End The March to War With Iran

 This is not original material. It Comes from Win Without War, a diverse network of activists and organizations working for a more peaceful, progressive U.S. foreign policy.

End the March to War with Iran: 

Messaging Guidance and Toolkit

We are on the brink of war — and it’s Donald Trump’s fault. We must immediately end the escalation and replace it with a massive diplomatic intervention.

Make no mistake: Donald Trump brought us to the brink.

Trump entered office with some of the most promising inroads to peaceful relations with Iran in decades. Instead, he:

1. Established a policy of hostility and antagonism toward Iran from day one, [1]
2. Hired advisors and took the counsel of outside warmongers who have long promoted regime change and war with Iran, [2]
3. Violated the successful multilateral Iran nuclear deal, [3]
4. Engaged in economic warfare by unilaterally imposing crushing sanctions on Iran and threatened sanctions against our European allies, even though Iran was still complying with the agreement, [4] and
5. Increased regional tensions through bellicose rhetoric, a “maximum pressure” campaign, and a bolstered, confrontational U.S. military presence in the region. [5]

Now, he has chosen to assassinate one of Iran’s most powerful leaders — an entirely unnecessary and aggressive act of war. The march to war with Iran has been long. Donald Trump has been at its head.

War with Iran would be catastrophic, potentially worse than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. 

• War with Iran with the goal of ending its nuclear program or changing the regime would require a massive U.S. invasion and occupation that would pale in comparison to the combined U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and would be just as fruitless and deadly. [1][2]
• Starting a war with Iran would likely destabilize an entire region, funnel U.S. resources into an unwinnable conflict, and unleash mass-scale human suffering on Iran’s 80+ million civilian population and beyond. [1] 
• Even a military conflict short of full-scale war will result in the continued suffering and loss of life that has already marked decades of U.S. endless war in the Middle East. 
• If we have learned anything from the almost two decades of destructive, futile, endless wars, now is the time to act like it.

Only Congress can decide whether U.S. forces should be put into harm's way. 

• Bipartisan majorities in both chambers, backed by vast grassroots support, sought to block this type of offensive executive military action against Iran in the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. But even this most basic level of congressional oversight was too much for the Trump administration and much of the Republican party, which stripped the language in the bill’s final negotiations. Sadly, we’re now seeing the results of that dereliction of duty. [1] [2]
• Members of Congress and experts have stated that the current authorizations for the use of military force (that authorize the post-9/11 wars) do not authorize war with Iran. [1] [2] [3]
• But even with Congressional approval, war with Iran would be futile, disastrous, and immoral.

We can still stop the march to war.

• The Iranian government will likely retaliate. The question is if we can break this cycle of escalating violence. [1]
• Now is the time to end all incendiary rhetoric, halt the vicious cycle of tit-for-tat violence, and immediately engage in a massive diplomatic effort for peace. 
• To make that happen, we need a massive display of people-power — and to speak with a unified voice.

The American people don’t want war.

• The U.S. public does not want a war, the only question is if Washington’s leaders will listen to them and choose a different path. 
• A Gallup poll found 78 percent of Americans think the U.S. should rely on non-military tools like diplomacy versus 18 percent who preferred the U.S. use military force against Iran. [1]
• A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll conducted this summer found only 5 percent of American voters wanted to declare war on Iran. [1]
• A CNN poll — conducted weeks after Trump’s military build-up this spring — found that just 32 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of Iran. [1]
• A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that just 29 percent supported Trump’s policy of withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement. A CNN poll found that 63 percent said the U.S. should not withdraw. [1] [2]
• A VoteVets poll found that 54 percent of likely swing state voters oppose a U.S. attack on Iran, while only 29 percent support. [1]

Win Without War, and our allies and partners, are fighting for peace.

• Grassroots organizations from around the country — representing the progressive foreign policy, anti-militarism, Iranian-American communities, and more — are building a movement to stop the war, end the crisis, and build peace between the U.S. and Iran.

Common Questions and Responses

Didn’t Iran bring this upon themselves with the embassy attack?

