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Washington, DC – An eminent Democratic senator presented a bill to force the American president, Donald Trump, to request the authorization of the congress before commanding soldiers Strike against Iran.
The measure, presented by the senator of Virginia, Tim Kaine on Monday, came in the midst of increasing calls by pro-Israeli groups so that the United States joins the Israeli bombing campaign against Iran Like attacks Between the two countries 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 the bill sent a message to Trump against War with Iran And to the Israelis that “they will not simply obtain support in the United States in white”.
He could also assess the level of opposition to war with Iran at Congress, especially among the Republicans. An increasing contingency of Right -wing legislators Warned Trump against being trained in a conflict which, they say, does not serve American interests.
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, in particular An invoice of 2020 This aimed to brake his 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 Iranian Top General Djibouti and Somali Despite the presidential veto, adding that the current measure can 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 Al Jazeera.
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 came Just days before American 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.
With Israel under fire And apparently unable to withdraw the nuclear program from Iran – including deep buried facilities underground and inside the mountains – the supporters of the American ally call Trump to come to his 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”.
Right -wing congress Marjorie Taylor Greene Said Sunday in an article on social networks that 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 The Middle East It will cost lives and tear their families. »»
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 Al Jazeera.
“Democrats and Republicans should 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 the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel, which is carrying out a military campaign in Gaza that the main rights defense groups have described As a genocidewarns 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.
US Intelligence Head Tulsi Gabbard had certified in March that Washington “continues to assess that Iran does not build a nuclear weapon”. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency accused Iran for the first time in 20 years of violation of its non-proliferation obligations. Israel is largely considered an unconceived nuclear arsenal.