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Heading to War? Call and Say No!

Victoria Miller

Good morning, dear Activists,

We didn’t want to have to send this email, now or ever.  But events have made it necessary.  Late last night, Trump ordered the assassination of a top commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Major General Qassim Suleimani (here is The New York Times report), with no authorization from Congress. Along with the Major General, the drone strike killed four others, not all of whom have yet been named.

WHAT WE KNOW AT THE MOMENT

Trump ordered a drone strike outside Baghdad’s international airport last night that killed a powerful foreign military leader. Any assassination is a big deal, but by way of context, in the US, this would be something like a foreign government assassinating the Vice President outside the Toronto airport. Trump is taking us to unnecessary war. When Trump entered office in 2016, he inherited one of the best chances we’ve had in decades for peaceful relations with Iran. Three years later, with a cabinet full of warmongers, he’s now assassinating Iranian leaders. (Read more from our partners at Win Without War here).This wasn’t a defensive action.  The idea that this strike will prevent future attacks on Americans and our interests around the world defies logic. It. Will. Not. If anything, our risk just went up tenfold (Senator Chris Murphy gets it right in this tweet). The same voices who sold the disastrous Iraq War will have hot takes about how this was a critical defensive action in the coming days -- don’t be fooled. Plus it's unlikely Trump is suddenly telling us the truth.This is possible because Congress let it happen. Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution says, “Congress shall have power to ... declare War.”  But Congress has ceded authority over the military to the Executive Branch. That’s why for years we’ve been calling on Congress to reassert its constitutional authority, and why we’ll continue to do so.With nothing more than an empty statement from the Pentagon and a (bonkers) tweet of an American flag, Trump is transparently and unequivocally gambling with the safety of the American people and pulling us to the brink of war with Iran. And we don’t even know why he did it – unless this tweet he sent in 2011 about Obama offers a little clue.

CALL TO ACTION -- MAKE CALLS NOW

Sen. Toomey – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. office 202-224-4254; email link Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. office 202-224-6324; email link Rep. Evans – D.C. office 202-225-4001; Phila. office (215) 276-0340; email link Rep. Boyle – D.C. office (202) 225-6111; Phila office (215) 335-3355; email link Though they don’t always act like it, Congress is a co-equal branch of government that holds tremendous power to check Trump’s recklessness. So they must step in immediately.  This situation will evolve over the next few days, but right now the most important thing every Member of Congress can do is to clearly and unequivocally state that they condemn this strike and are opposed to war with Iran.   Call our Members of Congress and tell them to state emphatically that they condemn this strike and they do not want war with Iran.  

We can’t overstate how critical this is. We are on the precipice of war, and Congress is perhaps our only hope of stopping it.  Your call only takes a minute so please call now.  It makes a huge difference. We’ll keep you updated as news develops.

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