Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello) header
Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello) profile picture

Dad. Policy Director @NIACouncil & @NIACAction. In the before times, a baseball player & homebrewer.

Joined February 2012
Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)Photo by Ryan Costello (@RyeCostello)
Pete Hegseth isn’t fit to lead a row boat, let alone the greatest fighting force on the planet. He led us into an illegal war that has drained our resources, wrecked our economy, and killed American service members and countless civilians. And this just scratches the surface of his crimes against the American people. He WILL be held accountable.
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Ryan Costello retweeted
The mechanics are simple, @SenatorSlotkin: Zero @SenateDems who voted to end Iran War should now fund Hegseth to continue it. Listen to @SenTimKaine: "Republicans need Democratic votes" as funding "expires on Dec. 11" — new funding should have "no money for war in Iran"
👀 I asked Slotkin her thoughts on shutting down the government to stop funding the Iran war and she said: “I’m open to all those conversations. I think the American public has made very clear what they think of the war, and we all need to hear that, Democrats and Republicans, but I just haven’t even started to think about the mechanics of Dec. 11th.”
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Ryan Costello retweeted
New: Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) calls for the Senate to reject any govt funding bill that includes $$$ for the war in Iran “The stakes are too high for us to fall into our usual shutdown politics. Instead, we should act in a bipartisan manner” Govt funding expires Dec. 11
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Ryan Costello retweeted
👀 Chris Van Hollen says at #CrookedCon that Democrats should be open to a government shutdown after funding runs out on Dec. 11 “Democrats should not vote for any appropriation bills that has any money in it for the illegal war in Iran.” “If [Trump] wants to shut down the United States government to keep this war going, that is his choice, and he’ll have to explain it to the American people”
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Ryan Costello retweeted
We can’t wait until the next Congress to end the war with Iran - it must end NOW!
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Ryan Costello retweeted
Rezaei calling Brad Cooper a podcaster. Iran won this round.
You lost the war and the election.Vance has conceded,Rubio is heading for the exit,Hegseth is about to be fired,and the CENTCOM commander is now a podcaster! So٫Who exactly in Washington do we need to get this message across to? Start a war,and you’ll face a devastating response.
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Far too many Iranians have been bombed in their homes already. They’ll only be safe if we abstain from further war crimes by ending the war of aggression.
US Tells Iranians: 'Safest Place' Is Inside Your Home A US official has warned Iranian civilians that the "safest place" for them is "inside their home" as tensions rise again in the region following the US midterm elections. "This is important information to help keep Iranian civilians safe," a US official told @RFERL rferl.org/a/iran-live-blog-t…
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Wrong About the War, Wrong About What Would Have Come Next I suspect that many of those now claiming that continuing the war would have forced Iran to surrender are the very same people who supported launching it in the first place. They were wrong about what the war would achieve. They were wrong about Iran's willingness to surrender. And now they want us to believe they know exactly what would have happened if the fighting had continued? If their assessment of the war itself was so fundamentally flawed, why should we trust their assessment of a hypothetical continuation? We have already seen where their original assumptions led us. My assessment is that continuing the war would not have brought Iran to its knees. It would have taken us somewhere far worse.
To those who will argue that the US failed to fight this war for long enough, and could have won had it only contributed more resources, more time, and potentially more lives, I wish them the very best of luck.
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Ryan Costello retweeted
End the illegal war in Iran. 19 American troops dead. Thousands of innocent people killed. Tens of billions of taxpayer dollars wasted. Gas and diesel prices skyrocketing. On Tuesday, the American people sent a clear message. Democrats must DEFUND this horrific war.
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Foundation for Defense of Ignoring Democratic Outcomes
It’s tragic that those critical of staying the course on max pressure and the blockade (and critical of wanting to finish a war) don’t see that their call for more GCC mediation/diplomacy now rests on the same shaky foundation they claimed to critique: giving a flailing policy more time.
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Ryan Costello retweeted
Trump launched a catastrophic war of choice on Iran that Americans opposed — and triggered a blue tsunami in the process. Voters gave the incoming Congress a clear mandate: END TRUMP’S WAR ON IRAN.
