US Lawmakers Worried About War with Iran

By Staff, Agencies

Amid tensions with the Islamic Republic of Iran, American lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are growing more concerned about the possibility of war between the two countries, urging President Donald Trump to stop keeping them in the dark about his next step amid talks of a military confrontation.

The Trump administration’s maximum pressure policy through harsh sanctions and hostile rhetoric has put Washington on a collision course with Tehran.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that after introducing plans to starve Iranian people and zero out the country’s oil exports, hawks in Trump’s team – led by National Security Adviser John Bolton – have gone as far as drawing up plans for a possible military strike that could involve sending 120,000 soldiers to the Middle East.

The talk of war was pushed up another notch on Sunday after unknown assailants targeted four vessels, including two tankers from Saudi Arabia, off the United Arab Emirates in mysterious acts of "sabotage."

Washington has since accused Tehran of planning "imminent" attacks in the region. On Wednesday, the US ordered all non-emergency staff to leave its embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and consulate in Erbil.

The Pentagon has followed up on the threats by sending B-52 nuclear-capable bombers and an aircraft carrier to the region.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers called on the White House to reopen diplomatic channels with Iran and tone down their hostile rhetoric, reminding Trump and his officials that they cannot launch a war without first consulting Congress.

"They have no business declaring a war without the consent of Congress," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“I think all of us are in the dark over here,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters outside the Senate.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said acting War Secretary Patrick Shanahan and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, needed to brief senators.

"There's an alarming lack of clarity here," he said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "There's a lack of strategy and there's a lack of consultation."

"An adventure like this, 120,000 troops or a large number of troops, should have to be approved by Congress. It should certainly be discussed with the Congress," Schumer said.

While some officials have been insisting that Iran is now posing an increased threat to US personnel in Syria and Iraq, Major General Chris Ghika, the deputy commander of the US-led coalitions’ alleged anti-terror operations in Syria and Iraq, has said that the threat level from Iran has not changed

Republican Senator Jerry Moran told CNN after a classified briefing on global threats with directors of the CIA and the NSA that "there is a lot more to be known before decisions are made" about going to war with Iran.

Moran, a member of the War Appropriations subcommittee that held the briefing in the Capitol, said Ghika’s assessment “is worthy of further exploration," Moran said.

“We know that from history, we know that as a practical matter people's lives are at stake," Moran said in an apparent reference to the Iraq 2003 war.

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, echoed the same stance.

On Wednesday, Pelosi questioned that authority, saying: "The very idea that they would say that they would use the authorization of the use military force that is 18 years old and something by now -- whatever its age, it's not appropriate in terms of its scope, its geography, its timing for any actions they might take, wherever they may be taking them."