Act Now Ahead of Possible Wednesday Vote to Stop Unjustified U.S.-Israel War on Iran
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “stunning admission” confirmed that the Israeli government forced the United States into a war with Iran.
Rubio told reporters that the administration “knew that there was going to be an Israeli action” and that it would “precipitate an attack against American forces” and that the U.S. military therefore acted “preemptively” to avoid higher casualties. That explanation makes clear U.S. hostilities were triggered by Israel’s decision to attack, not by an imminent Iranian strike on American military bases in the region.
In a statement, CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw said:
“Secretary Rubio’s ‘stunning admission’ confirms what was clear from the start: the United States did not attack Iran because Iran posed an imminent threat to our nation. We attacked under pressure from Israel for Israel’s benefit.
“President Trump – and Congress if it does not act to stop him – has effectively ceded American war-making authority to indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and dragged our nation into an unconstitutional war. That is not self-defense. That is executive submission to Israel’s regional ambitions and warmongering.
“Six American service members are dead. More than 180 Iranian schoolchildren and teachers have been killed along with hundreds of others, as well as people in various countries. These are not abstractions. These are human beings lost in a war Congress never authorized and the American people never wanted.
“No president has the authority to start a war without congressional authorization for the benefit of a foreign government. The Constitution does not delegate war-making authority to foreign governments. It vests that power in Congress, and Congress must stop this war.”
CAIR said this twisted logic amounts to a confession of subordination of U.S. interests to Israel’s warmongering actions. The world’s most powerful military now claims it could not restrain a far smaller ally that America arms, funds, and protects, and therefore “had” to join a war it did not initiate and that Congress did not authorize. That is not self-defense. It is the surrender of U.S. war-making authority to the actions of the Israeli government, without a vote of Congress and against the will of the American people.
Meanwhile, this week, possibly tomorrow, the House is scheduled to consider H. Con. Res. 38, introduced by Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, which would direct the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in Iran. In the Senate, S.J. Res. 104, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine with Sen. Rand Paul as an original cosponsor, would similarly require the removal of U.S. forces absent congressional approval.
CAIR recently called on Congress to investigate the reported U.S.-Israel bombing of a girls’ school in Iran and to halt what it described as an unjustified and unconstitutional regime-change war launched without legal authority.
BACKGROUNDER: WHAT IS A WAR POWERS RESOLUTION?
The War Powers Resolution was enacted after Vietnam precisely to prevent presidents from dragging the nation into sustained hostilities without congressional approval. It permits the introduction of U.S. forces into hostilities only pursuant to a declaration of war, specific statutory authorization, or a national emergency created by an attack on the United States or its armed forces. None of those conditions exist to justify the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran.
Congress has not declared war against Iran. Congress has not passed an authorization for the use of military force against Iran. Congress has not voted to approve this campaign.
Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution allows Congress to direct the removal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities. H. Con. Res. 38 and S.J. Res. 104, which are up for a vote this week, invoke that authority.
Congress has acted before when presidents exceeded their authority. After the Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia, lawmakers imposed restrictions that ultimately ended U.S. involvement. In 2020, both chambers passed a War Powers resolution directing the termination of hostilities against Iran following the U.S. strike on an Iranian general. That resolution was vetoed, not defeated on constitutional grounds. Congress also invoked War Powers procedures in an effort to end U.S. participation in the Yemen war.
The authority exists. The precedent exists. The only question is whether Congress will exercise its constitutional duty before more American service members and innocent civilians are killed.
Last week, CAIR urged all Americans to contact their members of Congressand demand support for the bipartisan Khanna–Massie War Powers Resolution to block President Trump from launching an unauthorized war against Iran.
Last year, CAIR also condemned Israel’s unilateral offensive strikes on Iranand called on the Trump administration to immediately halt all U.S. weapons transfers and military aid to the Netanyahu government.
CAIR previously issued a statementwarning President Trump that the Netanyahu government’s insistence that the U.S. adopt a “zero-enrichment” demand in negotiations was meant to scuttle the talks and lead to war, which is exactly what happened.
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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