[rad-green] Ocasio-Cortez Joins Progressive Chorus Against War With Iran

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/03/right-now-moment-decide-if-you-are-pro-peace-or-not-ocasio-cortez-joins-progressive
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/03/right-now-moment-decide-if-you-are-pro-peace-or-not-ocasio-cortez-joins-progressive>Common
Dreams          January 03, 2020'Right Now Is the Moment to Decide If You
Are Pro-Peace or Not': Ocasio-Cortez Joins Progressive Chorus Against War
With Iran"Congress now has a moral and legal obligation to reassert its
power to stop this war and protect innocent people from horrific
consequences."by Eoin Higgins, staff writer*

[image: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) attends Women's March 2019
on January 19, 2019 in New York City.]

*Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) attends Women's March 2019 on
January 19, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)*

Progressives on Friday, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for
Congressional action to rein in the administration after a drone strike
ordered by President Donald Trump killed Iranian military commander Qasem
Soleimani, a move seen by observers as an act of war that is nearly certain
to exacerbate a historically tense moment in the Persian Gulf region.

"Right now is the moment to decide if you are pro-peace or not," tweeted
Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat.

"Congress now has a moral and legal obligation to reassert its power to
stop this war and protect innocent people from horrific consequences," the
congresswoman added <https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1213186905971601408>.

Ocasio-Cortez joined a growing chorus from the left urging restraint and
diplomacy from the U.S. and Iran.

"There is no military solution to this crisis," Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.)
and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive
Caucus, said in a statement. "Instead, we must pursue meaningful diplomacy
to achieve peace and stability in the region."

Jayapal added <https://twitter.com/RepJayapal/status/1213156373543956486> in
a tweet that Soleimani's killing "dangerously doubles down on reckless
military brinkmanship."

The attack on Soleimani, one of the leaders of Iran's Quds Force and a
major figure in the Iranian government, and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi
al-Muhandis came on Friday morning near the Baghdad airport.

By striking the Iranian leader, Ploughshares Fund director of programs
Michelle Dover told *Common Dreams* in an email, the U.S. "has imperiled
any near term chances for diplomacy."

"The primary question now is whether the U.S. government is prepared for
the Iranian response," said Dover. "The U.S. public should be calling on
Congress to assert its authorities and oversight roles to prevent an
unintentional slide into war."

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) in a statement called
<https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/01/03/congresswoman-barbara-lee-killing-qasem-soleimani>
for
peace and noted that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force
(AUMF), first passed by Congress in 2001 days after the 9/11 attacks with
Lee as the sole dissenting vote, was used by the White House as the
justification for the strike.

"We must work to prevent further military action in the region," said Lee.
"We have known for years that there is no military solution, and it's past
time to return to a diplomatic strategy with our allies. We must protect
our national security, our brave troops, our allies, and the American
people."

Lee included in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) an
amendment which would have repealed the AUMF, but, as Rep. Ro Khanna
(D-Calif.) pointed out on Twitter, that language was stripped from the
final bill delivering the president billions in war funding, which passed
Congress with bipartisan support.

Liberal advocacy group MoveOn on Friday launched a petition asking
<https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/stop-war-with-iran-3> Congress to halt
the march to war.

"Congress is the only branch of government that has the constitutional
power to decide where and whether to send U.S. forces into harm's way," the
group said. "We urge you to act immediately to stop a catastrophic war with
Iran."

*The Nation*'s Jeet Heer warned
<https://www.thenation.com/article/suleimani-iran-war-trump/> Friday that
Congress has not been known recently for its bravery in the face of
war-time presidents.

"Trump's petty motives and incoherent policy have been enabled by a
Congress that has long been derelict in its duty to provide oversight over
foreign policy," said Heer. "This abdication of responsibility is all too
typical of American politics since the 9/11 terrorist attacks—under both
Democratic and Republican presidents."

In a statement to *Common Dreams*, Alliance for Peacebuilding president and
CEO Uzra Zeya said that the correct response to the continuing tensions is
trying to find a way forward without violence.

"We must reject retribution and military action towards all-out war that
endangers the future of Iranians and Americans alike," said Zeya.
"Peacebuilding—in the form of de-escalation, dialogue, restraint, and
diplomacy—is now more important than ever."

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