AOC went after Donald Trump after the US initiated combat operations in Iran, calling it illegal, unnecessary, and catastrophic.
In a statement issued just after Trump announced that combat operations were initiated in Iran, Ocasio-Cortez said that Trump bypassed Congress and walked away from a situation that could have been averted “with escalation.”
“The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her statement. “This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic.”
AOc noted that negotiations between American officials and Iranians were proceeding well just a couple of days ago, but that “we walked away from these discussions and chose war instead.”
She also criticized Trump for his statement regarding American casualties, in which he said that “that often happens in war,” to which she replied that “Mr. President: this was not an inevitability. This is a deliberate choice of aggression when diplomacy and security were within reach. Stop lying to the American people.”
By drawing a connection to the past military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, she emphasized that the use of force would not lead to stability in the region.
“Violence begets violence. We learned this lesson in Iraq. We learned this lesson in Afghanistan. And we are about to learn it again in Iran,” she said. “Bombs have yet to create enduring democracies in the region, and this will be no different.”
Ocasio-Cortez also stated that she would vote in support of a War Powers Resolution that Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie have introduced a bill to restrict the President’s war powers without Congress’s approval.
In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not,” Ocasio-Cortez said.” “Every member of Congress must join us in rejecting this aimless war.”
