Letter to my congress-critter on Iran

Here's what I just wrote to my congressman:

I hope you’re settling into Washington, DC. I’m sure it’s an adjustment, compared to New England at any rate. I also hope you read my previous letter of mid-January.

Today, I am writing you concerning the danger of a US or Israeli air strike on Iran. For a long time I doubted that Bush, Cheney and their NeoCon advisers would be insane enough to attack Iran – because the consequences of such an attack would be catastrophic. Besides, there is no hard evidence that Iran’s nuclear program is being used to produce nuclear weapons. In fact, my understanding is that the IAEA considers Iran’s nuclear program to be relatively primitive. Yet, the drumbeats of war are getting louder by the day. Imagine what a war with Iran could bring.

Imagine gasoline shooting up to $5.00 / gal overnight – imagine 25% of the world’s oil trade being shut down for several months – imagine the many thousands of dead Iranians who happen to work in or live near the facilities targeted for attack – imagine the Iranian counterattack that could sink several US warships, endanger our troops in Iraq and possibly lead to World War III, with nuclear weapons. Russia and China have enormous energy and economic ties with Iran, and I’m sure they won’t be pleased to see us bombing around their backyard again.

Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski recently spoke before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and warned of the prospect of a coming war with Iran. His words are chilling, as he’s no ‘dove’ in geo-political matters. He warns of an attack on US soil or US interests that might be blamed on Iran. That’s what concerns me the most – a false-flag incident like the Gulf of Tonkin that sets in motion an irrevocable escalation. The fact that he warns of such a possibility is stunning.

I recently heard a recording of a talk Scott Ritter gave last month where he called for a ‘Bolan-type amendment’ that would prevent the President from attacking Iran with public dollars. That sounds like exactly what we need. HJ Res. 14, sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina, is a good first step in that direction. I urge you to support it and even becoming a co-sponsor. A description of this bill that I obtained via Congress.org is provided below.

'Concerning the use of military force by the United States against Iran.'
Bill # H.J.RES.14

Original Sponsor:
Walter Jones (R-NC 3rd)
Cosponsor Total: 29(last sponsor added 02/06/2007)
23 Democrats
6 Republicans

1/12/2007--Introduced. Provides that: (1) no provision of law enacted before the date of the enactment of this joint resolution shall be construed to authorize the use of U.S. military force against Iran; and (2) absent a national emergency created by an attack or imminent attack by Iran upon the United States, its territories or possessions or its Armed Forces, the President shall consult with Congress, and receive specific authorization pursuant to law from Congress, prior to initiating military force against Iran.

I urge you to support this bill and do all you can to prevent a war with Iran. Please also do all you can to get our troops out of harms way as soon as possible. The Iraq war is lost.


Sincerely, Altean Wanderer

One relatively renew to DU

I think he's particularly effective, because, as you noted, he's more of a hawk than anything else. And those who don't think he is a hawk, do know he has no truck with the Left (I've heard he's a pretty cold fish actually).

I am making a note of H.J.Res. 14 and will look it up. Congress.org is pretty cool isn't it?

Thanks! :hi:

Congress.org is very useful. I had hoped to get the gist of the bill into my letter by memory, but being over 40 that's not so reliable anymore ;-) so I was trilled to see the entire text of the bill right there after an easy search.

WE must stop an attack on Iran. It would be a one clusterf*&k.

Thomas something, supposed to give more details about specifically where a bill is in the legislative process, but I'm not always sure what it is that I'm looking at there, and Congress.org IS better now than it used to be about this.

I will post what I write here too. You are right about Iran. It MUST NOT happen and, unfortunately, that will not stop some people, but I'm not going down without a fight.

favorite snack food, maybe we could entice them to perform. :banghead:

K & R