(May 26, 2019) — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took aim at calls for him to “apologize” for his refusal to support US armed conflicts in the Middle East, saying Friday that he was “right” about past US wars and would continue to advocate against war with Iran.
In a tweet, Sanders wrote that he will “apologize to no one” for supporting peaceful diplomatic efforts over armed conflict with Iran, citing US wars in Iraq and Vietnam as examples of past US armed responses that resulted in long-running and exhausting wars.
“I was right about Vietnam. I was right about Iraq. I will do everything in my power to prevent a war with Iran. I apologize to no one,” the senator tweeted, along with a video explaining his stance against war with the country.
“Recently I’ve been criticized a bit because of my opposition to war,” he says in the video. “So let me be very clear: I make no apologies to anybody that when I was a young man, before I was elected to anything, I opposed the war in Vietnam. And I know what that war did to my generation.”
“I’m going to do everything that I can to prevent a war with Iran, because if you think the war in Iraq was a disaster, my guess is that war in Iran would be even worse,” he added.
The comments come as tensions rise between the US and Iran, with the State Department pulling most US personnel from Iraq amid reports that the Pentagon presented a plan to deploy 120,000 troops to the region, which Trump dismissed. The back-and-forth has prompted many to point to Iraq as a warning sign for consequences of war with Iran.
US-Iran Brinkmanship: Could War of Words Spiral Out of Control?
Sanders was questioned on NBC’s “Meet the Press” over the weekend about his past opposition to the Vietnam War.
One tweet from the “Meet the Press” Twitter account declared that Sanders “said he won’t apologize” for his anti-war efforts. The tweet was widely shared online, with Sanders supporters questioning why the senator would apologize for a stance they argue has been historically vindicated.
Sanders, who is running for president in 2020, currently sits in second place in most polls of early primary states behind former Vice President Joe Biden but ahead of a large pack of rival Democrats that has swelled to more than 20 contenders in total.
Baghdad Will Not Accept US-Iran Proxy War on Iraq’s Soil!
Saad al-Muttalibi on RT News
(May 20, 2019) — We speak to Saad al-Muttalibi, member of the Security Committee in Baghdad’s Provincial Council about escalating US-Iran tensions, including the withdrawal of non-essential US personnel leaving Iraq, the movement of a carrier strike group to the Persian-Gulf, Iran’s allied Shi’a militias in Iraq and whether Iraq could be a theatre of a US-Iran conflict.
War with Iran Would Make the Iraq War Look Like a Cakewalk
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard / Fox News
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