presidential veto, adding that the current measure could have a similar effect.
“Even if she passes and Trump takes her, she always sends a de-escalation signal, and that reminds the administration that only the congress can declare war,” El-Tayyab told Tel Aviv Tribune.
Trump has not excluded American strikes against Iran. “We are not involved. It is possible that we can get involved,” he told ABC News on Sunday.
At the same time, the American president called for ending the war.
Israel launched a bombing campaign against Iran on Friday, targeting military and nuclear sites as well as residential buildings and civil infrastructure, killing dozens of people, including senior military officials and nuclear scientists.
The assault intervened a few days before us and Iranian negotiators had to meet for a sixth cycle of nuclear talks in Oman.
Iran responded with hundreds of ballistic missiles, many of which have penetrated the air defenses of Israel, causing generalized damage across the country.
The hawks urge trump to “ go all-in ”
With Israel under fire and apparently unable to withdraw the nuclear program from Iran – including installations buried deep underground and inside the mountains – American Ally supporters call Trump to come to the aid.
“The United States has bombers to transport deep penetrating bombs that Israeli planes cannot.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham has also said that the United States should “go everything to help Israel finish work.”
However, many American politicians have warned against American participation in war. Trump ran last year as a candidate for “peace”, slamming his democratic opponents as “chalets”.
The right -wing deputy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, said on Sunday in an article on social networks that the Americans are “sick and tired of foreign wars”.
“We spent thousands of billions in the Middle East and we have dealt with the consequences of death, exploded bodies, never end suicides and deactivate the SSPT,” she wrote in an article on X.
“All because they told us about propaganda to explain why we must sacrifice ours to defend the borders of another country and the borders of another country.”
Some American legislators also stressed that war with Iran without the approval of the congress would be illegal.
“The president cannot bypass the war powers of the Congress and unilaterally send American troops to war with Iran,” said the Rashida Tlaib Congress last week.
“The American people do not want another endless war in the Middle East who will cost lives and tear their families.”
“Devastating regional war”
Antiwar defenders have long called on congress to assert its powers on conflicts. Monday, several groups expressed their support for Kaine’s proposed legislation.
“It is an essential moment for the Congress to intervene and exercise its constitutional authority to prevent the United States from being trained in another war,” Raed Jarrar, a plea director at Democracy for the Arab World, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“Democrats and Republicans are expected to unite to reject any involvement of the United States in a devastating regional war launched by a genocidal maniac-which would unnecessarily risk American lives and waste national interest,” he added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel, which is carrying out a military campaign in Gaza that large rights defending rights have described as a genocide, warns for years that Iran is about to acquire a nuclear weapon.
While Israel described its strikes as “preemptive” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Tehran says that war was not caused and violates the rules of the United Nations Charter against Aggression.
The US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard certified in March that Washington “continues to assess that Iran does not build a nuclear weapon”. Israel is largely considered an unconceived nuclear arsenal.