“Wake Up Republicans!” Whether you are Blue, Red or Green, You Are Impacted by President Trump’s Unlawful Decisions.

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) released the following statement on President Trump’s unauthorized war in Iran early this morning:

“Early this morning, President Trump launched a major attack on Iran and openly called for regime change — without consultng Congress and without seeking authorization from the Ameirican people’s elected representatives.  That is a flagrant violation of the Constitutiion and a dangerous escalation that puts American service members, civilians in the region and global stability at grave risk.

Republicans will inevitably try to downplay this action as somethng short of war. The President himself makes clear that is false in his own words:  “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties.  That often happens in war.’ When a president acknowledges casualties and calls it war, Congress cannot pretend otherwise.

The consequences are already unfolding.  Iran has launched retaliatory strikes across the region.  A US Navy base in Bahrain has been hit.  Airspace over the UAE and Qatar has been shut down.  Iran-allied militias in Iraq have announced they will begin attacking American bases.  Israelis are racing to bomb shelters. Civilians in Tehram are fleeing their homes.  This is not a limited operation –  this is a war and it is spreading by the hour.

The President took this country into that war based on claims his own intelligence community has not confirmed.  “The New York Times” reports this morning that Trump’s central assertions about Iran’s nuclear program — that it had restarted, that Iran had enough material for a bomb within days, that it had missiles capable of reaching the United States —  are either false or unproven.  We were told similar things before Iraq.  We know how that ended.  The American people are still living with the consequences of wars launched without accountability or an endgame.  We cannot repeat those mistakes.

My colleagues have introduced a bipartisan War Powers Resolution and Democrats were already planning to force  a vote the moment Congress reconvenes next week.  Speaker Johnson should call the House back to Washington immediately to take up that vote.  Congress must reassert its constitutional authority, half unauhorized military action and make clear that no president — of either party — has the power to drag this nation into war alone.”

Senator Susan Collins’ (R) office has not responded to a request for a statement on the President’s war in Iran according to this blogger.