Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) went on Morning Joe this morning to convey an important message: engage Iran.
“We just got out of one war, we’re trying to get out of another one, we do not need a third…diplomacy is the right option,” he said. Ellison explained, “No one says diplomacy is easy, but going to war would be catastrophic,” and negotiations are the best way to prevent war and prevent nuclear Iran.
The Congressman discussed his bipartisan effort with Representative Walter Jones (R-NC) to call for the President to reinvigorate diplomacy with Iran:
“If you listen to Martin Dempsey, who’s the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the fact is that an attack on Iran would be destabilizing and the attack would not achieve the objectives of…stopping the nuclear program. So we need to avert that possibility from the very beginning. That’s why Walter Jones and I have come together and organized many of our colleagues on a letter to the President to really be strong on diplomacy. And to go back to that effort which the President very wisely started which is direct, bilateral engagement on Iran.”
The Ellison-Jones letter has been endorsed by groups including NIAC, FCNL, J Street, Americans for Peace Now, Just Foreign Policy, Peace Action, CREDO, and ELCA.
Ellison said the President must be firm with our allies on the need for diplomacy to prevent war, explaining that many Israeli generals and military experts also believe “an attack on Iran would destabilizing for them and the wrong way to go”:
“What the President has to tell the Israeli leadership is: ‘Look, if you’re going to sign us up for a protracted military conflict that you can start but cannot finish, we’ve got to be in on it from the beginning. And we say diplomacy is what we need to do now…The United States, the strongest military on Earth, should never be in a position where it is not in control of its own destiny. The fact is, we cannot let even an ally, an important ally like Israel, drag us into war that we think diplomacy can serve better in.”
You can ask your Member of Congress to sign the Ellison-Jones letter by emailing them here or call them at 1-855-68 NO WAR.
Back to top