GMDSA Statement: Bombing Iran Is Not Just “Unconstitutional.” It's Wrong.
Following Trump’s announcement that the U.S. had bombed Iran, joining Israel’s week-long assault on that country, members of the Congressional Democratic Caucus, including Vermont Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, focused their outrage on Trump’s failure to seek congressional approval for the strikes.
Reacting to news of the bombing in real time before an audience at a “Fight Oligarchy” rally in Tulsa, Sanders said: “Not only is this news alarming, but it is so grossly unconstitutional. All of you know that the only entity that can take this country to war is the U.S. Congress.” A press release from Welch’s office on Saturday night echoed this “unconstitutional” framing: “Under the constitution, it is the responsibility of Congress—not the president—to declare war. The American people should have had a voice and an opportunity to debate this monumental act before a strike of this nature. We must return to Washington immediately.”
The Vermont Senators’ responses mirrored those of the Democratic Party leadership, represented by statements from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who, after referring to Iran’s “ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression,” called on Congress to “enforce the War Powers Act,” directly avoiding opposition to the bombing itself.
These statements from the so-called opposition party amount to a process critique of Trump’s decision to bomb a sovereign country that poses no threat to the U.S. The implication, of course, is that if Trump had sought and been given congressional approval to attack Iran, then everything would be fine. This line from Welch’s statement is particularly telling: “This decision to go to war with Iran, without debate or Congressional authorization, is reckless and wrong.” The qualifier – “without debate or Congressional authorization” – is doing a lot of work here.
An authentic anti-war response to Trump’s bombing would condemn the act itself in clear and direct terms. Bombing Iran is wrong - full stop!
Even if Congress approved Trump’s decision to bomb Iran, it would still be wrong. It would still constitute an illegal act of aggression under the U.N. Charter. It would still violate Iran’s sovereignty and its right – as a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty – to a domestic nuclear energy program. It would still endanger Iranian civilians, hundreds of whom have already been killed in Israel’s strikes on residential buildings in Tehran and other cities. It would still threaten greater instability in the region and further enable Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and attacks on neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. And it would still send a clear message to Iran and other countries that do not currently possess nuclear weapons that the only way to protect yourself from attack by a more powerful nuclear-armed country is to develop a weapon as quickly as possible.
DSA and other principled socialist internationalists need to condemn this act of war on Iran in the strongest terms, extend solidarity to the people of Iran who are its primary victims, and call on the U.S. to immediately cease all attacks on Iran and all support for Israel’s war crimes in Iran, Gaza, and elsewhere. Further, we need to call for mass mobilizations of the broad anti-war left, and coordinated labor action, to demonstrate overwhelming opposition to Trump and Israel’s war on Iran - not tepid opposition rooted in process, but genuine opposition based on our fundamental belief in the immorality of war and the right of all people to live with peace and dignity.
Join DSA to be part of a genuine anti-war opposition to Trump.
