The following resolution was passed unanimously by the Culver City Democratic Club at its general meeting on Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Whereas, on January 3, 2020, the United States military and intelligence forces carried out the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds force,and;
Whereas, while recognizing that General Suleimani’s operations resulted in the injury and deaths of countless civilians in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Israel and Lebanon, international law and the United States Constitution clearly limit the right of the Executive to engage in acts of violence and war against other sovereign nations without right or authority, and;
Whereas this extrajudicial assassination was done without consulting Congress and under questionable legal authority against a military leader of a sovereign nation, creating greater instability in the region, endangering the safety of United States civilians and military personnel overseas; greatly increasing the likelihood of escalated military conflict in the Middle East, and unnecessary war between the United States and Iran.
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that, while recognizing the instability and harm to others that General Suleimani’s operations caused, the Culver City Democratic Club opposes President Trump’s use of fatal military force as a provocation against leaders of a sovereign nation not formally at war with the United States, calls on Democrats to take such steps as are necessary to de-escalate tensions and to learn from the mistakes of the Iraq War by preventing U.S. entry into yet another unnecessary war that could cost tens of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars that could be spent on health care, combatting climate change, ending homelessness and providing for the needs of Americans.