[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 10, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H7989-H7990]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WE SHOULDN'T USE FORCE AGAINST IRAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, the sounds we are hearing and the signals 
we are seeing from the administration remind me of the months leading 
up to the invasion of Iraq. For all those supporters of the President 
who claimed 6 years ago that military intervention in Iraq would be the 
U.S.'s last option, we now know the war was the first, preordained and 
only option of the administration. They just had to cook the books to 
make the American people believe otherwise.
  America has paid a very steep price: America has lost lives; Iraqis 
have lost lives; $1 trillion lost; American moral leadership in the 
world lost. And we cannot afford to let this administration do it again 
with a military strike against Iran before the President and Vice 
President leave office in January.
  The news of late is deeply troubling, and we have a responsibility to 
remind the Americans of the administration's penchant to conduct 
diplomacy with bullets and bombs.
  I believe the people have the right to know and the right to demand 
this administration, and the Republican ticket for the Presidency, 
declare there be no military strike against Iran by U.S. forces or on 
our behalf by a U.S. ally like Israel unless the Congress votes for it.
  My concerns come directly out of the reporting by credible, 
mainstream international news organizations that have built their 
reputation on credibility.
  I enter into the Record a September 1 story from the Jerusalem Post. 
The headline is: ``Dutch intel: U.S. to strike Iran in coming weeks.''

                [From the Jerusalem Post, Sept. 1, 2008]

            Dutch Intel: U.S. To Strike Iran in Coming Weeks

                          (By JPost.com Staff)

       The Dutch intelligence service, the AIVD, has called off an 
     operation aimed at infiltrating and sabotaging Iran's weapons 
     industry due to an assessment that a U.S. attack on the 
     Islamic Republic's nuclear program is imminent, according to 
     a report in the country's De Telegraaf newspaper on Friday.
       The report claimed that the Dutch operation had been 
     ``extremely successful,'' and had been stopped because the 
     U.S. military was planning to hit targets that were 
     ``connected with the Dutch espionage action.''
       The impending air-strike on Iran was to be carried out by 
     unmanned aircraft ``within weeks,'' the report claimed, 
     quoting ``well placed'' sources.
       The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the De Telegraaf 
     report.
       According to the report, information gleaned from the 
     AIVD's operation in Iran has provided several of the targets 
     that are to be attacked in the strike, including ``parts for 
     missiles and launching equipment.''
       ``Information from the AIVD operation has been shared in 
     recent years with the CIA,'' the report said.
       On Saturday, Iran's Deputy Chief of Staff General Masoud 
     Jazayeri warned that should the United States or Israel 
     attack Iran, it would be the start of another World War.
       On Friday, Ma'ariv reported that Israel had made a 
     strategic decision to deny Iran military nuclear capability 
     and would not hesitate ``to take whatever means necessary'' 
     to prevent Teheran from achieving its nuclear goals.
       According to the report, whether the United States and 
     Western countries succeed in thwarting the Islamic Republic's 
     nuclear ambitions diplomatically, through sanctions, or 
     whether a U.S. strike on Iran is eventually decided upon, 
     Jerusalem has begun preparing for a separate, independent 
     military strike.

  I also enter into the Record the August 29 Jerusalem Post story 
entitled, ``Israel reaches strategic decision not to let Iran go 
nuclear.''

        [From the Jerusalem Post, online edition, Aug. 29, 2008]

      Israel Reaches Strategic Decision Not To Let Iran Go Nuclear

                          (By JPost.com Staff)

       Israel will not agree to allow Iran to achieve nuclear 
     weapons and if the grains start running out in the proverbial 
     egg timer, Jerusalem will not hesitate to take whatever means 
     necessary to prevent Iran from achieving its nuclear goals, 
     the government has recently decided in a special discussion.
       According to the Israeli daily Ma'ariv, whether the United 
     States and Western countries will succeed in toppling the 
     ayatollah regime diplomatically, through sanctions, or 
     whether an American strike on Iran will eventually be decided 
     upon, Jerusalem has put preparations for a separate, 
     independent military strike by Israel in high gear.
       So far, Israel has not received American authorization to 
     use U.S.-controlled Iraqi airspace, nor has the defense 
     establishment been successful in securing the purchase of 
     advanced U.S.-made warplanes which could facilitate an 
     Israeli strike.
       The Americans have offered Israel permission to use a 
     global early warning radar system, implying that the U.S. is 
     pushing Israel to settle for defensive measures only.
       Because of Israel's lack of strategic depth, Jerusalem has 
     consistently warned over the pat years it will not settle for 
     a `wait and see' approach and retaliate in case of attack, 
     but rather use preemption to prevent any risk of being hit in 
     the first place.
       Ephraim Sneh a veteran Labor MK which has left the party 
     recently, has sent a document to both U.S. presidential 
     candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. The eight-point 
     document states that ``there is no government in Jerusalem 
     that would ever reconcile itself to a nuclear Iran. When it 
     is clear Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons, 
     an Israeli military strike to prevent this will be seriously 
     considered.''
       According to Ma'ariv, Sneh offered the two candidates the 
     ``sane, cheap and the only option that does not necessitate 
     bloodshed.'' To prevent Iran's nuclear aspirations, Sneh 
     wrote, ``real'' sanctions applied in concert by the U.S. and 
     Europe is necessary. A total

