War Powers Debate Looming as Tensions Escalate between the United States, Iran, and Venezuela
An interesting fact when it comes to American History is that a sitting President has never lost re-election while a war was being fought. It comes as no surprise then that as commander in chief of our armed forces, the President may choose to get the nation involved in foreign conflicts for political purposes at home.
Take the alleged sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor that ignited the Spanish American War, or the incident in the gulf of Tonkin that led to the war of American aggression in Vietnam, this was a result of Democratic President LBJ attempting to look tough of communism to appease conservatives during the Cold War. History tells us that the Commander in Chief doesn't hesitate to use his armed forces for political purposes, due to this fact, the War Powers Resolution was passed in 1973 through an override of a Presidential veto by Richard Nixon.
The resolution demands the President to notify Congress of any military action within 48 hours of deployment, and allows troops to be actively deployed without congressional authorization for a total of 90 days, including a 30 day withdrawal period. After 60 days, if Congress doesn't declare war or authorize a use of military force then all troops must be returned. Although, if Congress does authorize military action, according to the WPR, the administration must report to Congress at least every six months about the status of our military action. Since 9/11 the War Powers Resolution has been brushed aside, starting with the Bush administration, the War on Terror became the United States excuse for an unconstitutional foreign policy. Since then there has been a bipartisan consensus that the War Powers Resolution is too restrictive in times of war, witch we have been in for almost two decades.
Despite this, there has been a robust debate around the War Powers Resolution in recent months due Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders leading the charge in the Senate, and California Representative Ro Kannah in the House to Pass a bill under the WPR to cut all United States Support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen witch has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. Unfortunately, after defying odds and passing both chambers of Congress, President Trump Vetoed the bill, citing an excuse used the Obama administration used to justify its bombing of Syria and Lybia. Congress was unable to override this veto, so the unconstitutional, genocidal war continues with support from the highest levels of our government.
This hasn't deterred Democratic representative from Rhode Island David Cicilline from attempting to pass a similar bill under the WPR titled the "Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act". This bill would prohibit the use of federal money to fund the use of military action in Venezuela, unless congress authorizes it. The bill has 71 cosponsors, but even bipartisan measures seeking to impose the War Powers Resolution are frowned upon by the executive branch, witch taken advantage of its excessive powers since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Senator Tom Udall has also introduced a bill titled the "Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act of 2019", witch would ban the use of federal funds to use military force against Iran. This bill has the support of 11 Democratic senators, including Bernie Sanders.
I have written extensively on how the United States is attempting to force regime change in Venezuela by destabilizing their country and using illegal economic sanctions that have killed more than 40,000 civilians since 2017. Well, we're kinda doing something similar in Iran. It may come as a surprise, but the Untied States, led by John Bolton, is also attempting to provoke Iran into engaging with us militarily for a number of reasons, both foreign and domestic. This plan to goad Iran into conflict has been in action since May 8th 2018 when President Trump pulled the US out the Iran Nuclear Deal, calling to "defective to its core". This "defective" deal "imposed limits on Irans capacity to enrich uranium, and capped its stockpile in exchange for global sanctions relief", it was a positive step for diplomacy with our rivals in the middle east, something Donald Tump and his team of Neocons just couldn't allow.
Since the US has left the deal our government has ordered buyers of Iranian oil to stop purchases or else they'll face sanctions themselves, along with new sanctions designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, the Iranian economy has taken a brutal hit. This is a perfect example of how the United Staes uses its economic power over other nations to dictate global policy. Reporting by Aljazeera indicates, "The US's sanctions have triggered an economic crisis in Iran; the currency lost more than 60% of its value against the dollar last year...". Who new we could destabilize two countries at once with illegal sanctions.
According to those in the highest levels of our government "Washington was 'not seeking war' with Tehran...but [is] 'fully prepared to respond' to any attack from Iran or its proxies in the region". These comments remind some of the rhetoric used by officials within the United States before its invasion of Iraq in 2003, and with one of the architects of the Iraq War conveniently in place to do his thing again, American citizens must be ready to call out the bullshit that emits from the highest levels of our government. After stating that the US is fully prepared to respond to any Iranian threats, Bolton "did not offer evidence detailing the threat from Iran, and high ranking Iranian officials have dismissed Boltons rhetoric as "psychological warfare".
Aljazeera has stated, "John Bolton wants to start a war with Iran. He's escalating, and he's hoping the Iranians will make a bad move...". Every decision made by the Trump administration since pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal has "only harmed global non-proliferation efforts, undermined the value of multi-lateral diplomacy, contributed to regional tensions, and 'inflicted undue pain on the Iranian population".