American Public Pushes Back Against AIPAC Senators Seeking Iran Conflict
A congressional drive for new sanctions on Iran, backed by the lobbying muscle of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, is meeting growing push-back from a public that does not want another war. "We have an opportunity to stand up and say we're not going to support legislation that will only move us towards war," said Greg Broseus, Chicago-based member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, in an interview with Common Dreams. "The goal now is to stop another war before it even starts."
According to the latest count, 59 senators —16 of them Democrats — have thrown their public support behind the Iran Nuclear Weapon Free Act of 2013 (S. 1881), which would advance further sanctions on Iran and impose near-impossible conditions on a final agreement — in what critics, including the Obama administration, say amounts to a call for war. Sixteen democratic senators now publicly oppose the bill, Jamal Abdi of the National Iranian American Council told Common Dreams. Senate majority leader Harry Reid is reportedly holding off a vote on the bill as a bulk of Democrats refuse to declare their position.
Meanwhile, the House GOP is moving to bring the Senate bill to the House floor in a bid to pressure the Senate, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal published Tuesday. This is despite an agreement reached Sunday by Iran and the six world leaders of the P5+1 to start implementing the interim deal January 20.
Lawmakers who oppose diplomacy must contend with mounting opposition from a war-weary public.
"The reports we've been getting back from congressional offices is that a majority of people calling are against the Iran sanctions bill," said Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, in an interview with Common Dreams. "We're doing much of what we did to stop the bombing of Syria."
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