EMERGENCY STATEMENT OF VOTEVETS ON ESCALATION TOWARDS WAR WITH IRAN

“It has now become painfully obvious that there is no intelligence that pointed to any imminent attack, that required the killing of Qasem Soleimani, without first consulting Congress. Further, it is becoming clear that this was not a defensive measure, but an offensive, retaliatory measure. That is important because taking out an official of a foreign state, if not done in defense, is assassination.  That has been against US policy for decades, under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Now, Donald Trump is signaling a willingness to commit war crimes, by destroying Iranian cultural sites. While targeting cultural sites might not seem significant to many Americans, it is yet another example of this president eroding the standards that make our military the best in the world. When he pardons war criminals, when he green lights what seem to be assassinations, and when he threatens to destroy cultural sites, Donald Trump is quickly blurring the lines between us and terrorists who operate lawlessly.

We implore Congress to act.  They must not let up in their demand to see raw intelligence that the administration says it has that proves an attack from Soleimani was imminent, as long as the administration wants to claim that was the case.  More importantly, House and Senate Democratic leadership — and leadership of relevant committees — must step in to ensure that the military is not used by Donald Trump to commit any violation of US or international law.”