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Just when you thought a Congress could not debase itself any further, having just approved massive funding for the Iraq war and granted the corporate criminal accomplices of Bush's attack on the Bill of Rights a free pass... along comes the mother of all insane resolutions of our time. This is even worse than the notorious Iraq War Resolution. and is likely to pass Congress like a glassful of laxatives. Resolution 362 in the House (not officially named the "Iran War Resolution", but nonetheless amounting to nothing less than that)will effectively demand the US to impose a naval blockade of Iran, an act of war. demands that the President initiate an international effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia, prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran. To most rational people, this is demanding a Naval embargo of Iran, though the resolution is not explicit in that. Indeed, it does include this politically helpful phrase "that nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an authorization of the use of force against Iran" which really is a contradiction. This Resolution makes war against the people of Iran that much easier for the Bush/Cheney regime and their cohorts in Congress. Please take action on this today. This resolution is the current central legislative priority of the pro-war lobby AIPAC. Over the last three weeks 77 House Democrats and 92 Republicans have agreed to cosponsor this resolution, H. Con. Res 362, imposing a blockade imposed without United Nations authority (which the resolution does not call for) would be widely construed as an act of war. Some congressional sources say the House could vote on the resolution as early as this week. In late May, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly urged the United States to impose a blockade on Iran. During a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in Jersusalem, Olmert said economic sanctions have "exhausted themselves" and called a blockade a "good possibility." Now, thanks to AIPAC and a compliant congress, and a grassroots distracted by an election, Olmert may get his wish. Congress is taking the path to war and is rejecting a rational approach to nuclear weapons proliferation on this fragile planet. Off the agenda is ending once and for all nuclear weapons possession by all nations, as was the supposed intent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Off the agenda is making the Middle East a nuclear-weapons free zone. Off the agenda is the fact that Israel itself is in possession of a massive nuclear arsenal, and that the US looks the other way. Indeed, if the US were to officially acknowledge Israel's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, it would be required to end military aid to Israel or violate its own laws banning funding of states that proliferate nuclear weapons. In short, what is being rejected is a realistic plan for humanity to survive and finally end the scourge of nuclear weapons. The use of military action to deter the possession of nuclear weapons (or using that as a pretext for military action, even if that is not the actual reason) is the greatest incentive to possess nuclear weapons. It leads only to a deadly spiral of violence. How long will the US Congress continue down this insane path of promoting war? How long will Congress listen to the war lobby, and instead listen to voices of reason? More on this at the StopAIPAC website. Includes current status, list of cosponsors, and latest news.
Activist for peace and justice in the Middle East.
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