Much of my week has been spent making a case against the current resolution regarding Iran gaining momentum in Congress (H. Con. Res. 362). Common Cause partnered with a Council for a Livable World in working with a group of retired military and security experts to weigh in on controversial language within the resolution regarding a potential military blockade against Iran. Admiral Shanahan, General Gard, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Larry Korb were unanimous in their statement that, "Without a Security Council Resolution, implementation of these measures could be construed as an act of war. Read the full letter here.

In addition to playing a role in putting together the letter from the military experts, Common Cause sent a letter to the Hill that outlined some additional concerns of our own. We are urging Members of Congress not to support the Resolution because we believe sections of the resolution are ambiguous, potentially destructive and do not further a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue that almost everyone says we want. Common Cause is also concerned that Congress is too hastily passing a resolution that gives the President overly broad authorities and sends a mixed and unrealistic messages to the Iranians and the rest of the world. Our position is that Congress has the authority under the Constitution to declare war, and while this resolution is nonbinding and specifically denies that war is the intention, the bellicose and ambiguous nature of language in the resolution calls into question their true intentions. In addition, while the resolution calls for an increase in diplomatic efforts, those clauses are drowned out by a call for a prohibition of the international movement of all Iranian officials not involved in the negotiation of the suspension of Iran's nuclear program

Tensions are extremely high between the United States and Iran at the moment and we believe Congress has the responsibility to act thoughtfully and productively. The current resolution falls far short in communicating a clear message about our intentions to Iran and the world community and we urged Congress to abandon it. In its present form it will no doubt be construed as provocative and further contribute to the increasingly hostile rhetoric between the two countries, bringing us closer to a potential confrontation. We'll be sending our members an e-mail next week on the issue when Congress gets closer to taking the issue up. Stay tuned.

We've been watching closely as a concurrent resolution on American policy on Iran moves its way swiftly through the House and Senate (hcon.res.362 and sres580).  You can read the full bill and check out if your member is a cosponsor here.  Some parts of the resolution are harmless, some are pandering, all of it political in an election year, but section 3 in the House version is down right dumb.  It reads:

Seymour Hersh published a new article in The New Yorker that details information about the CIA and other government agencies' secret involvement in Iran.

Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country's religious leadership.

Whatever your own view about our relations with Iran, having a very public and transparent conversation about whether we target this country is absolutely necessary.

The media is where we have discussions like this and while we have seen and heard bits and pieces, alternative news sources remain the best places to get informed.

War is certainly big business, but even bigger is the impact it has on the lives of our troops and their families, not to mention the international condemnation that may follow.

With consequences and sacrifices like these on the line, we need 1. transparency and 2. debate.

Big Media has to be held accountable for their decreasing willingness to hold government accountable.

Common Cause has been working with House and Senate staffers to put a bill in place that would strengthen Congress's role under the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution as it pertains to military engagement.  We have a long tradition of supporting Congress' role in these matters since the initial enactment of the Resolution in 1973.   We believe the decision to take our country to war should be deliberated over in a transparent and participatory manner, and that the Executive Branch should not exceed its authority in these matters.  For obvious reason I have been watching the situation with Iran closely these last several months and when the NIE came out last week I put this briefing together for myself and my colleagues here at Common Cause so we could cut through the hype and get a better idea of what exactly was going on.  Hope this is helpful the Common Cause Community as it watches the back and forth over these issues.