Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont has expressed strong views on the possibility of conflict with Iran. During a civic gathering in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sanders voiced his concerns following reports of U.S. airstrikes on Iran, occurring just days after an exchange of missile attacks between Israel and Iran. He minced no words in asserting that the action contravened the Constitution, emphasizing that the right to declare war rests with Congress, not the President. It appears that the U.S. joined an ongoing conflict by hitting Iran’s nuclear installations, a conflict initiated by Israel on June 13, through their offensive on Iran’s military structure and nuclear capacity.
According to Israel’s claims, they provided strategic oversight and tactical support for the U.S. airstrike operations. However, JD Vance, the serving Vice President, reassured the public on a Sunday talk show. He sought to temper fears of any sweeping engagement in the Middle East, rationalizing, ‘We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program.’
Despite the assurance from the Vice President, there’s some uncertainty regarding whether the United States has formally committed to a war with Iran. Sanders, the Vermont-based senator, has clearly demarcated his stance on the situation. He made his viewpoint unequivocally clear via an official statement released late Sunday night.
In his statement, Sanders drew direct parallels to past conflicts like the Vietnam War and the Iraq War, invoking the tragic memories of countless lives lost. He reinforced his stance against the war by stating that those conflicts had been founded on misleading information. He cautioned, once more, that history is on the verge of repeating itself.
‘The citizens of America are, unfortunately, being deceived yet again,’ he implied in his communique, warning of the danger of allowing similar past events to unfold.
Furthermore, Sanders referenced a warning given by Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the United States stating that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction—a claim which proved untrue when U.S. forces failed to uncover any such weapons.
Finally, Sanders reflected on the pressing issues facing the United States on the home front. He implored the government and the public to be cognizant of domestic problems which were in urgent need of attention.
His fervent appeal was to avoid being embroiled in yet another conflict in the Middle East, particularly one predicated on false premises. Sanders urged national discourses to pivot toward addressing internal matters, underlining the importance of prioritizing U.S. interests over international conflicts.