Several commenters and emails asked me, in response to the ongoing Iran discussion, What can be done? I was doing some research to address the question when, as often happens, I stumbled across a piece that already does what I was attempting, in this case laying out a way to deal appropriately with the accusations that Iran is significantly and purposefully contributing to the deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq.
It's not that I don't think it's a big deal that Iran is wreaking havoc; rather, I don't think Iran is actually having a huge negative effect in Iraq. I'm extremely skeptical of the administration's honesty in these matters, and I'm disinclined to believe sketchy reports that just happen to provide basis for crazy neocon goals and theories (that hasn't gone so well in the past). Still, just because the accusations seem ridiculous doesn't mean they're definitely false, but we shouldn't just take the administration's word for it. And if Iran really is such a huge factor in Iraq, I want Congress in on the response, rather than ceding this whole issue to the president.
Thankfully, we have a Democratic-controlled Congress to take action, and Jim Henley over at Unqualified Offerings offers guidelines, giving specific details and saying, in part:
The Administration is making specific testable claims about Iranian arming of Iraqi militias. Congress needs to announce that, as part of its constitutional authority to declare, or not declare, war, it will audit those claims independently . . . a unilateral executive decision to attack Iran on the basis of unaudited claims merits nothing but opposition. So does a Congressional decision to shirk its responsibilities under the constitution by taking the word of another branch of government, especially in light of the sad history of the last five years.The details of how this would work are explicated quite well -- the whole post is very much worth reading -- and the necessity for Congressional leadership and oversight on this is crucial.
