CREDO Action.com – 2015-02-03 02:09:28
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/menendez_warmonger
Senator Robert Menendez doesn’t want you to call him a “warmonger” –
but his actions say loudly that he is one.
(January 31, 2015) — Along with Republican Mark Kirk, Senator Menendez has done more in the last two years than any other Democrat to beat the drums for war with Iran. Menendez is once again pushing a dangerous sanctions bill that, if passed, would sabotage negotiations and put us back on a path to confrontation and unnecessary war with Iran.
In his State of the Union, President Obama laid out the consequences of passing the bill, and promised to veto it if comes to his desk:
[N]ew sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails — alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress. The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.2
In response to the president, Menendez offered up bizarre, unhinged comments to the media suggesting the Obama administration’s talking points were coming “straight out of Tehran.” This is beyond the pale.
There’s a risk that enough Democrats will join Senator Menendez to override President Obama’s veto and push through new sanctions — but only if they can get away with doing it without being perceived as voting for war. The best way to make sure Menendez’s sanctions bill doesn’t pass is to make it clear that supporting this bill is warmongering, and force other Democrats to remember the political lesson of the Iraq war: A vote for war is a permanent stain on your legacy.
Diplomacy with Iran is working.4 So far, Iran has stuck to the commitments it has made at the negotiating table, and today, Iran is further from building a nuclear weapon that it was before the negotiations began. And there’s strong evidence that a final deal is within reach.5
If the United States violates the interim agreement by passing more sanctions on Iran, we will not only drive Iran away from the bargaining table but lose legitimacy with our allies, which could cause much of the global sanctions regime against Iran to collapse.6
That will make it easier for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, further destabilize the Middle East, create friction between America and our allies, and almost guarantee an enormously bloody and costly war between the United States and Iran.
Senator Menendez should know all of this, but he is either deeply deluded about the likely consequences of his action, or, like so many of his Republican allies, acting in bad faith because he actually wants a war with Iran. Either way, we have to hold him accountable.
Sign the Petition
Tell Senator Robert Menendez:
“Your campaign to impose additional sanctions on Iran is nothing short of irresponsible warmongering. Immediately drop your dangerous Iran sanctions bill, which will kill diplomacy and risk another unnecessary war of choice in the Middle East, and support President Obama’s diplomacy.”
Related stories
Patricia Zengerle, “US Senate’s Menendez happy in ‘bad cop’ role on Iran talks,” Reuters, February 26, 2014
“President Obama’s State of the Union Address — Remarks As Prepared for Delivery”
Jim Newell, “Bob Menendez, Bibi & the GOP: The alliance sabotaging Iranian nuclear talks,” Salon, January 22, 2015
George Jahn, “UN: Iran Honors Pledge to Temporarily Freeze Nuke Program,” AP, January 20, 2015
Ryan Costello, “Iran nuclear talks 101,” The Hill, January 8, 2015
Laurent Fabius, Philip Hammond, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federica Mogherini, “Give diplomacy with Iran a chance,” Washington Post, January 21, 2015
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
