WHEREAS, The Bush administration is significantly ratcheting up its threats against Iran, in the context of arguing about a battle between "moderates" and "extremists" in the region.

WHEREAS, U.S. efforts to control or undermine Iran are long-standing, and are rooted in Iran's historic role as one of only two indigenous regional powers in the Middle East (with water, wealth and size) who can contend with U.S. domination there.

WHEREAS, A U.S. (or U.S.-Israeli) strike on Iran, especially with the nuclear "bunker-buster" bombs being talked about, would be deadly for tens or hundreds of thousands of Iranians, and would be a preventive attack - in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the UN Charter, and other parts of international law, as well as the U.S. Constitution.

WHEREAS, Overheated U.S. rhetorical accusations against Iran are expanding earlier allegations about Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions to claims (including show-and-tell but absent real evidence) that Iran's government is directly responsible for "killing American troops" in Iran. Current U.S. policy in Iraq calls for "dual escalations" - an escalation in troop numbers inside Iraq, and a geographic escalation from Iraq to Iran.

WHEREAS, Iran is not a threat to the United States. It does not have a nuclear weapon and is not threatening to attack the U.S; it is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the UN's nuclear watchdog agency has found no evidence of a nuclear weapons program; Iran's nuclear power program, including enriching uranium, is legal under the NPT. Back in 2003 Iran had proposed a comprehensive "grand bargain" with the U.S., which the Bush administration has ignored.

WHEREAS, The February 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) asserts that Iran's involvement in Iraq "is not likely to be a major driver of violence" there.

WHEREAS the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate provides a consensus assessment of all U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons program, and that Iran makes decisions regarding its nuclear capacity on the basis of cost-benefit, rational analysis,

WHEREAS the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate confirms what the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director and 2006 Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed el-Baradei has said for many years, that Iran is years away from even the capacity to create a nuclear weapon, and therefore there is no urgency and negotiations are called for ...

WHEREAS, The consequences of a U.S. attack on Iran will be dire, regionally inflammatory and prohibitively costly in both material and human costs, and

WHEREAS, The cost to the city of ___________ for the war in Iraq has been $___________ thus far

THEREFORE, THE CITY OF X CALLS ON OUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS TO ENSURE:

• No military attack on Iran
• A Congressional "Boland Amendment" for Iran to preempt any funding for any attack on Iran
• Diplomatic, not military engagement with Iran
• Maintain pressure against BOTH escalations of the Iraq War - no escalation of troops, and no geographic escalation into Iran.