‘No more wars’: Bernie Sanders supporters respond to Trump’s strikes on Iran
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., receives news of President Donald Trump greenlighting strikes on Iran while speaking at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Bernie Sanders)
American involvement in the war against Iran remains unclear. On Saturday, President Donald Trump launched an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities. On Sunday, he talked about the possible need for regime change there. On Monday, he thanked Iran for their restrained military response, and shortly afterward announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. What will tomorrow bring? I have no idea.
But I do know that the United States must not get involved in a war with Iran. We do not need another unnecessary and costly war. We have had enough of them.
In 1964, the U.S. Congress voted, with little debate, for a Gulf of Tonkin resolution giving President Johnson the authority to escalate American military involvement in Vietnam. As a result, the U.S. expanded its presence in that country and was dragged fully into Vietnam’s civil war.
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Eventually, some 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam, and more than 58,000 died, with over 300,000 wounded. The Vietnam War devastated an entire generation. It also killed millions of Vietnamese and destabilized the region. In Cambodia, that instability gave rise to the Khmer Rouge, who oversaw a genocide that killed between 1.5 and 3 million Cambodians. The war cost U.S. taxpayers many hundreds of billions of dollars.
The Vietnam War was based on a series of lies. Years later, the U.S. government concluded that the supposed attacks that prompted the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution did not happen as reported. The so-called “domino theory” – the ideological foundation of the war – was bogus.
This was a war that never should have been fought.
In 2002, as a member of Congress, I can recall vividly how politicians and the media relentlessly beat the drum about the need to go to war against Iraq and its leader, Saddam Hussein. Over and over again, we were told that Iraq was building weapons of mass destruction, and that if we did not act quickly, nuclear weapons would soon fall on America.
Among those pushing for war in Iraq in 2002 was none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who testified to Congress that: “There is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking…nuclear weapons.” Netanyahu promised: “If you take out Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations.” President George W. Bush similarly said: “Saddam’s regime is seeking a nuclear bomb.” He argued for a preemptive attack, saying: “We cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun, which could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”
The United States, against my vote in Congress, invaded Iraq and became involved in a brutal sectarian war there that lasted almost a decade. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found. The war was based on a lie – a lie that cost us 4,500 young Americans killed, 32,000 wounded, and $3 trillion in taxpayer dollars wasted. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis also died, and the entire region was destabilized for a generation.
War often has awful and unintended consequences. It should only be considered as a last resort.
We should not be at war with Iran.
First, let me state the obvious: Trump’s attack against Iran is unconstitutional. Congress alone has the authority to take this country to war, not the President. Trump, at this point, does not have that authority.
Second, nobody seriously believes that Iran is a military threat to the United States. Just a few months ago, Trump’s own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified to Congress that the American intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.” There was no imminent threat justifying a preemptive attack.
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Third, Benjamin Netanyahu should not be dictating U.S. foreign and military policy. Trump’s attack on Iran would not have occurred if Israel had not launched an illegal, unprovoked surprise attack on Iran on June 13th, sabotaging U.S. diplomatic efforts to address Iran’s nuclear program. In fact, Israel assassinated the Iranian official overseeing those talks. If the people of Israel support Netanyahu’s decision to start a war with Iran, that is their business and their war. The United States should not be a part of it.
Fourth, in this moment in history, the United States should not be allied with the Netanyahu government in any military effort. Netanyahu is a war criminal indicted by the International Criminal Court for starving and killing civilians in Gaza. His government is systematically destroying the Palestinian people. Israel has killed over 55,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 130,000 – two-thirds of whom are women and children.
The entire physical infrastructure of Gaza – housing, hospitals, schools, and water systems – has been almost totally destroyed. To this day, Israel continues to prevent the U.N. and other aid groups from delivering desperately-needed humanitarian aid to starving civilians, in violation of U.S. and international law.
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Fifth, this war is about more than Israel and Iran. It is about the very concept of international law and preventing a world where every dispute is settled through force. Whatever you think of the brutal and authoritarian Iranian regime, Netanyahu’s surprise attack was a clear violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.
One nation does not have the right to attack another country anytime it wants for any reason. The world appropriately condemned Russia for its unprovoked attack against Ukraine. The world appropriately condemned Hamas for their unprovoked terrorist attack against Israel. Israel should be condemned for its unprovoked attack against Iran – and the United States should not be part of that illegal action.
Finally, wars are extremely expensive. At a time when the working class of this country faces major crises in housing, health care, childcare, education, climate, and other areas, we should be investing our resources in improving life for the American people, not wasting money on illegal and unnecessary wars.
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Last year alone, the United States provided $22 billion in military aid to Israel. Enough is enough.
It is beyond absurd that we continue to finance Israel’s wars while neglecting the needs of our own people.