Washington, DC – National Iranian American Council (NIAC) President Jamal Abdi released the following statement regarding the U.S. Senate vote on the Iran War Powers Resolution to end Trump’s illegal and disastrous war of choice on Iran, which failed 47–53 with a majority of Republicans voting against it:
“Today, 47 Senators voted against Trump’s Iran boondoggle and listened to the overwhelming majority of Americans who do not want another forever war in the Middle East. Their colleagues, unfortunately, listened to elite donors and Benjamin Netanyahu and voted to continue this disastrous war of choice.
“We commend Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) for leading this resolution and all of their colleagues who voted in support of it. We are disappointed there were so few ‘profiles in courage’ besides Paul who dared to cross party lines to stand up to Trump for peace.
“This issue is not going to go away, and we believe this is a vote that will haunt lawmakers in the weeks and months to come. In just five days of this haphazard military adventure, over 1,000 civilians have been killed; at least 6 U.S. servicemembers have lost their lives; billions of dollars of American taxpayers’ funds have already been spent; the region is on fire and Israel is pushing for the CIA to arm insurgent ethnic separatist militias; and the Trump administration continues to fail to provide any coherent explanation for why this war was initiated or how it ends.
“We will redouble our work to mobilize pro-peace Americans across the country until we bring this unjust war to an end. Our focus will now turn to the House, where Representatives will vote on the Iran War Powers resolution led by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) where we are hopeful, though not holding our breath, that the Trump spell will be broken and lawmakers will listen to the American people and vote for peace.”