[Prefatory Note: Below is a Letter to Members of Congress with an initial group of signatories; there are many more that have been gathered but not listed here. If you wish to add your signature, please send your name and affiliation to Vida Samiian, vidasamiian@gmail.com who helped compose the original text, and now with the logistics of the initiative. If you agree with the argument, please do join us by adding your name.
The Letter was composed prior to the Iranian missile attacks on two American military bases in Iraq and before Trump made his formal statement the following day, January 8th. Although his statement can is being read in many ways, including the suggestion that Trump’s intention was to step back from the brink of a devastating war. I listened to Trump from my own perspective and with an attempt to hear his words as if I were an Iranian living in Iran. I found the statement belligerent, and formulated in an imperialist/hegemonic language, avoiding a diplomatic sequel, and instead resuming the ‘maximum pressure’ approach involving threats and further intensified sanctions and other coercive moves that will bring additional suffering to the Iranian people. Perhaps, the only hopeful element was the suggestion that Trump would seek greater NATO involvement coupled with the assertion of American energy independence. This may possibly have been a geopolitical prelude to partial disengagement in the region by the United States, but more likely was telling European countries that they should bear a greater part of the economic burden of upholding Western interests In the region since they remain dependent on Middle Eastern energy to meet their needs, while the United States no longer does. In any event, the Trump moves would undoubtedly be viewed as provocative, unacceptable, and aggressive by Iranians.
Among the most distasteful aspects of Trump’s speech was his castigation of Barack Obama’s laudable attempt to negotiate a tension-reducing agreement with Iran on its nuclear program that had the support of France, UK, as well as China, Russia, and Germany. To deride such a major breakthrough for a better future for the region, while perpetuating a war-mongering approach underscores why it continues to be so urgent for Congress to act.
This is the latest update with additional signatories.]
OPEN LETTER TO MEMBERS OF THE U.S. CONGRESS[1]
January 7, 2020
To Members of the United States Congress:
The unlawful and provocative assassination of Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani, has already given rise to an escalating spiral of lethal events. The greatest risks are to stumble escalating into a devastating war in the Middle East with grave consequences for the peoples of Iran and Iraq and likely across the region. Such a war would have disastrous effects for this country, for the region and the world. It is certain to do further harm to the reputation of the United States, which already is perceived in much of the world as an irresponsible and criminal political actor in the region, using military force in ways that have made already difficult situations catastrophic by taking various dangerous military, economic and quasi-diplomatic initiatives misleadingly presented as “maximum pressure.”
It is imperative for the well-being of our country, and indeed the world, that the Congress of the United States fulfill its most solemn constitutional responsibility, and impose effective restraints on the war-making actions of this impeached president. This is a moment when partisan politics should be put aside, not only for the sake of national interests but for the benefit of humanity – -we should realize that these unilateral actions by the United States have put the entire world at risk. It is also a moment when Republicans as well as Democrats must stand up for a sane foreign policy, and for diplomacy and peace instead of aggression and war, and fulfill their duties as Members of Congress.
The Iranian people have endured decades of economic warfare waged by the US and its allies. Since the revolution of 1979 in Iran and the end of a mutually beneficial relationship between the US and Iran’s autocratic leader, the Shah, the US has imposed numerous sanctions on Iran under various guises, threatened it with war and inflicted pain and suffering on its people. What is desperately needed with respect to Iran is not any further recourse to coercive diplomacy based on escalating threats, crippling sanctions, and tit-for-tat military actions. What is urgently needed is an immediate shift to restorative diplomacy based on mutual respect for international and domestic law, with the objective of peace, stability, and cooperation.
From all what we now know, General Soleimani had come to Iraq without stealth on a commercial plane. He came to Iraq on a diplomatic peacemaking mission at the invitation of the Baghdad Government, and with a meeting scheduled on the following day with the Prime Minister that was part of an ongoing effort to seek a lessening of tensions between Iran and
Saudi Arabia. In reaction to major violations of its sovereignty, the Iraqi Parliament has voted to expel U.S. troops from their country. In place of what seemed a promising regional initiative the assassination of General Soleimani has resulted in an intensification of conflict, further massive suffering, and the likelihood of dangerous escalation.
