(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - United University Professions (UUP) President Fred Kowal is condemning President Donald Trump and his Administration for Trump’s unprovoked and ongoing war with Iran - which, in its first month, has claimed thousands of lives, including the lives of at least 13 U.S. Soldiers.

Kowal, who leads America’s largest Higher Education Union, questioned why Trump plunged the U.S. into an unnecessary and illegal war.

Not only did Trump launch the war on February 28th without Congressional approval - which is constitutionally mandated, he did so without providing cogent, coherent and concise reasons for why he started what is quickly becoming an indefensible war with a country that had no imminent plans to attack the U.S., UUP’s President said.

“Can Trump or anyone in his Cabinet clearly articulate in a sentence or two what the goal of this war is?,” Kowal asked. “Is it to change the leadership of Iran? To remove the country’s nuclear threat? To liberate the Iranian People? And his pronouncements have only added to the deadly confusion.”

Kowal called the deaths of at least 175 people - many of them children - at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran - “murder.”

The school was destroyed in a U.S. missile strike.

As many as 1,900 civilians have been killed in Iran and more than 10,000 people have been injured, with millions more having been displaced.

Said Kowal: “Cities in Iran are being leveled. Civilians are being killed by the thousands. Furthermore, colleges and universities are now being targeted. His threats to bomb Iranian power lines and desalination plants would be war crimes if they are carried out. The cruelty and barbarism of how this war is being waged and the sick way it’s being portrayed in pornographic snuff-style videos emanating from the White House - or what’s left of it, should make us all ashamed of our so-called leaders. Further, statements by administration officials are blatantly Islamophobic and add to the divisions in our society.”

Kowal said a tiny fraction of the more than $16 billion that’s been spent on the war in Iran so far - the U.S. has spent much as $1 billion a day - could be used to transform the lives of countless Americans, including thousands of State University of New York (SUNY) students.

“UUP is calling for ($41 million) to eliminate multi-million-dollar structural deficits at four SUNY campuses, caused by cuts during (former Governor Andrew) Cuomo years,” said Kowal. “The Trump Administration is spending roughly ($41 million) each hour in this inane war. Just a small percentage of that could expand offerings and create greater opportunities for young and not-so-young students to ensure they get the education they deserve and need to be productive citizens of the world.”

Trump’s recent demand for another $200 billion to fund the war has prompted Congressional Republicans, who hold a majority in the House and Senate, to consider new spending cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act for the ask.

One option being considered, cutting Affordable Care Act (ACA) cost-sharing reductions - could leave 300,000 Americans uninsured.

“Last year, Congressional Republicans cut health care spending by nearly ($1 trillion) over the next ten years, which will leave millions without health insurance,” Kowal said. “That those same Lawmakers are now seriously considering gouging Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare again, this time to scrounge up ($200 billion) for Donald Trump’s war in Iran is insane but not at all surprising.”

UUP represents more than 42,000 Academic And Professional Faculty And Retirees.

UUP Members work at 29 New York State-operated campuses, including SUNY’s Public Teaching Hospitals and Health Science Centers in Brooklyn, Long Island and Syracuse.

UUP is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA) and the AFL-CIO.

To Directly Access This Labor News Story, Go To: Press Release | UUP stands against ongoing Iran war