Muslim civil rights and advocacy group calls on Sen. Schumer and Leader Jeffries to oppose war
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called President Trump’s attempts to justify a possible war with Iran using demonstrably false claims during his State of the Union address “Iraqi WMDs and African yellow cake all over again.”
During his State of the Union, the President claimed that the Iranian government refuses to say it will not pursue nuclear weapons, despite repeated statements to the contrary including a religious edict and the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies over several years confirming Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons.
President Trump also claimed that Iran is rebuilding its nuclear program even though the administration announced it had been totally “obliterated” last summer and claimed that evidence Iran was building missiles capable of hitting the U.S., a claim not made by administration officials in the past.
In a statement, CAIR said:
“Our nation must not once again risk American lives, waste American resources, and endanger countless people overseas by fighting another Middle East war under false pretenses for the benefit of the Israeli government. This is Iraqi WMDs and African yellow cake all over again.
“Contrary to the President’s remarkable claim that Iran refuses to even say it will not pursue a nuclear weapon, the Iranian government has repeatedly said this. It even issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, to that effect. U.S. intelligence agencies have also for years said that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons. Tulsi Gabbard confirmed this in recent congressional testimony.
“One of two things is true: either the war hawks around the President are lying to him about Iran to convince him to start a war or the President is not being honest with the American people.”
“We call on President Trump to reject the demands of Israel First warmongers, including Benjamin Netanyahu, and we call on Senator Schumer and Rep. Jeffries to explicitly oppose this war and back the introduction of the Khanna-Massie War Powers resolution.”
CAIR recently encouraged all Americans to contact their members of Congress and demand that they oppose the launch of an “illegal and unjustified” U.S. war on Iran for the Israeli government’s benefit.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com