OPPOSING U.S. EXPANSION OF THE WAR INTO IRAN

WHEREAS, the American Federation of Teachers passed a resolution calling for an end to the war in Iraq at its 2006 convention; and

WHEREAS, preventing U.S. expansion of the war into Iran is in the spirit of AFT, NEA and AFL-CIO union resolutions calling for rapid withdrawal from Iraq; and

WHEREAS, the Bush administration’s pretexts for expanding the war into Iran bear a striking resemblance to its false pretext for the invasion and occupation of Iraq (including selectively demonizing Iran while not demonizing the equally repressive Saudi Arabia); and

WHEREAS, expansion of the disastrous U.S. war in Iraq into its more powerful neighbor Iran seems increasingly possible to informed observers of differing political views and would lead to devastating loss of life in Iran, a further drain on the education and health budgets in the U.S., and catastrophic consequences for the region and the world; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. government National Intelligence Estimate report, released in December 2007, makes it clear that there is no imminent danger from Iran’s nuclear weapons program, that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that Iran is unlikely—“because of foreseeable technical and programmatic problems"—to achieve the capability to use nuclear weapons until after 2015; and 

WHEREAS, the continuing concerns about Iran’s use of nuclear technology should be addressed through negotiation and diplomacy; and

WHEREAS, instead, the Bush administration and most of Congress have supported keeping on the table all military options against Iran, including nuclear strikes, and have sent carrier battle groups into the Persian Gulf in classic colonial-style gunboat diplomacy; and

WHEREAS, the AFT stands in solidarity with our sister and brother workers in Iran oppressed by the right-wing, anti-labor Ahmadinejad regime, which would only be strengthened by Iranian national outrage at a U.S. military attack:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers unequivocally condemn the reactionary regime of Ahmadinejad, his anti-semitic denial of the Holocaust and his denial of the right of Israel to exist and his oppressive policies against workers, women, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers also oppose any U.S. military intervention in Iran, and, through its national affiliates and the AFL-CIO, demand that the Bush administration and Congress begin immediately negotiations in concert with other nations and international bodies to peacefully resolve the crisis caused by Iran’s program to develop nuclear weapons; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers communicate this resolution to the NEA, the AAUP and the AFL-CIO and urge them to educate and organize teachers, students, and union members to oppose U.S. military intervention in Iran.