Dear Senator Klobuchar:
We recently received a copy of your revised constituent letter regarding foreign policy towards Iran. This letter states:
“I believe Iran’s present course of action represents a threat to the United States, our allies in the Middle East, and the international community. Iran’s actions have also been counterproductive in our efforts to stabilize Iraq. The regime in Tehran continues to sponsor terrorist groups across the Middle East that threaten to destabilize the region. And Iran continues to defy the United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
We are concerned that use of the word “threat” may generate unwarranted alarm and unwise action. Certainly we have concerns about Iran, but at what point do the words of their leaders and the actions of their government constitute a true threat to our country? We have learned from our disastrous experience in responding to purported threats in Iraq that we must have reliable hard evidence before using a potentially incendiary term such as “threat.”
Your letter says that Iran’s actions have been counterproductive in our efforts to stabilize Iraq but we must ask whether counterproductive actions, by themselves, threaten our country. Numerous governments around the world, especially our own government, have taken actions that have been counterproductive to the effort to stabilize Iraq. Furthermore, we know that many of these actions by Iranians have not been sanctioned by their government.
It may be true that the regime in Tehran sponsors terrorist groups that destabilize the region but certainly the same charge can be leveled at our own government which led the coup to unseat Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh in 1953. We understand that Iran defies UN Security Council resolutions as does the United States and many of our closest allies.
The members of Minnesota’s peace community look to you to speak out against the Administration’s fear-mongering and sword-rattling which, we believe, are the greatest threat to our security and that of the Middle East. We request that you discontinue using the term “threat” and focus your public statements on efforts to develop a mutually productive relationship with Iran.
Best regards,
Roxanne Abbas, WAMM Board Member
Author’s note: I sent this letter to the Senator in January. I was advised by her Foreign Policy Advisor, Tom Sullivan, that she will continue to use the “threat” rhetoric. |
