(RNS) — A group of U.S. and Iranian religious leaders recently made a joint call for their respective governments, civil society organizations and other faith communities to avoid war and instead choose diplomacy, human rights and peace.
The call could not be more urgent. In recent months, President Donald Trump has threatened to attack Iran without proper deliberation with Congress. A war with Iran would likely be disastrous for the U.S. and certainly for the people of that country.
Even more troubling, the administration’s threats are not isolated to Iran. Last month, the administration violated Venezuela’s sovereignty, abducting its president and his wife in an operation involving 150 military aircraft and drones, and resulting in the deaths of 83 people. This act, carried out in violation of U.S. and international law, would undoubtedly be considered an act of war if it had happened to the U.S. The White House neglected to seek congressional approval, as required by the Constitution.
Then there’s Greenland. After massive pushback from European allies on threats to invade the island, which is a Danish territory, Trump has shifted to claiming he will “buy” it (though Greenlanders and Denmark have made clear it is not for sale).
These rapidly changing pronouncements and multiple geopolitical threats are enough to make your head spin. After tweeting that he was preparing to invade Iran, President Trump opened the door to diplomacy the following day.
Though whiplash-inducing, the shift does bring cause for hope if, like most Americans, you do not want the U.S. dragged into another endless war. Perhaps you would prefer the president to focus on fixing problems at home rather than creating new crises abroad? You are not alone.
Fortunately, some leaders are taking meaningful action. This month, a visit to the White House by Colombian President Gustavo Petro seemed to calm some regional nerves, and new talks with Iran have helped slow the drums of another war in the Middle East.
Still, some in Congress do not want to be caught by surprise again. After decades of allowing the executive branch under both Republican and Democratic administrations to overreach in its conduct of war, bipartisan measures to reassert congressional war powers are making a comeback.
After war powers measures aimed at reining in military action against Venezuela failed by just a few votes in both the Senate and House, Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced a war powers resolution to prevent a new war against Iran. Congress has also developed legislative language to assert its sole war powers in other cases, should the need arise.
Our country’s founders vested Congress with the power to authorize war to ensure that decisions of such magnitude are deliberated in the branch of government most accountable to the American people. They explicitly rejected the executive’s unilateral control over making war.
The founders felt that it was important to distinguish their new country’s leaders from the British monarchy. Wary of kings’ propensity to hastily engage in conflict at the expense of their subjects, they entrusted these grave decisions to the body closest the American people. “In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace to the legislature, and not to the executive,” said James Madison.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973, also known as the War Powers Act, was passed during the Vietnam War to reinforce that authority. Rather than creating new powers, it affirms and strengthens the checks already granted to Congress under the Constitution.
Just as war is not the answer to dealing with drug cartels in Latin America, as the Trump administration has suggested, it is also not an effective response to repressive regimes. The U.S. learned the hard way in Iraq, and history must not repeat itself. The killing of thousands of protesters by the Iranian government is horrific and should be condemned, but waging war against Iran will not bring democracy or peace to the Iranian people, as it has not done for the Venezuelan people or countless others around the globe.
Nor is there a clear legal or strategic justification for escalating the violence in Iran. U.S. intelligence assessments continue to indicate that Iran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, and the ballistic missile program has already bounced back from last year’s strikes on Iran by the U.S. and Israel. The attacks, in other words, destabilized Iranian society for no reason.
Congress can most effectively support the Iranian people now by keeping the Islamic Republic regime accountable on human rights, advocating for expanded access to uncensored internet and offering safe refuge for those facing persecution. Unauthorized U.S. military strikes on Iran would do the opposite, endangering civilians and undermining those bravely demanding basic rights.
We must continue urging those in power to chart a different path. As the faith leaders urged in their statement, “ … we together implore our governmental leaders and those of other countries to take concrete steps towards reconciliation before even greater catastrophes befall us.”
Indeed, another war of choice would put U.S. troops at risk, inflame regional instability, empower hard-liners and divert resources from urgent domestic needs, while repeating the devastating mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Diplomacy has worked before, and it can again. People of faith must urge Congress to reinforce de-escalation and diplomacy, instead of ceding its war powers authority and sleepwalking toward another disastrous conflict. The Senate should pass Senate Joint Resolution 104, which would bar the use of armed forces in Iran without a formal declaration of war. It would reassert Congress’ constitutional role while redirecting U.S. policy away from war and toward a new era of peace and democracy.
“If action to transform violent conflicts is not taken now, the horrors of war and devastation will spread and engulf thousands, if not millions, of innocent lives,” the faith leaders add. “We can not allow that to happen.”
(Bridget Moix is the general secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation and leads two other Quaker organizations, Friends Place on Capitol Hill and the FCNL Education Fund. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)
