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Re The Iran Trap

Dear Friends,

Below are some remarks about the U.S. threat of war with Iran I recently made as a private citizen when visiting our congressional representatives here in the Bay Area.  As these remarks were well received by our delegation, I’ve decided to share them with you via the MP Network.  (I’ve included links to supporting documents or sites in the text below.) The sense that a new trap may be closing in on us is growing; it’s time to raise our voices much louder! With great good luck and lots of elbow grease, we might prevent another great Middle East disaster, one that could set the whole Middle East aflame this time, with horrendous consequences for us here at home as well.

Susan C. Strong, Ph.D.
Founder and Executive Director
The Metaphor Project
www.metaphorproject.org
metaphorproject@earthlink.net

REMARKS RE U. S. ‘IRAN WAR TALK’:

DURING THE INTRODUCTORY ‘ASK’ PERIOD:

  1. We strongly support the recommendations for diplomacy with Iran made by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
  2. We are all deeply alarmed by anyone talking of ‘all options being on the table,’ and by Bush administration threats of pre-emptive military action against Iran, especially with so-called ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons.
  3. The Bush administration seems to us to be the most dangerous, destructive, and irresponsible one in U.S. history.
  4. It is the sacred duty of Congress to protect our nation by reining in rogue presidents. It has never been more important than it is today.
  5. So we ask [our representatives] to take strong pro-active action to move [both houses of Congress] toward setting firm limits on the President’s power to pre-emptively attack Iran. [That kind of action would include co-sponsoring the appropriate bills in each house.]

DURING THE CONCLUDING REMARKS PERIOD:

  1. The American people are afraid of this reckless president!
  2. We implore Congress to take action to protect us and our country from rash action by him or any member of his administration!
  3. In particular, we are aware that in a private meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 2007, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor, suggested that there is evidence that Al Qaeda may want to mount a ‘false flag’ terrorist attack on the U.S. in such a way that Iran would seem the source, providing the Bush administration the pretext they seek for an attack on Iran. Brzezinski asserted that we need stronger constraints on presidential war powers, in order to slow down such a reaction and make sure we have all the facts before taking rash action.   http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/06/1688/
  4. We are also aware of the recently signed (May 9, 2007) presidential directive ‘National Security and Homeland Security,’ that sets aside our constitutional balance of powers in the event of an emergency, concentrating all government power in the hands of the president, including the power to determine what situation triggers this shift in the nature of our government.
    See http://www.alternet.org/story/52801
  5. Finally, we recall that on March 10, at the Emergency Summit to Prevent War with Iran, held at U.C. Berkeley, we heard Daniel Ellsberg speak of the risk that the next terrorist incident in the United States would trigger the implementation of this directive, effectively ending our republic for good.  (Check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fim3u2L0rQQ to see if a video of Ellsberg’s speech is still available. The remarks in question come at the very end of his speech.)
  6. We believe that taken together, this information points to the fact that this administration constitutes a clear and present danger to our nation and to world stability, and again, we beseech Congress to take firm action immediately to protect us and our nation by limiting the President’s power to make war on Iran pre-emptively or in haste.
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