The US and Iran seemed on the brink of war at the beginning of the year. The U.S. Congress then wanted to force President Trump to seek parliamentary approval before taking military action. This project should have failed because of Trump.
Washington (dpa) - US President Donald Trump does not want to make any military action against Iran dependent on parliamentary approval.
Trump vetoed a Congress resolution designed to prevent him from taking arbitrary military action against Iran. The Republican said: "It was a very offensive resolution that the Democrats introduced as part of a strategy to win the November 3 election by splitting the Republican Party." US presidential and congressional elections are scheduled for November 3.
Trump criticized that Republicans who voted for the resolution played into the hands of the Democrats. The Senate, dominated by Trumps Republicans, passed the resolution in February - it should force Trump to involve Parliament in military actions against Iran. Eight republican senators had also voted in favor of the resolution brought in by the Democrats, thus helping it to win a majority. In March, the House of Representatives, dominated by the Democrats - the other chamber in Congress - passed the resolution.
The basis is the "War Powers Resolution" of 1973, which prescribes the US President to consult Congress "in any case" before sending US forces into combat. Trump had caused displeasure in Congress with a military strike against Iran prior to the resolution. At the beginning of January, US forces killed top Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani in Baghdad by order of Trump, which temporarily put Washington and Tehran on the brink of a war.
Trump's veto had been expected. To overrule the veto, a two-thirds majority would be necessary in both chambers of parliament, which cannot be foreseen. What was remarkable was the partly emotional language in the message sent by the White House press office, which reminded of Trump's tweets - for example when he described Parliament's resolution as "offensive". Trump also said, "Congress shouldn't have passed this resolution."
Trump's announcement said the resolution would dramatically limit the president's ability to protect the United States, its allies, and its partners. "The resolution implies that the president's constitutional authority to use military force is limited to defending the United States and its forces against an impending attack. That is not correct." The president had to foresee "the next steps of our opponents" and be able to take decisive action against them. "That's what I did!"
Trump had had to veto a similar case last year after Congress rebelled against him. Both chambers of Congress - including the Trump Republican-dominated Senate - had then passed a resolution to end US aid to Saudi Arabia's military operation in Yemen.