BBC NEWS | Americas | US congressmen seek Iran block
BBC NEWS Americas US congressmen seek Iran block
By Jonathan Beale
BBC News, Washington
A bipartisan group of US congressmen have put forward legislation to prevent the president attacking Iran without the authorisation of Congress.
The move comes amid concern at George W Bush's attitude towards Iran.
He has recently decided to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran over what he calls unhelpful behaviour in Iraq.
A second navy task force has recently been sent to the Gulf and last week US forces arrested Iranian officials in northern Iraq.
Democrats have already expressed concern about Mr Bush's decision to confront Iran rather than to engage it diplomatically.
Recent events have only heightened fears about his intentions.
Containing ambition
The bipartisan group of 11 congressmen, led by a Republican, have put forward legislation that states that no previous resolution passed by Congress authorises a US attack on Iran.
One of the Democrats who supports the legislation said that a new resolution was needed because the Bush administration had lied so many times in the run up to the Iraq war.
But it may prove more of a symbolic move as, to become law, it would need the support of the Senate and the House of Representatives and to be signed by the president himself.
US officials have been playing down talk of attacking Iran.
The US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, who has been meeting Arab leaders, said that no-one wanted another military conflict in the region.
But Mr Gates defended the US military build-up as a way of containing Iran's ambitions.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6277275.stm
Published: 2007/01/18 23:54:42 GMT
1 comment:
Thank you again for another informative comment! It is clear that the Military Industrial Complex and the intelligence network are working hand in hand and seemingly promoting an agenda that is satisfactory to big business but does little for the American public. It has gotten to the point now and especially noticable in our area (Northern Virginia, 50 south of Washington, DC) that the military industrial complex has grown substantially. The complex seems to cover all job markets in our area. What is so worrisome is that the MIC and the Intelligence community can seem to function indepedantly from our own government, especially with the influence by lobbyist, corporations, and think tanks.
What happens when you give the military and intelligence community more and more power is the threat of situations unheard of in our country as of yet, but that seem to happen quite often in underdeveloped nations, is the threat of a military coop. With legislation passed that allows for citizens to be investigated by the CIA (even though the agency is supposed to be for covert ops in other countries), FEMA camps being revamped all over the country, and legislation that allows for work camps ran directly by the military, this could be a potentially bad situation for the American public in the event that something catastrophic was to take place. The problem is not that these events might actually happen but the legislation exists that could turn our country virtually upside down.
I agree that also that Think Tanks are fronts for big lobbies. Most of the members of some of the most influencial Think Tanks such as the CFR also have a hand in the MIC. These people will sit on the board of a Think Tank and promote the agenda of their corporation. Afterall, the Gov't is the biggest customer for many MIC contractors. In turn, these MIC contractors create programs that do not benefit the American people and are sometimes even unconstitutional. Sometimes the only client that these corporations have is the Gov't!
I apologize for the long, rambling, and disorganized post but I wanted to respond (even though I'm currently at work)! Thank you again! Your comments are always appreciated and once again Thank you for sharing your story by Blog!
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