[[Page H7990]]

     embargo in spare parts for the oil industry and a total 
     boycott of Iranian banks will topple, within a short time, 
     the regime which is already pressured by a sloping economy 
     and would be toppled by the Iranian people if they would have 
     outside assistance.
       The window of opportunity Sneh suggests is a year and a 
     half to two years, until 2010.
       Sneh also visited Switzerland and Austria last week in an 
     attempt to lobby those two states. Both countries have 
     announced massive long-term investments in Iranian gas and 
     oil fields for the next decade.
       ``Talk of the Jewish Holocaust and Israel's security 
     doesn't impress these guys,'' Sneh said wryly.
       Hearing his hosts speak of their future investments, Sneh 
     replied quietly ``it's a shame, because Ido will light all 
     this up.'' He was referring to Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, the 
     recently appointed commander of the Israeli Air Force and the 
     man most likely to be the one to orchestrate Israel's attack 
     on Iran's nuclear facilities, should this become the 
     necessity.
       ``Investing in Iran in 2008,'' Sneh told his Austrian 
     hosts, ``is like investing in Krups Steelworks in 1938, it's 
     a high risk investment.'' The Austrians, according to Sneh, 
     turned pale.
       In related news, Israel Radio reported that Iran has 
     finished installing an additional 4,000 centrifuges in the 
     Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The Islamic Republic also 
     announced it will install an additional 3,000 centrifuges in 
     coming months.
       The pan-Arabic Al Kuds al Arabi reported Friday that Iran 
     has equipped Hizbullah with longer range missiles than those 
     it had before the Second Lebanon War and also improved the 
     terror group's targeting capabilities.
       According to the report, which The Jerusalem Post could not 
     verify independently, Hizbullah would begin a massive rocket 
     onslaught on targets reaching deep into Israel's civilian 
     underbelly in case the Jewish State would launch an attack on 
     Iran.

  These and other news stories should remind us that this 
administration remains in office for several months but years ago 
forfeited their trust with the American people over the Iraq War.
  What is especially worrisome to me is that the administration has 
shifted the Iraq war to the air in an effort to make it an antiseptic 
war that might be more acceptable to the American people. We're 
grateful that U.S. casualties in Iraq are down significantly, but when 
a war should never have been started, every single casualty is a price 
too high.
  And today, the U.S. is an unwelcome occupier, and the administration 
is ignoring the wishes of the elected Iraqi Government to set a date to 
leave. Instead, the White House is trying to run their country and 
continue this war.
  Bombs falling from 30,000 feet have the same devastating impact on 
innocent Iraq civilians as bullets and bombs at street level. We just 
don't hear about it much in the American news media. But I hear about 
it from people in the Middle East who wonder if we will ever leave Iraq 
and worry that an antiseptic aerial war will be used against Iran.
  Where once we stood tall on the moral high ground, now decent people 
the world over question our motives, our resolve, and our moral 
leadership. They fear, and so do I, that this administration will make 
the calculation that as long as we drop bombs from 30,000 feet, or fire 
cruise missiles from 300 miles offshore, the American people can be 
misled into another war. We must not let that happen.
  The current leadership in Iran has few, if any, friends in this House 
today, and I am not one of them. But we cannot solve every challenge 
that confronts us with military confrontation. And we cannot meet other 
challenges when our moral high ground has turned into the shifting 
sands during this administration.
  When Russia invades Georgia, who in the world is going to listen to 
the rhetoric of a U.S. President who invaded Iraq?
  When Iraq says set a timetable to leave and this President says no, 
who in the world is going to listen to a President who says Iraq is a 
sovereign Nation?
  And when this administration says they aren't planning a military 
strike against Iran, why would anyone in the world believe it when the 
fine print says all the options are still on the table?
  Instead of occupying Iraq, the U.S. should be occupying the moral 
high ground, and we can start by stopping any effort to use force 
against Iran. Let's do it today before it's too late. We need, Mr. 
Speaker, a vote before we do anything against Iran.

                          ____________________