US senator warns against history repeating itself in Iran, recalling Iraq invasion

ANKARA,

US Sen. Bernie Sanders has drawn parallels between the recent attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

"The American people were lied to about Iraq, with tragic consequences. The American people are being lied to again today,” he said Sunday at a town hall in Fort Worth. “We cannot allow history to repeat itself.”

Sanders stressed that the rhetoric of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump about the strikes in Iran closely resemble the language Netanyahu and then-President George W. Bush used ahead of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.

“In 2002 we were told that we had to go to war against Iraq, that Iraq was building weapons of mass destruction, and that if we did not act quickly and decisively nuclear weapons would fall on America,” he said.

Sanders cited a 2002 congressional testimony by Netanyahu, in which the Israeli leader claimed: “There is no question that Saddam (Hussein) is seeking nuclear weapons.”

Sanders stressed that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Instead, the US invaded and became embroiled in a protracted war.

“That war was based on a lie – a lie which cost us 4,492 young Americans, 32,000 wounded, over half a million Iraqis and trillions of dollars," the senator added.

The US is grappling with serious domestic challenges, Sanders said, adding that the American people must not be pulled into another war in the Middle East driven by falsehoods.

Republican lawmaker criticizes attacks

Far-right Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene also criticized the recent US attacks on Iran in a statement on X.

“I’ve watched our country go to war in foreign lands for foreign causes on behalf of foreign interests for as long as I can remember,” she said. “America is $37 TRILLION in debt and all of these foreign wars have cost Americans TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars that never benefited any American.”

Greene added that US soldiers have lost their lives and suffered lasting physical and psychological harm due to regime change efforts, foreign wars, and the pursuit of profits by the military-industrial complex.

“I support nuclear armed Israel’s right to defend themselves and also say at the same time I don’t want to fight or fund nuclear armed Israel’s wars. Nor any other country for that matter,” she said. “Enough is enough.”

Tensions have escalated in the Middle East following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites amid the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran.