NEW YORK, CMC – Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has strongly condemned United States President Donald J. Trump’s military action in Iran. The US military last Saturday night bombed what Trump said were three nuclear sites in Iran.
“Despite his own administration’s intelligence, despite Congress’ overwhelming disapproval, despite the American people’s desperate pleas for peace and diplomacy, President Trump launched an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran and its nuclear sites,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“In total disregard of the laws of this nation and violation of our Constitution, he has entered the United States into another conflict in the Middle East,” added Clarke, who is also chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.”
She said that this crisis was already at its boiling point, and Trump just raised the temperature to a historically destabilizing level.
“He and his administration have not only overreached in this callous and reckless surprise attack against Iran, but they have left America and Americans vulnerable to our adversary’s imminent retaliation.
“Iran’s response is certain to be severe, vengeful, and of grave danger to servicemembers abroad and civilian populations across the region.”
Clarke said Americans at home and “our communities are now extremely vulnerable to retaliatory cyberattacks that threaten our critical infrastructure, or other punitive measures that risk untold innocent American lives.”
She said peace found through meaningful diplomacy would “inevitably be stronger than a peace built atop destruction.
“War must always be the last choice – and one only Congress has the authority to make. Regrettably, it was Donald Trump’s first choice. And now, through his recklessness, peace may have been forfeit for generations to come.”
She urged the US Congress to hold Trump accountable for his “unauthorized actions and save this nation from the condemnations of history.
“This is no time for fear or fealty. The Republican Party must stand up to end the lawlessness of this wannabe dictator and flailing authoritarian strongman – while they still can.”
US House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that Trump had promised to bring peace to the Middle East but has “failed to deliver on that promise.
“The risk of war has now dramatically increased, and I pray for the safety of our troops in the region who have been put in harm’s way,” said Jeffries, whose 8th Congressional District in New York encompasses large concentrations of Caribbean nationals in Brooklyn and Queens.
“President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force, and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,” added Jeffries.
“First, the Trump administration bears the heavy burden of explaining to the American people why this military action was undertaken. Second, Congress must be fully and immediately briefed in a classified setting. Third, Donald Trump shoulders complete and total responsibility for any adverse consequences that flow from his unilateral military action.”
US Senate Minority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer of New York called for an immediate vote on the War Powers Act by the US Congress over Trump’s intervention in Iran.
Schumer urged Trump to “provide the American people and Congress clear answers on the actions taken tonight and their implications for the safety of Americans.
“No president should be allowed to unilaterally march this nation into something as consequential as war with erratic threats and no strategy,” he said.
“Confronting Iran’s ruthless campaign of terror, nuclear ambitions, and regional aggression demands strength, resolve, and strategic clarity,” Schumer added, warning that “the danger of wider, longer and more devastating war has now dramatically increased.
Meantime, in a social media post, Trump doubled down on the “obliteration” of three Iranian nuclear sites by the US bombings. “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images,” he wrote. “Obliteration is an accurate term!”
US military officials also described “severe” destruction at the Iranian nuclear sites at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.
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