This resolution was not passed by Congress, but President Bush has the legal
authority to carry out its provisions without consulting Congress
Subject(s): Iran War, Nuclear WMD, Satire
Local Area(s): Iran, Washington D.C.
January 24, 2007 at 05:51:04
What if Congress Unanimously Voted to Nuke Iran?
by jorge hirsch
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What is going on in America today is equivalent to the following fictitious
news story:
Jan. 31, 2007: By unanimous vote, the two Houses of Congress passed today a
joint "sense of Congress" resolution directing President Bush to "launch
nuclear strikes against any non-nuclear-weapon state that undertakes military
programs or operations that threaten US interests or those of allies and
friends".
The passage of the joint resolution followed a series of appropriation bills
enacted by Congress to fund the development, building and deployment of nuclear
earth penetrators (so-called "bunker busters") of a wide range of yields, with
the ability to destroy targets of adversary non-nuclear nations that are "able
to withstand non-nuclear attack", particularly UGF's ("underground facilities
for military purposes").
The text of the resolution emphasizes the importance ascribed by Congress to
launch strikes as soon as possible, to "demonstrate US intent and capability to
use nuclear weapons to deter adversary use of WMD".
"The reason we restricted the bill to non-nuclear-weapon-state targets is
simple", explained the House and Senate speakers in a joint press conference:
"launching a nuclear strike against a nuclear nation would invite nuclear
retaliation against us, and that is not something the American people would
stand for."
The bill points out that "integrating conventional and nuclear attacks will
ensure the most efficient use of force", remarked the Chair of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, and the Chair of the Budget Committee added: "Americans
want to know that their hard-earned tax dollars are not used in wasteful ways".
Several Congressmembers emphasized that the urgency in passing the bill stemmed
from the desire of Congress that President Bush launches nuclear strikes
against Iran at the earliest possible time. "We know that Iran is a
non-nuclear-weapon state, it has been certified by the International Atomic
Energy Agency", explained the speaker of the House. "So it falls under our
resolution, hence there is no reason whatosever for the President to wait any
longer."
The new law incorporates the provisions of H.R. 6198 passed last year, "To hold
the current regime in Iran accountable for its threatening behavior and to
support a transition to democracy in Iran". "We passed that Act to encourage
the President to follow the same path as he did with Iraq, what's taking him so
long?", complained the House minority leader. "Vice-President Cheney said
recently"There's no reason in the world why Iran needs to continue to pursue
nuclear weapons", so our resolution will ensure that Iran stops."
"What we are asking the President is to act preemptively in exercising our
inherent right of self defense", added the Senate whip. "There will always be
some uncertainty about the status of hidden programs, and we cannot remain idle
while dangers gather. The reasons for our actions will be clear, the force
measured, and the cause just."
Added the House speaker: "The President has said 'The United States will not
resort to force in all cases to preempt emerging threats'. Congress disagrees,
we and the American people feel there should be no exceptions. That's why we
have taken it upon ourselves to exercise our constitutionally assigned duties
to legislate this issue for the national interest."
A beaming President Bush signed the joint resolution into law, and added the
following signing statement: "Every one of the provisions of this law was
already covered in the Nuclear Posture Review that I submitted to Congress in
2001, in the 2005 Pentagon Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations that Secretary
Rumsfeld produced under my direction, in the National Security Strategy that I
proclaimed in 2002 and 2006, and in a myriad of Presidential Directives that I
issued over the past 6 years including the deployment of B61-11 nuclear bunker
busters. I have publicly announced that the diplomatic effort vis-a-vis Iran
must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided and have carried out all
necessary steps, including refusing to talk to Iran, capturing Iranian
diplomats, increasing the deployment of our military forces in the Persian Gulf
and securing UN sanctions against Iran's activities allowed by the NPT, to
ensure that the diplomatic effort will fail. Consequently there was
absolutely no need for Congress to pass this resolution. If Congress had
disagreed with any of my actions they should have passed a different bill.
Nevertheless, I am happy to know that it provided an excuse for Congressmembers
to feel they earned their paycheck".
This resolution was not passed by Congress, but President Bush has the legal
authority to carry out its provisions without consulting Congress. If
Congressmembers do not believe such actions are in the best interest of the
American people they purportedly represent, they should pass legislation to
make the actions described in this resolution an impeachable offense. Ask your
Congressperson to pass legislation as proposed in
http://www.geocities.com/jorgehirsch/nuclear/nuclearbill.html
http://physics.ucsd.edu/~jorge/publicservice.html
Jorge Hirsch is a Professor of Physics at the University of California at San
Diego, a fellow of the American Physical Society, and organizer of a recent
petition, circulated among leading physicists, opposing the new nuclear weapons
policies adopted by the US in the past 5 years. He is a frequent commentator on
Iran and nuclear weapons.
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