Forty-seven US Senators took it upon themselves to write to Iran, going around accepted structures and practices.
And then the Iranian foreign minster Javad Zarif gave them a wee bit of a crash course in international law.
Other than being glad that Zarif is an international law expert, I'm pretty appalled by all of this.
When leadership cannot come together to find truly workable solutions for life's issues and instead they decide to go rogue and escalate situations unnecessarily? Ugh.
And yet we find these conflicts outside of the Senate.
Heck, we see it sometimes in churches and other nonprofits. Figuring out a communal good and trusting one another takes time and flexibility and maturity. It requires a certain level of relationship, which we need to explicitly support.
Surely we can do better than the Senate.
Were you appalled when Pelosi went to Syria in 2007 and met with Assad? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040402306.html
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how eight years later, we remember that Pelosi went to Syria, but not the others of both parties who also met with Assad.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it sure would be lovely if folks would follow the recommendations of the State Department AND stick to their role and the widest mission.
I admit I've thought of Pelosi's role in Syra more often than that. I've followed events there since the Statement of Syrian Youth. There are many examples of Congress intervening in Foreign Affairs. A classic being my State's own Dick Durbin sponsoring the override of President Reagan's veto of Sanctions on South Africa. (I remember that vote too). I think Obama would have been impeached by Congress too on Syria just a year or two ago over Syria when he said he would intervene Militarily without a War Power's resolution. Something every President has requested since the Act's passage save Bill Clinton in the Kosovo intervention. I would have supported Obama, and did support Clinton, although I think it's unwise for the President to use force without these resolutions.
ReplyDeleteObama's said he has no need to take an agreement with Iran back to the Senate for concurrence. That would be awfully unwise, I think the Senate did a good thing letting the Iranian Regime know how our Constitution worked.