Peter Welch

Mr. President, The ask · 8 wordsthis war in Iran absolutely, immediately must end, Reasoning · 24 wordsand it will only end if the person who started it with the unilateral decision to go to war decides to end the war. Claims · 27 wordsWe in the Senate have voted numerous times to end this war.¹ We can’t do it unless we get votes from the other side of the aisle, Positioning · 13 wordsbut it is absolutely disgraceful that the United States is in this war.Positioning Claims · 186 wordsIt was a decision of two men, not of two legislative bodies and not of two votes of the American people, but of two men--Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu.² Netanyahu was in the Situation Room, making his case that we should go to war with Iran.³Logical leap Any of the advisers to the President said it was a bogus claim that it would be done overnight, ⁴which is essentially what the assertion was. So our President made a decision--and it was a unilateral decision by him, a unilateral decision--that we go to war. He told the American people it would be over in a couple of days, just like in Venezuela, ⁵and that the people of Iran would rise up and take out the Ayatollah.⁶ Many Iranians did rise up, ⁷and they got slaughtered. The President bragged about the military might--and we do have a strong military--but his strategic thinking was totally flawed and foolish. He thought bombing could resolve something that it couldn’t. So, yes, we bombed. Yes, the leadership in Iran was wiped out.⁸ But then Iran did what military advisers knew it would do, Positioning · 6 wordsbut the President could not listen.Positioning Claims · 67 wordsThey used an asymmetric response--drones-- to close the Strait of Hormuz.⁹ The impact here has been going on for over 6 months, ¹⁰and the only way we can assess what has happened is to come to the conclusion that the President’s policy was a complete failure. It is not working. The President continues to promote a nonpolicy and to assert we are putting the squeeze on Iran. Mr. President, Claims · 62 wordsyou are putting the squeeze on farmers in Iowa. You are putting the squeeze on the tourist industry in Vermont. You are putting the squeeze on manufacturers in Wisconsin. You are putting the squeeze on the American people. You know, for a farmer in the Midwest who wants to fill up his combine with diesel, it is 1,500 extra dollars a day.¹¹ Positioning · 58 wordsAnd for what? For what? For the ego of a man who capitulated to the pressures of Binyamin Netanyahu--and that is what he did--and who does not have the leadership ability or the character to assess what has happened in these past 6 months and acknowledge that it is time for a change?Insult This is a day-to-day catastrophe, PositioningThe ask · 9 wordsand the man who started this must end it. Reasoning · 31 wordsBut we, as U.S. Senators, with the responsibility and the trust given to us by the people who elected us, have a say, and it is time for us to say: The ask · 7 wordsEnd this war. End this war now. Positioning · 17 wordsArrogance is not a substitute for good judgment. Arrogance is not an expression of toughness and resolve.Positioning