US-Israel attack on Iran: Illinois leaders react, demonstrations held downtown Chicago
Strikes celebrated by many in Chicago's Iranian community, demonstrators against US troops on ground
CHICAGO (WLS) -- President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Saturday, with daytime strikes in the joint U.S.-Israel attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
The military action is drawing strong reaction from the Chicago area, as Illinois leaders are speaking out while demonstrations got underway downtown Chicago.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle reacted Saturday, with most Republicans supporting the attacks while most Democrats are opposed, criticizing the president for not seeking congressional approval.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
U.S. officials said the operation in Iran could potentially last days, and Trump acknowledged that there may be American casualties.
President Trump later confirmed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.
While President Trump is now saying that Khamenei is dead, Iranian officials are still saying that is not true, even as celebrations appeared to be breaking out across Iran.
The question now isn't just whether the existing Iranian regime will indeed collapse, but what are the real consequences to the United States. Some experts are warning this could unleash renewed acts of terror against Americans in the U.S. and abroad.
Large crowds gathered in Federal Plaza, joining several anti-war organizations standing up against the U.S. attacks against Iran as the people said this is another conflict that they don't think the U.S. should be involved in. Protesters rallied to demand answers from the Trump administration following attacks on Iran.
"We want the Iranian people to have self determination, not under bombs, they can decide how they want to run their country, they can organize, change the government, but that's not up to us to bomb them," USPCN co-chair Husam Marajda said.
Protesters chanted in Federal Plaza before marching through downtown, as 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez also joined the rally.
"This war is not a war on behalf of the American people. This is Netanyahu's war," Ald. Sigcho-Lopez said.
As Americans wait to see what the fallout is from the attacks, local veterans are also concerned about the logic behind this conflict.
"I served during Vietnam era, and I didn't believe what we were doing then and I definitely don't believe in this," veteran Leroy Heffner said. "This is an illegal war brought by an administration that's out of control."
While Americans push back against the U.S. involvement overseas, Chicagoans who fled from Iran over the last several decades say this is a moment they've been praying for.
"I don't think words can describe our feelings today. because it feels like a dream came true," said Elnaz Alimi a Chicagoan from Iran.
A group of Iranians gathered in Daley Plaza to celebrate the news of a possible change in regime for their homeland. The bombings were celebrated by many in Chicago's Iranian community. They're hoping this will create peace for their families still living there and allow them to return home soon.
"It puts you to tears how people are so unhappy, people can't afford to buy anything anymore, and it's a very wealthy country," Chicagoan Amir Nikpouri said. "I hope soon we could all go there you will see the hospitality you will see what they have to offer."
Organizers said they are waiting to see what comes from the attacks in coming days, and they will be continuing to protest across the Chicagoland area as that happens.
"This war did not start now. This war started 47 years ago," Iranian community organizer Pegah Piri said. "What President Trump is doing is ending the war."
Dozens people, including people from the Iranian community, gathered in Chicago's Daley Plaza Saturday afternoon. Community leaders are making it clear they do not want U.S. boots on the ground either. They hope, as President Trump has called for, the Iranians themselves will finish the job.
"That's what we're hoping for, that Iranian people will be able to come back out on the streets and take over the government," Piri said.
But will they? University of Chicago Professor Robert Pape, the author of "Bombing to Win," explained the history.
"For over a century air power has tried to topple governments. It has never toppled a government," Pape said.
This is in fact not the first time the United States has called on the people of a country to topple a dictatorial regime, having unsuccessfully used this same tactic in Iraq in 1991 following a 39-day bombing campaign against Saddam Hussein.
"They rose up and Saddam Hussein slaughtered thousands of them in days," Pape said. "And we had to stand by helplessly and watch the bodies pile up in the streets.
The number of people estimated to have been killed by the Iranian regime in recent pro-democracy protests in Iran range from a low of 7,000 to more than 30,000. President Trump is using this fact, as well as Iran's renewed effort to rebuild its nuclear program, to justify the joint U.S.-Israeli operation.
Democratic leaders in Congress spoke out against the military operation Saturday, which was undertaken without legislative approval.
"I have no expectations that the regime is going to suddenly find peace and change their ways," Illinois U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider said. "I just believe that the Constitution is supreme."
ABC News has learned the White House is already planning for full briefings with House and Senate members. It comes as reaction on the military move is split.
Republicans are mostly supportive of President Trump's strikes on Iran. GOP members are praising the administration, saying the move could help liberate the Iranian people and stop the development of nuclear weapons in Iran.
READ MORE | 'Serious moment': Most Republicans support strike as Dems demand answers
Indiana Republican Congressman Marlin Stutzman spoke on CNN Saturday in support of the attacks.
"This is the moment that really needed to happen for a long time, and, you know, I think that the Trump administration is making the right call, of course, with the joint operation with Israel is one that we know has a great chance of being very successful," Rep. Stutzman said.
Democrats are demanding answers and calling for lawmakers to return to Washington, D.C. to vote on resolutions that would check President Trump's power to wage war.
"Iran has had a terrible regime, and they've been suppressing and oppressing their own people," Illinois U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth said. "That said, President Trump is not living up to the promises he made to Americans. We were not under imminent attack when he launched his attack on Iran. He did not consult with Congress. And, he certainly did not adhere to his promises to American people of getting us out of forever wars."
Senator Duckworth says she's going back to D.C. Saturday night and was told the administration will brief the Senate as early as Monday. She agrees Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear program, but says only Congress has the power to declare war.
Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, calling the president's conduct "rash and unpredictable," saying in part, "A war in Iran with the goal of regime change could be another long-term military commitment with deadly consequences for thousands of American troops."
While the Trump administration has said civilians are not being targeted in the strikes, the Iranian news agency is reporting a girls elementary school was among those hit, killing at least 85 students. It is images like those, and history itself, that lead some to fear that Iran, already described as the world's primary state sponsor of terrorism, could retaliate directly against the United States.
"There are reports from our own, leaked by the FBI, that there already sleeper cells of the Iranians inside the United States," Pape said. "Maybe that's not true, we don't know."
Federal officials and local police here in Chicago are saying so far there is no actionable intelligence to indicate an immediate threat. But, there is a heightened state of alert.
ABC News contributed to this report.
