Resolution for Diplomacy Not a Military Attack on Iran

Adopted by the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council, March 16, 2012

Whereas, many indications point to preparations for U.S. military action against Iran, and

Whereas, we have seen the effects of war in Iraq as a consequence of false and misleading claims of weapons of mass destruction, which in Iraq led to the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, including a half-million children, and we in U.S. Labor Against the War are determined to avoid any repetition of the experience, and

Whereas, the AFL-CIO National Executive Council said in its statement on jobs and labor’s agenda on August 3, 2011: “There is no way to fund what we must do as a nation without bringing our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. The militarization of our foreign policy has proven to be a costly mistake. It is time to invest at home,” and

Whereas, the budget crises at federal, state, and local levels and their devastating consequences for working people make all the more urgent reductions in U.S. military operations and expenditures, and the transfer of those funds to meet pressing domestic needs, and

Whereas, military threats and saber rattling too easily lead to provocations that result in war, and

Whereas, war would impose terrible and unacceptable consequences on U.S. fighting forces and the Iranian people, especially women and children, and

Whereas, threats and demonization directed at Iran intensify Islamophobia directed not only at Muslims but also at Sikhs and many others from South Asia and more generally heighten suspicion of immigrants as “the other,” and

Whereas, the working people, labor and other progressive movements of Iran are systematically denied the rights of free expression, association, assembly and peaceful dissent recognized as universal rights under international law, and

Whereas, the regime in power in Iran faces a growing crisis of legitimacy that challenges its continuing autocratic rule, but the removal of that regime is the business of the Iranian people and not outside foreign forces, and

Whereas, any military attack will simultaneously lead the regime to escalate its repressive measures against all sources of dissent while also rallying the population to its defense out of patriotic and nationalist loyalty and in defense of the national sovereignty of Iran, and

Whereas, belligerent threats of military strikes against Iran may only harden their perceived need for deterrent military power, possibly including nuclear weapons, thereby accelerating a destabilizing arms race in the Middle East, therefore be it

Resolved, that the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council hereby declares its opposition to military action against Iran by the U.S. or any of its allies, and be it further

Resolved, that the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council opposes sanctions against Iran that primarily victimize civilians and strengthen the Iranian regime, which portrays itself as the defender of the Iranian people, and be it further

Resolved, that the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council opposes sanctions against Iran that primarily victimize civilians and strengthen the Iranian regime, which portrays itself as the defender of the Iranian people, and be it further

Resolved, that the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council calls upon the U.S. government to turn away from a militarized foreign policy and engage in all possible diplomatic efforts to resolve its differences with Iran, free from threats of military attack, and be it finally

Resolved, that upon passage of this resolution the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council shall forward it to all U.S. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, and President Obama, and to its affiliates, Change to Win, and the AFL-CIO with a request for appropriate action.