H.R. 362: Proposed U.S. Naval Blockade on Iran Amounts to "an Act of War"

H.R. 362: Proposed U.S. Naval Blockade on Iran Amounts to “an Act of War”

By David R. Kimball June 29, 2008

In an article entitled The Iran Trap, posted on 6-8-08, author Chris Hedges quotes House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers' May 8th letter to Bush, where Conyers threatened to open impeachment proceedings if Bush attacked Iran: "... the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003, a stark reversal of previous Administration assessments."(1)

The U.S. imposed unilateral financial sanctions on Iran in October of 2007. (2) Bernard Weiner of “The Crisis Papers” wrote on December 12, 2007, in regard to Bush and Cheney: “What they want before a new president is inaugurated in January 2009 is to wipe out Iran’s weapons capabilities...”(3)

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, after a White House meeting with George W. Bush on June 4th, that the two leaders were of one mind: “... George Bush understands the severity of the Iranian threat and the need to vanquish it, and intends to act on that matter before the end of his term in the White House.” This information is quoted from a 6-19-08 article by Ray McGovern, Army Intelligence/infantry officer and a CIA analyst for 27 years.(4)

The European Union’s 27 member states agreed in mid-June to freeze the assets of the biggest bank in Iran and impose new oil and gas sanctions upon the country.(5) At a press conference during George W. Bush’s visit in mid June, British Prime Minister George Brown said that Iranians did not have to choose a “path of confrontation”...(6)

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. Congress that, if it becomes law, would impose a naval blockade on Iran. It “demands” that the President impose “stringent inspection requirements on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains and cargo entering or departing Iran.” House Resolution 362 was introduced May 22, 2008 and was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; by June 18th it had attracted 146 co-sponsors. According to an article by Andrew W. Cheetham: “experts say that the measures called for in the resolutions amount to an act of war”. (7)


(1) http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080608_the_iran_trap/ The Iran
Trap, by Chris Hedges 6-8-08
(2) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21468595/ U.S. Imposes Sweeping
Sanctions on Iran, AP 10-25-07
(3) http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0712/S00165.htm Bush’s Nuclear
Boogie-man Scam, by Bernard Weiner 12-12-07
(4) http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/061908c.html Bomb Iran?
What’s to Stop Us?, by Ray McGovern 6-19-08
(5) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2139863/Iranian-bank-assets-frozen- by-EU-sanctions.html Iranian Bank Assets Frozen by EU Sanctions 6-17-08
(6) http://www.truthout.org/article/bush-and-browns-warning-iran?print Bush and Brown’s Warning to Iran BBC 6-16-08
(7) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=9377&context=va House Resolution Calls For Naval Blockade Against Iran, by Andrew W. Cheetham 6-18-08