Don’t Bomb Iran

Summary:  Democrat senators abandoned attempts to force George Bush to obtain Congressional approval before he can attack Iran,  reported AP on March 12.  The US Constitution demands Congress approve wars, and the Dems had planned to insert such a limit into a military spending bill.   The Democrat strategy was dropped after conservative and moderate Democrats argued that the possible impact on Israel would be too great. Although the measure to uphold the Constitution was dropped from the war spending bill, measures to support spinach and peanut farmers were inserted.  Go figure.

Extracts from Associated Press report  below, see also Gordon Prather article about the similarities to Congress’ failed attempt to give approval to Bush’s invasion of Iraq. The bill

 

 

Dems abandon war authority provision

By DAVID ESPO and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writers
Mon Mar 12, 7:22 PM ET
 
WASHINGTON - Top House Democrats retreated Monday from an attempt to limit President Bush’s authority for taking military action against Iran as the leadership concentrated on a looming confrontation with the White House over the Iraq war.

Officials said Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) and other members of the leadership had decided to strip from a major military spending bill a requirement for Bush to gain approval from Congress before moving against Iran.

Conservative Democrats as well as lawmakers concerned about the possible impact on Israel had argued for the change in strategy.

The developments occurred as Democrats pointed toward an initial test vote in the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday on the overall bill, which would require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by Sept. 1, 2008, if not earlier.

…

The Iran-related proposal stemmed from a desire to make sure Bush did not launch an attack without going to Congress for approval, but drew opposition from numerous members of the rank and file in a series of closed-door sessions last week.

Rep. Shelley Berkley (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., said in an interview there is widespread fear in Israel about Iran, which is believed to be seeking nuclear weapons and has expressed unremitting hostility about the Jewish state.

“It would take away perhaps the most important negotiating tool that the U.S. has when it comes to Iran,” she said of the now-abandoned provision.

“I didn’t think it was a very wise idea to take things off the table if you’re trying to get people to modify their behavior and normalize it in a civilized way,” said Rep. Gary Ackerman (news, bio, voting record) of New York.

Several officials said there was widespread opposition to the proposal at a closed-door meeting last week of conservative and moderate Democrats, who said they feared tying the hands of the administration when dealing with an unpredictable and potentially hostile regime in Tehran.

… 

But Democrats have struggled to find a compromise that can satisfy both liberals who oppose any funding for the military effort and conservatives who do not want to unduly restrict the commander in chief.