Monday, March 05, 2007
Jim Webb blocks White House War Plans in Iran
Populist champion and junior Senator from Virginia, Jim Webb (D), will introduce legislation today in the Senate that would bar President Bush from launching military action against Iran without the approval of Congress. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch,"That idea won likely support last week from the highest-ranking Senate Democrat, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Reuters reported."
The bill would stop unilateral action by the President by withholding funds to any such operation without prior approval. You can check out Sen. Webb explaining the bill here.
There is little question that expanding the war to Iran would be an absolute disaster, and we all should be glad that Webb is finally trying to get our legislative branch to do it's duty and reign in the President's war powers with actual, binding legislation.
According to journalist Seymour Hersh, who has documented secret war preparations against Iran in the New Yorker, Webb's bill could be Bush's worst fear.
"The White House's concern was not that the Democrats would cut off funds for the war in Iraq but that future legislation would prohibit it from
financing operations targeted at overthrowing or destabilizing the Iranian government, to keep it from getting the bomb. "They're afraid that Congress is
going to vote a binding resolution to stop a hit on Iran, à la Nicaragua in the Contra war," a former senior intelligence official told me."
# posted by Gang of One @ 9:53 AM 
