Muscatine

Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital national security interests of the United States by Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional hegemony, and for other purposes

HCR 362 is an act of war by Congressmen Gary Ackerman-D of New York and Mike Pence-R of Indiana.



If this resolution doesn't prove that this country is a one party system, it is hard to say what would

This bill states that because Iran harbors terrorists it is therefore a threat to the United States. There have been several statements made indicating that the U.S.



will be going to war with Iran before the Bush Administration is out of office so it appears as if this resolution is just icing on the cake

The U.S. government first linked Iran with state sponsorship of terrorism in 1984. They stated that Iran was behind the 1988 kidnapping and murder of Colonel William Higgins and the 1992 and 1994 bombings of Jewish institutions in Argentina. Also, the U.S. has stated that Iran was behind the 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.



Let's define irony here: wasn't the US involved in the Persian Gulf War between Iraq and Iran? And look at who we are about to attack now

To present day, as in Iraq, U.S. intelligence isn't even sure if Iran has weapons of mass destruction. Does this sound familiar? It should. If we go to war with Iran, who is going to fight this battle? There will be more stop-loss, more bankruptcy, and I hate to say it, but the draft is looking like an option that might be on the table. Our troops are already stretched thin due to them being in over 100 countries around the world.



This is obviously draining the military's resources

HCR 362 states;

"Whereas Iran is a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), has foresworn the acquisition of nuclear weapons by ratification of the NPT, and is legally bound to declare and place all its nuclear activity under constant monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA);"

The problem with this is that Iran stopped their nuclear defense testing in 2003. Iran has only been trying to enrich uranium for their nuclear power plants. This has been proven by the NIE and CIA reports.



Iran has been following all the UN requirements by allowing inspection of nuclear sites and testing facilities

The resolution continues:

Whereas Iran's overt sponsorship of several terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, and its close ties to Syria raise the possibility that Iran would share its nuclear materials and technology with others;

Whereas Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel, a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally, and a member of the United Nations;

Again, no concrete proof that Iran has anything to do with terrorist groups

Here's another section in the resolution that is incredibly interesting:

Whereas the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany have offered, and continue to offer, to negotiate a significant package of economic, diplomatic, and security incentives if Iran complies with the United Nations Security Council's resolutions demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment;

A Council on Foreign Relations article reports that the people who are responsible for providing Iran with "weapons of mass destruction" are Russia, Korea, and China which is a bit of a contradiction

Here is the last piece of this resolution:

"Whereas nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an authorization of the use of force against Iran: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress--

(1) declares that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, through all appropriate economic, political, and diplomatic means, is vital to the national security interests of the United States and must be dealt with urgently;

(2) urges the President, in the strongest of terms, to immediately use his existing authority to impose sanctions on--

(A) the Central Bank of Iran and any other Iranian bank engaged in proliferation activities or the support of terrorist groups;

(B) international banks which continue to conduct financial transactions with proscribed Iranian banks;

(C) energy companies that have invested $20,000,000 or more in the Iranian petroleum or natural gas sector in any given year since the enactment of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996; and

(D) all companies which continue to do business with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps;

(3) demands that the President initiate an international effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia, prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran; and prohibiting the international movement of all Iranian officials not involved in negotiating the suspension of Iran's nuclear program; and

(4) urges the President to lead a sustained, serious, and forceful effort at regional diplomacy to support the legitimate governments in the region against Iranian efforts to destabilize them, to reassure our friends and allies that the United States supports them in their resistance to Iranian efforts at hegemony, and to make clear to the Government of Iran that the United States will protect America's vital national security interests in the Middle East

This pretty much prevents Iran from engaging in normal activity. Notice the broad wording of "Asking the President" therefore giving him the power to decide what to do with Iran. Section 4 is extremely scary.



Urging the President to use "forceful effort" to "destabilize them"

Let me add, this resolution and/or bill is total hypocrisy at best. Let us remember, almost every statement in this resolution is totally unproven based on speculation or is total fallacy. Our congress at anytime can declare war on another nation. However, in this resolution, they are asking the President to use his judgment, as with the Iraqi war that wasn't even declared a war, therefore giving the executive branch total power over the legislative branch. We have lost all checks and balances within our government and are therefore making our President a dictator. The only difference between a conflict and a war is if Congress declares it and nothing else.