Today, North Carolina Congressional candidate William “BJ” Lawson condemned House Concurrent Resolution 362 as “lunacy masquerading as policy.” H. Con. Res. 362 is a bipartisan proposal which demands that George W. Bush impose a blockade of Iranian land borders, ports, and airways, which would effectively shut down the entire country of Iran. The enforcement of this proposal is illegal and would be a declaration of war under international laws.
Lawson said, “In October 2002, actions similar to H. Con. Res. 362 led to the war in Iraq, and Congress, both Democrat and Republican, seem determined to make the same mistake again. In 2002, the argument could be made that the evidence as presented inferred that Saddam Hussein may have weapons of mass destruction, even though this turned out to be incorrect.”
“This time, however, all evidence is to the contrary. In December 2007, even our own intelligence agencies stated with high confidence that Iran’s program intending to transform raw materials into a nuclear weapon has been shut down since 2003.”
Lawson went on to say: “It is no surprise that confidence in Congress is at an all time low of 9%. Our elected officials seem more interested in pushing through legislation like this at the behest of special interest groups, lobbyists, and foreign sovereign nations such as Saudi Arabia and Israel rather than what is in the best interest of our own citizens. The proposed blockade of Iran is not in the best interests of the United States or the Middle East.”
Lawson continued, “Even if there was a valid reason to attack Iran, we currently have an ongoing war in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and our military are already vastly overstretched. The possibility of preemptively opening a third front, for no reason, is at best irresponsible, and at worst criminal.”
“A blockade of Iran would also lead to an unprecedented rise in the cost of oil. The removal of Iran’s four million barrels of oil per day from the market would inevitably lead to a scramble by China to secure much needed fuel for its economy. The only people to benefit for this action would be oil companies and the people heavily invested in them. If Congress is really so blind to push through this legislation, then maybe it’s time for them to lead from the front and give our soldiers a well-earned rest.”
Dr. William “BJ” Lawson is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District.
In a followup to this press release, it appears that we have some encouraging news regarding our posture towards Iran:
PARIS — The Bush administration is considering establishing an American diplomatic presence in Iran for the first time since relations were severed during the 444-day occupation of the American Embassy in Tehran nearly three decades ago, European and American officials said on Thursday.
The idea would be to establish a so-called interests section, rather than a fully staffed embassy, with American diplomats who could issue visas to Iranians seeking to visit the United States. But the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under diplomatic rules, cautioned that the idea had not been approved by the White House and could be delayed or blocked by opposition within the administration.
Talking with other nations and encouraging greater person-to-person contact is good policy, and in our national interests. Personal relationships are a first step towards greater mutual understanding.
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