We call on Congress to act with urgency to stem this slide toward war and regional chaos.
We urge you to consider imposing ironclad restraints on the authority of the President to make any further use of international force without a clear and definite authorization by the U.S. Congress, which itself should respect the relevant prohibitions of international law and the provisions and procedures of the UN Charter.
Richard Falk
Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law
Princeton University
Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global Studies
Noam Chomsky
Laureate Professor of Linguistics, Agnese Nelms Haury Chair University of Arizona
Daniel Ellsberg
Former Official of State & Defense Department
Whistleblower, Pentagon Papers
Judith Butler
Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature
University of California, Berkeley
Medea Benjamin
Founder, Code Pink Author
Phyllis Bennis
Institute for Policy Studies and Jewish Voice for Peace
Professor Hilal Elver
Research Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara
Vida Samiian
Visiting Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles
Professor of Linguistics and Dean Emerita
California State University, Fresno
Antonio C. S. Rosa, M.A. Editor, TRANSCEND Media Service
Ira Helfand, M.D.
Co-President, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
1985 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
Past President of Physicians for Social Responsibility
Celso Amorim
Author and retired Diplomat
Brazil
Christine Ahn
Executive Director
Women Cross DMZ
Rick Wayman
President & CEO
Nuclear Age peace Foundation
Frank Bognar, D.P.A.
Vice Chair, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Douglas Roche, O.C.
Former Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament
David Krieger, President Emeritus Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Peter Kuznick, Professor of History
Director, Institute of Nuclear Studies American University
Biljana Vankovska, Professor
University of Skopje, Macedonia
Bogdan Bogdanov, Professor
University of Skopje, Macedonia
Ahmad Abbas, Mathematician
Research Director at CNRS, France
Maria Stern, Professor
School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg
Gothenburg, Sweden
Joel Beinin
Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Emeritus
Stanford University
Stephan Andersson
Independent Bertrand Russell scholar, Lund, Sweden John Scales Avery, Ph.D.
Associate Professor Emeritus
University of Copenhagen
Chairman, Danish National Group
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
Rev. Kil Sang Yoon
Executive Advisor
Korean American national Coordinating Council, Inc.
Jeremy R. Hammond
Independent journalist Editor of Foreign Policy Journal Author of Obstacle to Peace:
The US Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Maxine Fookson, RN
Board member of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Western Executive Committee of American Friends Service Committee
Frederik S. Heffermehl
Oslo Lawyer/author
Nobel Peace Prize Watch
Vincent Stanley Author, Poet
David Hillstrom, Author
Rabbi Linda Holtzman
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Thomas G. Weiss
Distinguished Fellow, Global Governance. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Presidential Professor of Political Science
The CUNY Graduate Center
Ervand Abrahamian
Professor Emeritus
City University of New York
Professor Rabab Abdulhadi
Director and Senior Scholar
Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diaspora Studies
San Francisco State University
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl
Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law
UCLA School of Law
Olga Abella
Emeritus Professor of English
Eastern Illinois University
Suzanne Adely
National Lawyers Guild
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Stephan Andersson
Independent Bertrand Russell scholar
Lund, Sweden
Walid Afifi
Professor of Communication
University of California Santa Barbara
Kevin B. Anderson
University of California, Santa Barbara
Richard Appelbaum, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus and
Former MacArthur Chair in Sociology and Global & International Studies
University of California, Santa Barbara
Mohammad Azadpur
Professor of Philosophy San Francisco State University
Bahar Bastani, M.D.
