Congressional representatives in the Bay Area say President Trump should have consulted with Congress before bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“While Israel, the United States, and the world are safer without Iran having nuclear capabilities, President Trump has impulsively acted without a Congressional Declaration of War,” said Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo. “This administration neglected to even brief Democrats on congressional intelligence committees about the strike. This is consistent with Trump’s total disregard for the Article 1 powers of the Congress. We must avoid another war in the Middle East that threatens the security of U.S. military personnel in the region. The U.S. House of Representatives must receive a classified briefing on the matter as soon as practicable.”
Rep. Sam Liccardo, the Democrat who represents northern Santa Clara County including Palo Alto, urged negotiations with Iran — even though Iran had previously rejected invitations to negotiate for 60 days before Saturday’s air strikes.
“This isn’t the moment to spike the football,” Liccardo said on X. “Iran will retaliate through terrorist proxies. For our 40,000 U.S. troops in the region, we must deescalate, communicate soberly, and allow Iran a face-saving path to negotiation.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-San Jose, said President Trump should have sought Congressional approval.
“It’s blatantly unconstitutional,” Khanna said.
The White House said it didn’t talk to Congress because it was afraid the information would leak to the Iranians, eliminating the element of surprise necessary for a successful mission.
Still, Khanna called for the immediate return of members of Congress to Washington D.C. to vote on his war powers resolution he coauthored with U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to “stop the endless war in Iran.”
While he’s not in Congress, state Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, nonetheless also spoke out against the air strikes. “This type of unilateral, violent action from our federal administration is deeply alarming, but not surprising, and it risks triggering global instability as well as retaliatory attacks against America,” Cortese said.
I remember how there were big protests in Palo Alto when Obama bombed Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and Syria. People were saying, “How could he do this without a formal Declaration of War? Impeach him!” There were massive crowds of protesters outside of Town and Country on El Camino. I think the Palo Alto City Council passed a resolution condemning Obama!
Obama attacked seven countries in the Middle East while in the White House.
Syria: 12,192 bombs
Iraq: 12,095 bombs
Afghanistan: 1,337 bombs
Libya: 496 bombs
Yemen: 35 bombs
Somalia: 14 bombs
Pakistan: 3 bombs
Where was the outrage then?
Why consult with bubbleheads like Mullin and Liccardo about anything?