West Asia: Hakeem Jeffries calls Iran war ‘unlawful war of choice’​

Washington: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has accused President Donald Trump of plunging the United States into an “unlawful war of choice” against Iran, saying the administration has failed to justify the conflict or seek congressional authorisation.​

In an interview on CNN’s The Story Is with Elex Michaelson, Jeffries said the president had not explained why the United States launched a preemptive strike against Iran.​

“The President has failed to articulate a compelling reason for why the United States preemptively struck Iran and has now plunged us into a war of choice, where billions of dollars are being spent to drop bombs in the Middle East,” Jeffries told the news channel.​

He added that the conflict has already spread across the region.​

“In fact, the entire region is in flames right now,” Jeffries said.​

Jeffries acknowledged that Iran has long been considered hostile to the United States but argued that military conflict should not proceed without congressional debate.​

“Iran is definitely a bad actor and needs to be aggressively confronted, and there are a variety of different tools to be able to do that, including aggressive diplomacy or making sure that the sanctions regime continues to tighten,” he said.​

But he said the Constitution gives Congress the authority to decide on war.​

“But on matters of war and peace, I mean, the framers were very clear. They gave Congress the sole authority to declare war, understanding that it’s a serious thing when we decide to put our servicemen and women in harm’s way,” Jeffries said.​

Jeffries also noted that American service members have already died in the conflict.​

“We’ve already lost seven heroic, patriotic, brave service members. And certainly it’s the case that our heart goes out to them and our prayers continue to be with them,” he said.​

The Democratic leader said the administration has not provided clear objectives or an end strategy for the war.​

“This is an all-out war against Iran that now involves more than a dozen different countries and the expenditure of billions of dollars, perhaps a day, to drop bombs in the Middle East without a clear objective, a clear strategy or a clear endgame,” Jeffries said.​

Jeffries said Democrats had supported a War Powers Resolution aimed at limiting hostilities until Congress debates the conflict.​

“These types of hostilities should cease until there’s an actual debate and the President makes his case to Congress and to the American people and seeks the authorisation for the use of military force,” he said.

IANS