Professor of Medicine
School of Medicine, Saint Louis University
Dr. Hatem Bazian
UC Berkeley and Zaytuna College
Eileen Boris
Hull Professor and Distinguished Professor
Department of Feminist Studies
Professor of History, Black Studies and Global Studies
University of California, Santa Barbara
Dr. Jaap C. Bos
Professor of Psychology Utrecht University
Marian and Leslie Bravery
Palestinian Human Rights Campaign
Aotearoa, New Zealand
Carole H. Browner
Distinguished Research Professor
Departments of Anthropology and Gender Studies
Center for Culture and Health
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
University of California, Los Angeles
Edmund Burke III
Professor Emeritus of History
University of California, Santa Cruz
Karen Brodkin
Professor Emerita of Anthropology
University of California, Los Angeles
Sara Cvetkovska
ERCOMER, Utrecht University
Valentina Capurri
Instructor, Ryerson University Toronto, Canada
Swati Chattopadhyay
University of California, Santa Barbara
Maivan Clech Lam
Professor Emerita
City University of New York Graduate Center
Margery Cohen
Professor Emerita
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Carla Coco
University of California, Santa Barbara
Dr. Ali Dabiri
Founder and President of Dr. Modjtahedi Foundation Retired Professor of Sharif University of Technology of Iran
Diana G. Darab, Ph.D.
Health Research for Action
University of California, Berkeley
Natalie Z. Davis
Professor Emeritus
Princeton University
James Deutsch MD, PhD, FRCPC
Faculty of Medicine
University of Toronto
Judith Deutsch, President
Science for Peace
Julie Diamond
Center for Worker Education, CCNY New York
Gordon Doctorow, Ed.D. Toronto, Canada
Dr. Vincent Duindam, Ph.D.
Psychologist, Utrecht University
Omnia El Shakry
Professor of History
University of California, Davis
Sasan Fayazmanesh
Professor Emeritus of Economics
California State University, Fresno
Faramarz Farbod
Writer and editor at Left Turn
Adjunct faculty of Political Science
Moravian College
Nina Farnia
Past President
National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Gary Fields, Professor of Communication University of California, San Diego
Shepard Forman, Founding Director
Center for International Cooperation New York University
Manzar Foroohar, Professor Emerita
History and Latin American Studies
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Margaret Ferguson
Distinguished Professor of English, Emerita
University of California, Davis
Aranye Fradenburg Joy
Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature
University of California, Santa Barbara
Nancy Gallagher
Professor Emerita of History
University of California, Santa Barbara
Jolien Geerlings
Utrecht University
The Netherlands
Jila Ghomeshi, Professor and Department Head
Department of Linguistics University of Manitoba
Professor Penny Green
Head of Department of Law
Professor of Law and Globalisation
Director, International State Crime Initiative
Queen Mary University of London
Magda Gilewicz
Professor of English
California State University, Fresno
Avery F. Gordon
Professor of Sociology
University of California, Santa Barbara
Visiting Professor, School of Law
Birkbeck University of London
William Hastings
Assoc Professor Emeritus of Mathematics Fordham University
Maryam Shayegan Hastings
Emerita Professor of Mathematics
Fordham University
Ivan Huber
Professor Emeritus of Biology Fairleigh Dickinson University
Professor George Hunsinger
Princeton Theological Seminary
Suad Joseph
University of California, Davis
Prya Kapoor
Portland State University
David Kinsella
Portland State University
David Klein
Professor of Mathematics
California State University, Northridge
Dennis Kortheuer
Department of History, Emeritus
California State University, Long Beach
Richard K. Larson
Professor of Linguistics
Stony Brook University
Professor Anna Leander
The Graduate Institute
Dept. of International Relations and Political Science
Chenin Eugene Rigot 2, Geneva
Mark Levine
University of California, Irvine
David Lloyd
Distinguished Professor of English
University of California, Riverside
Dr. Brooke Lober
Scholar-in-Residence, Gender and Women’s Studies
University of California, Berkeley
Paul M Lubeck
Johns Hopkins University, SAIS
Afshin Matin-Asgari
Professor of Middle East History
California State University, Los Angeles
Blanca Misse
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
San Francisco State University
Akbar Montaser
Professor Emeritus
The George Washington University
Kathleen Moore
Professor of Religious Studies
UC Santa Barbara
Patricia Morton