On December 27, a rocket attack on a U.S. military base in northern Iraq killed one U.S. contractor and injured six others. [1] Blaming the Iran-allied militia group Kataib Hezbollah with little public evidence, the U.S. responded with extensive bombings in open defiance of the wishes of the Iraqi government, killing 25. [2] Demonstrators, distinct from the wider protest movement that has been ongoing in Iraq for months, stormed the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad [3], damaging several reception areas.

This series of escalatory tit-for-tat military actions, in which Trump acted recklessly and aggressively, was just one more step in Trump’s long march to war, and in no way justifies the assassination of a foreign military leader. This was an unprecedented and wholly uncalled for act of war with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Wasn’t Soleimani a bad guy? Aren’t we better off without him?

Soleimani’s pernicious record is not in question, but focusing on it distracts from the larger point: Donald Trump unilaterally assassinated a foreign military leader knowing full well that it would risk plunging an entire region into catastrophic, fruitless war. Moreover, the Trump administration has offered no evidence that the U.S. was in danger from Soleimani. Even if it did, the U.S. killed Soleimani in a country where thousands of American soldiers are stationed who are trained and capable of capturing, rather than assassinating, assets. By choosing to assassinate Soleimani, the Trump administration escalated the conflict unnecessarily. Global security was clearly not the goal. 

Isn’t Iran our enemy?

The U.S.-Iran relationship has long been fraught, and there is no question that the governments on both sides are condemnable. But it is the U.S., and the Trump administration in particular, that has destroyed any hopes of normalizing relations. Trump withdrew from the successful, multilateral nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA), engaged in a counterproductive “maximum pressure” campaign, imposed economic sanctions with deadly effects on innocent civilians, and assassinated a political leader.

More broadly, the U.S.:

1. Has long engaged in aggressive rhetoric, including countless threats of regime change, while building up military forces in proximity to the country;
2. Unconditionally supports Iran’s regional rivals, including Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, undoubtedly influenced by oil interests, think tank funders, and foreign lobbyists;
3. Invaded Iraq, destabilizing the region; and 
4. Sowed the original seeds of the animosity between our countries — the current Iranian regime came to power in an uprising against a corrupt authoritarian monarch that had been installed in a U.S.-backed coup against a democratically-elected liberal regime.

Social Media and Graphics

Twitter:

A war with #Iran will harm both the Iranian and American people. It will help no one but Trump and the war hawks he has surrounded himself with in his drive for this war. We must not let it happen.

The calls for war against #Iran are drowning out the voices of those who will be directly impacted by war. Right now, we need media outlets to uplift those voices in giving an accurate picture of what the consequences of this war will look like. #MuteTheWarMachine

Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo have been zooming down the path to a needless, destructive, and costly war with #Iran since the day they stepped into office. We’re running out of time to stop them. Add your name before it’s too late. http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/stop-war-with-iran-now/?source=partner 

Trump and his war cabinet axed the #IranDeal and put us on a collision course to war with Iran. Now, war is closer than ever. Add your voice and demand Congress step in to stop Trump from dragging us into a terrible war with Iran: http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/stop-war-with-iran-now/?source=partner 

Congress must act fast to stop the Trump administration from getting the #IranWar it’s always wanted, a war that would kill and displace millions. Call your members of Congress and tell them to put the brakes on war with #Iran: (202) 224-3121. 

Facebook:

If we have learned anything from almost two decades of destructive, futile, endless wars, now is the time to act like it. Sign now and tell Congress to put the brakes on war with Iran. 

http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/stop-war-with-iran-now/?source=partner 

This is not a drill. A war with Iran would kill and displace millions. Congress must act fast. Call your members of Congress and tell them to put the brakes on war with #Iran. (202) 224-3121. 

Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo have been zooming down the path to a needless, destructive, and costly war with #Iran since the day they stepped into office. We’re running out of time to stop them. Add your name before it’s too late. http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/stop-war-with-iran-now/?source=partner 

“No War with Iran” Graphics: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TKCgfrxw5-WaCKWsb1gex6yyu3DHb06e?usp=sharing