Rand Paul stops war with Iran by offering a one sentence amendment to Iran sanctions bill

Impact

The establishment Democrats and Republicans would have you believe that sanctions prevent war and contribute to "human rights," which is the most absurd thing I can possibly think of on this planet. Obviously any attempt to prevent a country from trading resources with its neighbors requires the threat of violent force and reduces the living standards of those being sanctioned.

Recently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) tried to railroad through a new Iran sanctions bill that would make Obama’s Executive Order 13590 legal under the law. The standing executive order violates every principle of the separation of powers under the Constitution and would essentially put America on a path toward open conflict with Iran. No single man should have the power to stop trade with an entire nation.

In order to prevent World War III from breaking out, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) single-handedly blocked the Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act (S. 2101) from being passed by unanimous consent by demanding the inclusion of a one sentence amendment to the bill which reads, “…nothing in the Act shall be construed as a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of force against Iran or Syria.”

Paul is the son of libertarian GOP presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul (Texas), who running on a strong anti-war platform. 

In response to Paul’s amendment, Reid said, “There is nothing in the resolution that talks about war, in fact it’s to the contrary. This is not a declaration of war or anything in the neighborhood of that.”  Which I find to be odd considering the bill contains the following dictates:

Extends U.S. sanctions to Iranian Energy Joint Ventures Codifies and Expands Sanctions on Suppliers to Iran’s Energy and Petrochemical Sectors Applies mandatory U.S. sanctions to Iranian Uranium Mining Joint Ventures Expands Current Sanctions Menu to Senior Corporate Officers of Sanctioned Firms Accelerates and Expands Efforts to Target Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

How exactly does Reid think those dictates by the American state will be imposed upon Iran?  Does he think magic unicorns will crap rainbows all over the Iranian people until they finally come to their senses and obey the U.S. political machine?

The fact that Reid was disappointed with Paul’s amendment, which simply says no violence will be used unless Congress authorizes a declaration of war, obviously makes his previous statement that the bill has nothing to do with starting a war out to be a bold faced lie. Reid must understand that the bill could start a war, otherwise he wouldn’t have been disappointed with the proposed amendment.

Listen to the last sane senator in Congress explain his position on the war bill: