Here & Now

US Sen. Tammy Baldwin on the War with Iran and its Mission

Frederica Freyberg:
The U.S. war in Iran wages on with no letup in sight. The Wisconsin Army National Guard has more than 400 troops on the ground in Kuwait and Iraq and were praised for their value to the mission by the U.S. commanding general. As to potential domestic threats, late this week, Senate Democrats once again blocked Department of Homeland Security funding, which Republicans pounced on. We asked Wisconsin U.S. senators about that issue and the war itself when we spoke with them just ahead of that DHS funding vote. We start with Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin. Thanks very much for being here.

Tammy Baldwin:
Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So you voted this week in favor of a war powers resolution to block future U.S. military action in Iran. It failed mostly on party line but describe why you voted for it.

Tammy Baldwin:
Look, first of all, Americans have been clear. They do not want another forever war in the Middle East. They want Congress and this president to be focused on needs at home, addressing the high cost of things like groceries, housing, child care, and health care. And this president, in fact, promised that he would bring foreign wars to an end, not start them. Let me be very clear. This is a war of choice. The U.S. and U.S. interests were not under attack, nor were we under imminent threat of attack. And because of that, this is a war of choice. And the president needed to go to Congress to get authorization. It is an illegal war because of his failure to do that. I voted to bring this to an end and would note, though, that it is the proponents of this war who bear the burden of getting congressional authorization for it, and they have failed to do that. The Constitution makes it the responsibility of Congress, who represent the people to declare war and that has not happened. And instead, we are spending billions of dollars each day in this war, and we’re losing the lives of our troops, including six who have lost their lives in this conflict so far.

Frederica Freyberg:
You say that Iran poses a real threat. Then why not take decisive action to thwart them?

Tammy Baldwin:
I took decisive action in 2015 when I voted for the Iran nuclear deal. I believe that this dangerous and murderous regime should never have a nuclear weapon. And that 2015 Iran nuclear deal reined in their nuclear program. Diplomacy is the way to address this. Sadly, when President Trump took office in his first term, he ripped up the Iran nuclear deal and let that program continue unfettered by intrusive international inspection. That was a very bad mistake on President Trump’s part and has led to Iran continuing with its nuclear program, its ballistic missile program. So that’s the way we rein them in is through diplomacy, hard diplomacy, but through diplomacy, not war.

Frederica Freyberg:
Does it matter that the administration’s justification for the strikes was changing in the early days?

Tammy Baldwin:
It matters significantly that from almost hour to hour, there was a new reason why the Trump administration said it was contemplating military action and then engaging in it. So a few weeks ago, reacting to the uprising within Iran against the regime and their economic situation, President Trump said, “We’re contemplating military action to support those protesters.” A few weeks later, he was talking about the nuclear program. Then he was talking about the ballistic missile program. Then he was talking about regime change. What is crystal clear is that this is a war of choice, and that this administration has articulated no specific reason or strategy or exit strategy, which is something that we need to hear from this administration.

Frederica Freyberg:
What are your utmost concerns about this war?

Tammy Baldwin:
Look, I think that this is something that could become a regional war. It already is. Let’s be clear, in response to our attacks, along with the Israeli strikes, Iran has sent drones and ballistic missiles to countries all across the region. This is exactly what this president promised to get us out of, not get us into. And I’m very worried about the loss of life, both civilian allied troops as well as our troops, and the exorbitant expense that this will cost to have such a military operation continue on, maybe for weeks, maybe for months. I’m very, very worried about it. And it also means that this president’s attention is once again somewhere else: Venezuela, boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, now Iran. His focus is not on the concerns of Wisconsinites. Every day concerns like the high cost of things and barely being able to get by.

Frederica Freyberg:
What is your message to men and women from Wisconsin National Guard now serving as part of this war mission?

Tammy Baldwin:
My message to those serving in theater, but also those serving their country, is thank you for your service and we will do our best to make sure that service is — and make sure that the war that is ongoing becomes something that is the subject of congressional debate, so that the people of this nation, your parents, your families have a say in whether we continue this or not.

Frederica Freyberg:
In June, when the U.S. launched strikes against Iran, there was a public facing heightened threat alert for inside the U.S. Now I see that the National Terrorism Advisory System says due to the lapse in federal funding, its website will not be actively managed. What is your response to that?

Tammy Baldwin:
So Democrats are moving forward to make sure that the Department of Homeland Security operations are funded, except for ICE operations and Border Patrol operations, because they have shown themselves in our neighboring state of Minnesota, as well as other states, to be acting as a rogue agencies, and they need to be reined in. But we’re offering Republicans the opportunity to fund all other activities of the Department of Homeland Security, except for ICE and Border Patrol.

Frederica Freyberg:
We leave it there. Senator Tammy Baldwin, thank you so much.

Tammy Baldwin:
Thank you for having me.