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Ryan Costello retweeted
From my new personal essay for @hiddencitiesmag on covering the war in Iran amid a global moral decline: "While everyone was so laser-focused on the price of gas and the Strait of Hormuz, was it outlandish to cover the human cost of this 'Epic Fury'?" hidden-cities.com/p/the-angu…
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Ryan Costello retweeted
One gets the sense this ignoramus would still praise General Custer’s courageous leadership months after Little Bighorn.
My conversation with @kilmeade on Trump’s courageous leadership on Iran and JD Vance’s disloyalty.
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Ryan Costello retweeted
40 civil society organizations – including @commondefense, @demandprogress, @justfp and NIAC Action – are demanding Congress act on its mandate from voters to end the Iran war by cutting off funding for it beginning with the upcoming government funding expiration on December 11, 2026. “Congress must ensure that any subsequent continuing resolution, appropriations measure, or other funding or authorization legislation explicitly prohibits any funding for the ongoing, unauthorized hostilities against Iran,” the letter declares. It goes on to urge lawmakers “to commit now that, beginning with the December 11 funding deadline, they will not advance or support legislation that continues open-ended funding for these unauthorized hostilities, and will insist on a funding ban for the war.” The letter comes as Democratic lawmakers are debating publicly how to use their historic mandate to end the Iran war, with many key lawmakers and other party leaders coming out explicitly in support of a funding ban for the Iran war. That list includes Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI), top Democratic House appropriator Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Several of these individuals have clear Presidential aspirations and can tell that political winds are blowing decisively against the Iran war and in favor of lawmakers putting a serious check on the disastrous war. “President Trump is being pushed by unapologetic cheerleaders of this disastrous war to escalate and make good on his threats to ‘destroy’ the rest of Iran,” said NIAC President @jabdi. “Now, with a clear mandate from voters, is the time for decisive action to terminate the Iran war before it reignites. Not next year, but right now.” “The midterms delivered a clear mandate to end Trump’s war,” said Cavan Kharrazian, Senior Policy Advisor with Demand Progress. “Congress needs to act on that mandate in the lame duck, not wait until next year. Democratic leaders must commit now to opposing any funding bill that fails to explicitly prohibit funding for the war on Iran. They have the leverage to force this fight. They need to use it.” “Voters just gave Democrats an overwhelming mandate to end this war. They must act on that mandate and refuse to send Trump and Pete Hegseth a blank check for war, even temporarily through a continuing resolution. Anything else would be a blatant betrayal of the American people, and risk making Democrats complicit in the war crimes Trump has threatened,” said @ErikSperling, executive director of Capitol Hill-based advocacy organization Just Foreign Policy. “Cutting off war funding will push Trump toward diplomacy, which should be the top priority. With his threat to follow through with threats to attack Iran, it is a moral imperative for Congress to use their power of the purse and pull the plug.” Read the full letter: niacouncil.org/40-organizati…
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Ryan Costello retweeted
The meeting in the situation room is over. A slight step has been taken back from the brink. But we're not out of the woods until a deal has been reached. It's just a bit more time that has been added to the clock.
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Ryan Costello retweeted
"If we can block [war funding] sooner [than 2027], let's block it sooner" Senator-elect @AbdulElSayed on Iran funding debate "This war is illegal, it's unjustifiable... we've gotta explore all the mechanisms that we can to force an end to the war" with @davidsirota @LeverNews
“I’m not planning to vote for anything that provides any funding to fuel the war in Iran. If the president wants to tell the country that he’s prepared to shut down the United States government in order to conduct an illegal and senseless war in Iran, that will be his choice.”
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Ryan Costello retweeted
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Ryan Costello retweeted
oh its gonna be THE way to lazily characterize future 2020's period pieces like the chud character is going to pull up in one every time
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The completely dishonest and blatant lie neocons are telling that the Iran war was not to blame for Trump’s midterm loss is about one thing and one thing only: convincing one man in Trump to double down and reignite the war, to disastrous consequences.
Fatal decision will be made today
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Ryan Costello retweeted
Replying to @joekent16jan19
@joekent16jan19: Trump must end the war today and fire all top officials connected to it The president has to replace his inner circle with new appointees who can out maneuver the blob and give the people what they voted for responsiblestatecraft.org/tr…
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