Washington D.C. — As Israel’s military operation against Iran continues, President Trump appears to be changing his position and preparing to join Israel’s campaign.
This is a mistake. Foreign Policy for America rejects calls to drag the United States into another unnecessary war.
Proponents of military action are making the same arguments today that led us into the disastrous Iraq War. They fail to explain how these actions would achieve their stated objectives or to consider what will come after, nor are they exhausting the diplomatic avenues that remain.
Americans do not want a war with Iran. The latest polling from YouGov shows that 60% of Americans think that the U.S. military should not get involved. President Trump ran for president, in part, on his opposition to the Iraq War and his promises to be a president of peace. He is now breaking that promise.
The authority to wage war lies with the people’s representatives. We call on Members of Congress to demand President Trump seek approval before joining Netanyahu’s war. Our military service members and their families deserve to understand why President Trump has reversed his position.
Foreign Policy for America fully supports the Congressional War Powers Resolutions introduced by Senator Tim Kaine and Congressmen Tom Massie and Ro Khanna to prohibit U.S. military force in Iran and to require President Trump to seek congressional approval.
“A decision by the United States to enter the war between Israel and Iran will further complicate any possible diplomatic solution” says Bonnie Jenkins, FP4A Board member and former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. “The 2015 JCPOA was negotiated over 20 months, drawing on expertise in regional and nuclear issues and in partnership with allies and others. Even when both sides are willing to negotiate, a new agreement will take time and international collaboration.”
“Entering this war is a recipe for more escalation, more destruction, and more death — while keeping the United States bogged down in costly Middle Eastern wars for years to come” says Ned Price, FP4A board member and Former Deputy to the U.S. Representative to the United Nations. “Instead, the Trump administration should be pushing a diplomatic deal that reimposes strict and verifiable controls on Iran’s nuclear capabilities and brings this conflict to an end.”
“If Trump orders U.S. Air Force bombers to strike at Iranian nuclear targets that Israeli forces are unable to destroy, including the deeply fortified, underground Fordow uranium enrichment complex, it will open the door to Iranian retaliation against U.S. and allied targets in the Middle East” says Thomas Countryman, FP4A board member and Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation. “This could, in turn, lead to a much wider, deadly, long-term conflict.”
“The United States should only go to war when it is necessary to address an imminent threat and after all diplomatic solutions have been exhausted” says Jon Finer, FP4A Advisory Board member and Former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor. “That is clearly not the case today with Iran’s nuclear program. We should learn the lessons of past interventions that were inadequately planned, without considering second and third-order effects, and not repeat those mistakes.”
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