Democrats response to Iranian airstrikes

TYLER – Democratic Party representatives and officials from East Texas and across the country are speaking out against military escalation on Saturday, following joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. Our news partner KETK spoke with Interim Smith County Democratic Party Chair Cam Ray about the strikes on Saturday. She called the attacks “Deeply disturbing” and questioned what United States President Donald Trump’s end goal would be in a war with Iran.

“It’s deeply disturbing that we are now diving into another endless war from our president, who has said he’s the peace president. First there was Venezuela. Now there’s Iran and this is our seventh war that the President has started since he’s been in office, which is just barely over a year,” Ray said. “So how long is this going to continue? And what is the end goal for Iran? We had a deal in place that President Trump withdrew from and so what is the goal for for bombing Iran now?”

Ray took the opportunity to voice her opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, which was also the goal of former President Barrack Obama’s JPCOA nuclear deal with Iran.

“I don’t agree that we need more nuclear weapons in the Middle East,” Ray said. “It’s a really dangerous area anyway and so having nuclear weapons there isn’t great but we also did have a plan in place that, again, President Trump withdrew from that prevented Iran from having nuclear weapons. So again, what’s his end goal now?”

Ray fears that continuing conflict in the Middle East would only put Americans in the region under greater risk.

“Getting us into another endless war in the Middle East doesn’t seem the best way to deal with with keeping peace in the area, which is already very fragile since Israel has invaded Gaza, the whole area has been unstable,” Ray said. “Now after this particular incursion into Iran by the US and Israel this greatly increases the risk of American casualties in the area.”

Ray also stressed the need for the United States Congress to approve any war through a congressional War Powers Resolution.

“That’s what the War Powers resolutions are for,” Ray said. “We have three branches of government and one branch does not get to go and do whatever they feel is the necessary thing to do when we’ve got oversight from Congress into war powers.”

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California and Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky have both urged Congress to return to Washington D.C. on Monday to vote on a War Powers Resolution.