University of California, Riverside
Radmila Nakarada
Professor of Peace Studies University of Belgrade
Jamal R. Nassar
Professor of Political Science and Dean Emeritus
California State University, San Bernardino
Srkja Pavlovic
Department of History and Classics
University of Alberta
Ismail Poonawala
Professor Emeritus of Arabic and Islamic Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
Elisabeth Prugl
Professor of International Relations
Graduate Institute, Geneva
David N. Rahni
Professor of Chemistry
Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal
Law and Urban Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Craig Reinarman
Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Legal Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
Rush Rehm
Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies and Classics
Artistic Director, Stanford Repertory Theater
Stanford University
Stephen Roddy
Professor of Chinese Studies
San Francisco State University
Lisa Rofel
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
Co-Director, Center for Emerging Worlds
University of California Santa Cruz
Co-Director, California Scholars for Academic Freedom
Cesar “che” Rodriguez, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Studies
San Francisco State University
Muhammad Sahimi
Professor of Chemical Engineering University of Southern California
Professor William Spence, QMUL
Carole Saltz
Director (retired)
Teachers College Press
Leyli Shayegan
Retired Assistant Director
Teachers College Press
Carole Snee,
Retired Director of ESL
California State University, Fresno
Baki Tezcan
University of California, Davis
Azadeh Saljooghi, Ph.D., MFA
Retired faculty of Communications and Film Studies
Mark Lewis Taylor
Maxwell M. Professor of Theology and Culture
Princeton Theological Seminary
Devra Weber
Emerita Professor of History
University of California, Riverside
Ryan J. Fisher
University of California, Santa Barbara
Eve Hershcopf
Member, Jewish Voice for Peace- Bay Area
Penny Rosenwasser
Author, Instructor, Interdisciplinary Studies
City College of San Francisco
Marlena Santoyo
Greater Philadelphia Branch
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
Outreach Coordinator
Kelly Patrick Gerling, Seattle
Judy Neunuebel
Jewish Voice for Peace
George Marx
Chicago, IL
Beth Harris
Member, Jewish Voice for Peace National Board
Janet Kobren
Human Rights Activist
Susan Shawl
Member, Jewish Voice for Peace, Bay Area chapter
David L. Mandel, Sacramento
Human rights attorney
Chapter leader, Jewish Voice for Peace
Elected member, California Democratic Party Central Committee
Sophie Moradi
An opponent of never-ending wars
Henry Norr
Activist and retired Journalist
Mario Galvan
Board member, Sacramento Area Peace Action
Pathma Venasithamby
Jewish Voice for Peace
Carol Sanders
Retired Attorney
Member, Jewish Voice for Peace
Elizabeth Block
Member of Independent Jewish Voice
Molly Hogan
Jewish Voice for Peace
Martha Roth
Independent Jewish Voices
Pam Rogers
Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
Jewish Voice for Peace
Linval R. DePass
Member, Jewish Voice for Peace
Angela Price
Fresno Center for Nonviolence
Masoud Chamasemani
Actor and TV Producer
Pauline M. Coffman Oak Park, IL
Eve Darian-Smith
Layla Darwish
Palestine Freedom Project
Shahla Dashtaki Fulton, MO
Natalie Z. Davis
Marcela Jurado
Priscilla Read
Chicago
Gertrude Reagan
Palo Alto Friends Meeting
Bob Aldridge
World War II Veteran
Newland F. Smith, 3rd
Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Ned Rosch
Human Rights Activist who lived and worked in Iran
Parizad Torgoli
Rev. Don Wagner
Friends of Sabeel-North America
Parisa Afshar
American-Iranian who opposes any kind of war with Iran
Richard Lew Independent Contractor Reza Sheybani, M.D.
Eugene Schulman
Independent dissident
Susan Stout
Activist, Vancouver
Mark Winterrowd
John Whitbeck
International Law Expert
Cindy Shamban
Member of Jewish Voice for Peace, Bay Area
Nancy Murray
Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
Marge Sussman
Member, Jewish Voice for Peace, Bay Area
[1] Although members of the U.S. Congress formally represent citizens of the United States, the global role and activities of the United States are such that the peoples of the world are often directly impacted. As a result nonAmericans have a vital stake in the adherence of American foreign policy to international law and the Charter of The United Nations, and were invited to sign our Open Letter and join in this appeal to Congress.
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