Washington ― Michigan Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett doesn’t support an escalation of the war in Iran or “wiping out whole civilizations,” he said in reference to President Donald Trump’s threats last week.
“To me, I think we have to be clear-eyed about what our objectives are and, for me and I think for many Americans, it is (to) ensure that Iran does not have the capability of developing a nuclear weapon,” Barrett said in an interview with The Detroit News over the weekend.
“But that doesn’t mean we need to go in and do nation-building. It doesn’t mean that we need to that we need to go in and liberate the Iranians. It would be great if they take ownership of their own country, but we cannot go in and force our ideals and our values on another country, especially in the Middle East, where we’ve had a track record of failure doing that.”
Barrett, a first-term Charlotte Republican who serves on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, also said he’s “unconvinced” that placing troops on the ground in Iran would be an appropriate step to take in Iran at this point, nor would installing a Western-backed government in that country.
Amid a fragile two-week ceasefire, the former Army helicopter pilot said he thinks “heavily” about the human cost of war, including the 7,000 American lives lost on the battlefield in the 20-year span of the War on Terror, as well as the 30,000 troops from the War on Terror era who committed suicide in the same time span.
He estimated that the U.S. is probably about 60 years away from providing the last benefits to the last of the veterans of the War on Terror era, whether that’s in disability compensation or a burial at a veterans’ cemetery.
“I’m at a very, very reserved posture about how we go about use of force, and, for me, I don’t want to see an escalation of conflict,” Barrett said.
“I also say that from the vantage point of someone who’s lost friends to Iranian IEDs that were manufactured in Iran and shipped over the border into Iraq and which killed thousands of American troops during the War on Terror and other places.”
Barrett has said he supports congressional oversight of the conflict; however, he voted against a bipartisan war powers resolution on March 5 that sought to end Trump’s military actions against Iran.
The U.S.-Iranian peace talks in Pakistan ended over the weekend without reaching a deal following 21 hours of negotiations. Vice President JD Vance said Saturday Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including not to build nuclear weapons.
“We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance said, according to Reuters. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States, and that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”
Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, the release of assets abroad, the payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across the region, including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials. Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported.
Trump on Sunday announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by the U.S. Navy and threatened to destroy “the little that is left of Iran,” in posts on social media.
Reopening the strait is a top priority for Trump, whose approval ratings have fallen amid soaring oil prices and anxiety about the war’s toll on the economy.
Spiking gas prices also could also drag down Republican candidates, like Barrett, who are seeking reelection in competitive swing districts in the fall midterm elections. A trio of Democrats are vying for the nomination to take on Barrett ― former Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam and climate activist William Lawrence.
Each has criticized Congress for not acting to rein in the Iran war and hammered Trump’s remarks after he threatened last week that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran didn’t cede to his demands to open the Strait of Hormuz.
“Trump’s threat that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ is reprehensible,” Brink said on social media. “Attacks on civilians & the destruction of an entire country are war crimes that go against everything our country stands for. Congress must reassert its authority over Trump’s war of choice.”
Maasdam, who worked in the White House of President Barack Obama, said Americans should take Trump’s threats seriously.
“Those are the words of a madman threatening a war crime,” Maasdam said in a statement. “I’ve carried the nuclear codes for the President of the United States. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what a scenario like this means for humanity ― everyone loses. It’s time for Congress to stand up and stop his reckless use of force.”
Lawrence has urged restraint and diplomacy, saying it’s really the American-led world civilization that is dying, not Iran’s.
“This is barbarism. It’s grotesque. It’s shameful, sinful, sinister. It’s criminal, bloodthirsty, mad,” Lawrence said of Trump’s threats to Iran. “If we escalate in Iran now, it will mean a massive energy and petrochemical shock, global depression, and very likely a further escalation towards WWIII.”
Detroit’s U.S. House representatives last week joined calls from dozens of other Democrats in Congress to remove Trump from office after his threats to wipe out civilization in Iran.
Other Democrats from Michigan didn’t go as far but also slammed Trump’s remarks, calling them outrageous and “morally wrong.”
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Holly Democrat and member of the Senate Armed Services panel, said targeting civilians en masse would be a “clear violation” of the law of armed conflict as laid out in the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual. Slotkin, who used to hold Barrett’s seat in the House, served as a top Pentagon official under Obama.
“This kind of focus on civilians is exactly what we accuse our adversaries of doing and what our military trains to avoid. It’s built into the rigorous drilling and routines that our military are trained on from their first weeks. If they are today or have been asked to do things that violate the law and their training, it puts them in very real legal jeopardy,” Slotkin wrote on social media.
“… I hope and believe our troops — especially those in command — will have the moral clarity to push back if they are given clearly illegal orders,” she added, echoing a message that she and other Democrats recorded in a video that sparked a GOP firestorm last year.
mburke@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Barrett rejects Trump’s civilization-ending threats to Iran
Reporting by Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
