As the U.S. attack on Iran unfolded Saturday morning, Massachusetts’ U.S. Senators and Representatives emphatically condemned President Trump’s unilateral decision to use military force.
“This is a war of choice without congressional authorization,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who served with the Marines in Afghanistan, told GBH News. “It lends new urgency to the war powers resolution that is coming to the House floor this week.”
Auchincloss also voiced deep concern about President Donald Trump’s exhortation to the Iranian people to rise up and topple their government.
“His calls for regime change, after lying to Iranian protesters three months ago by saying help is on the way, [are] especially reckless,” Auchincloss said. “Because it is open-ended and unclear what he is committing the United States to ... in regard to regime change. Is he committing boots on the ground? Is he committing to covert action? Overt action? Cyber attacks? Support for an opposition faction?
”All of these are unknowns, and all of these need to be debated in Congress so that we can put forward a bipartisan road map to moderates seeking to succeed the Ayatollah,“ Auchincloss said. ”And [Trump] is squandering that opportunity.“
Rep. Bill Keating decried what he described as Trump’s flippancy in starting a war with Iran.
”In the president’s own words, this is a 'massive’ — his word — attack,“ Keating said. ”And it’s something that, in his words, may endanger the lives of our men and women in the military. And he said it so casually in his address.“
”Listen, I come from a Gold Star family myself. The most solemn obligation we have is to make a critical decision that could endanger the lives of our men and women in the military. That was not done in this instance,“ Keating said.
He also warned that, in addition to jeopardizing members of the military, the attack could also have profound effects on civilians in the U.S.
”[Iran] could shut off the Straits of Hormuz,“ he said, referring to the waterway through which a sizable portion of the world’s oil shipments pass. ”That’ll effect every consumer ... [War] also risks a cyberattack here at home that could be paralyzing and shut down parts of our country, which they have certain capabilities to do. And it also could inspire terrorist activities, not only in the [Persian] Gulf but here at home.“
Rep. Jim McGovern also accused Trump of taking a troublingly cavalier approach to military matters.
”This is a dangerous escalation,“ McGovern said. ”This president behaves like we can do whatever the hell we want, we can invade any country we want, we can bomb any country we want. I mean, today it’s Iran. Yesterday he’s talking about a friendly takeover of Cuba. He bombed Venezuela without congresional authorization.
“He ran for office and said 'No more wars,'” McGovern added. “I don’t know what changed his mind. But ... if you’re going to go to war, you need to get congressional authorization. This needs to be well thought-out, there needs to be a plan, there needs to be a clearly defined mission. And I see none of that.”
Rep. Stephen Lynch said that while a recent U.S. military buildup suggested that some form of military action might occur, no one in Congress outside the so-called “Gang of Eight” — a bipartisan group of high-ranking lawmakers — and possibly House Speaker Mike Johnson was actually briefed before the attacks.
“We had no communications from the president,” Lynch said. “And I’m one of the senior members of the military and foreign affairs subcommittee [of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform], and generally we have a little bit of a heads up on some of this stuff. But there was radio silence from the administration until 3 o’clock this morning, when the word went out.”
“We had the right to be informed,” Lynch added. “None of that happened.”
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey called the attack “illegal and unconstitutional.”
“It was not approved by Congress and holds dangers for all Americans,” Markey said in a statement. “Trump’s illegal actions raise the threat of escalation into a wider regional war with grave risks for U.S. troops and civilians in the region.”
Markey also noted that today’s attacks call into question the Trump Administration’s claims the Iran’s nuclear capabilities were ”obliterated“ in a prior attack last year, a point also made by McGovern and Rep. Lori Trahan.
“I’m praying for the safety of our servicemembers in the region who have been placed in harm’s way yet again and for their families who have already borne enormous sacrifice,” Trahan said in a statement.
“Like all Americans, they were told just 10 months ago — when Trump ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites — that Iran’s nuclear capability was set back years as a result. Now, we’re being told something altogether different: that those strikes failed, and that Iran may be more dangerous than ever.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who sits on the Senate Armed Services committee, called for the Senate to come back into session immediately to vote on a war powers resolution that could bar the continuing use of force against Iran absent congressional approval. She, too, said Trump is making an end run around the Constitution.
“Donald Trump’s single-handedly starting another war with Iran is dangerous and illegal,” Warren said in a statement. “‘America first’ doesn’t mean dragging the United States into another forever war built on lies while ignoring the needs of Americans here at home. The Constitution is clear: Only Congress can declare war.”
Rep. Seth Moulton, who served with the Marines during the U.S.’s second war in Iraq, drew a parallel between that conflict and today’s attacks.
“The two basic problems with [President George W.] Bush’s War in Iraq were that it was based on a lie and there was no plan for what comes next,” Moulton said in a statement. “It’s hard to argue both are not true today.
”[Weapons of mass destruction] in Iraq was a lie. 'Obliterating’ Iran’s nuclear facilities was a lie. The troops have to be wondering today, 'What lies are we being told now?’ When you’re asked to risk your life for something, the most fundamental thing you want is the truth.“
Rep. Katherine Clark, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the House, called the president’s decision to attack Iran radically out of step with the needs of the American people.
“Iran’s violations of human rights and sponsorship of global terror are well documented,” she said. “But our Constitution is clear — the power to declare war lies with Congress.
“Families do not want another war,” Clark said. “They want a reasonable cost of living. They want health care they can afford. They want an end to ICE’s terror in their neighborhoods. And they do not want their sons and daughters placed in harm’s way by a reckless President.”
Rep. Ayanna Pressley highlighted the risk to both U.S. military personnel and Iranian civilians.
“Donald Trump does not care about civilians in the region or the safety of U.S. troops,” Pressley said in a statement. “He’s illegally bypassing Congress and starting a war with Iran that has already killed dozens of children.
”This is unacceptable. Congress must take action to rein in Trump and save lives.“
