The Iraq War Was the Biggest Foreign Policy Mistake in Decades. Biden Voted For It. Sanders Did Not.

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

Meanwhile, the articles notes that Sanders "was criticized early in the 2016 primary campaign for lacking foreign policy advisers and failing to focus on global issues in his stump speeches."

It's true that Sanders spends more time discussing domestic issues. But when he does talk about foreign policy, the noninterventionist vision he outlines is smart and consistent. He has urged the U.S. not to get involved in Venezuela, and has even applauded President Trump for meeting with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un.

When it comes to foreign policy, it's conceivable that Sanders is in fact the most libertarian candidate for president in 2020. Foreign policy is not the only issue that matters, of course. But given how much authority Congress has delegated to the executive branch, it's especially important that whoever occupies the White House is ideologically disinclined to start another war.

"16 years ago, the United States invaded Iraq," wrote Sanders in a statement on Wednesday. "I opposed it at the time, warning of unintended consequences. We are still dealing with those disastrous consequences today and will be for many years. We need a foreign policy that focuses on diplomacy, not war."

https://reason.com/blog/2019/03/20/iraq-war-bernie-sanders-joe-biden

[Renew Deal]

1. Gun violence is one of the greatest killers of Americans. Sanders voted to put guns

in the hands of dangerous people. Biden did not.

[shanny]

5. You are right.

Biden crafted a crime bill designed to take the "law-n-order" mantle away from Republicans. Bernie did not.

[WeekiWater]

2. Good point. Something that shouldn't be forgotten.

The linked article is also a blunder.

[LakeArenal]

3. So did Hillary Clinton.

Clinton and Biden both show their taxes.

Sanders won’t.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/09/07/hillary_clinton_voting_for_iraq_war_was_from_my_perspective_my_mistake.html

[SFnomad]

4. Someone should ask BS why he voted for Iraqi regime change ... Twice ... under President Clinton

BS voted "Yes" on the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, and he voted "Yes" on a resolution supporting the removal of "Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq", also in 1998.

[bitterross]

6. Hillary voted for the war too. Move along to something relevant.

That vote is long over. Move on.

[oasis]

9. John Kerry also. Both he and HRC would have been awesome presidents.

[TwilightZone]

10. Agreed.

[bitterross]

13. They were both wrong. But I get it

Opposing it at the time was political suicide. Barbara Lee was the brave person who voted against.

[oasis]

16. Kerry and HRC voted with the understanding UN weapons inspections

in Iraq would be allowed to continue . War was always a last resort. Rep. Barbara Lee and other Democratic members of the House and Senate chose not to trust Bush and voted against IWR. With the possible exception of Dem. Sen. Joe Lieberman, no Democrat was signing up for a war with Iraq.

Bush tossed Hans Blix's inspection team out when they failed to find any WMD. Cowboy Bush then ordered Saddam Hussien to get out of Dodge.

It was totally a Bush/Cheney neocon war.

[betsuni]

17. Some people seem to think the vote was: Do you want war in Iraq? yes or no.

[oasis]

19. Yup. Of course I was against war in any case, but if legislators

wanted proof that Saddam had WMD before lowering the boom, I could understand their position.

When Sen. Clinton addressed the Senate on the issue, she put an an emphasis on war being a "last resort".

[bitterross]

21. Because it WAS a "yes" or "no" vote in reality

Good grief. I was a witness to the times. It was very clear that NOTHING was going to stop W from trying to one up his dad. He and Cheney were clearly going into war.

No one can deny that and not be either lying or completely ignorant of what was going on at the time.

[bitterross]

20. Nice standard defense. It's expediant BS.

I was alive, breathing, and thinking at the time. It was clear the vote was for war "yes" or "no." Hiding behind the "We thought they'd give the inspectors time to investigate" excuse is BS. No one with a brain believed that was going to happen.

[El Supremo]

7. And yesterday or today was the anniversary...

of another of America's Unjust Wars.

[Hoyt]

8. Lots of people voted for it, but not what george war bush did. Sanders voted against it when his

vote was easy because it was essentially meaningless. I guess some of the others could/should have too, but after the warmongering of bush's admin, it probably wan't very smart to do politically, especially if there was any chance bush's admin was even close to right. However, we never should have invaded, killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, not sure removing Sadam was the right move, etc.

From another perspective, Sanders is soft on guns, not particularly friends of minorities, apparently supported tariffs and reneging on trade deals (just like trump), etc.

[Uncle Joe]

11. It was only meaningless because the Democratic led Senate empowered Bush to wage a war

with Iraq based on lies and the costs, I guess that's what passes for "bipartisanship."

The Iraq War[nb 1] was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government.[55] An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict. The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In October 2002, President Bush obtained congressional approval from a Democrat-led Senate and Republican-led House authorizing war-making powers.[56] The Iraq war began on 19 March 2003,[57] when the U.S., joined by the U.K. and several coalition allies, launched a "shock and awe" bombing campaign. Iraqi forces were quickly overwhelmed as U.S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Ba'athist government; Saddam was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year and executed by a military court three years later. However, the power vacuum following Saddam's demise and the mismanagement of the occupation led to widespread sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis, as well as a lengthy insurgency against U.S. and coalition forces. Many violent insurgent groups were supported by Iran and al-Qaeda in Iraq. The United States responded with a troop surge in 2007, a build up of 170,000 troops.[58] The surge in troops gave greater security to Iraq’s government and military, and was largely a success.[59] The winding down of U.S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama. The U.S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011.[60] However, with no stay-behind agreement or advisers left in Iraq, a new power vacuum was created and led to the rise of ISIS.[61] Nine months after President Trump was elected, U.S.-backed forces captured Raqqa, which had served as the ISIS capital.[62]

(snip)

There have been several attempts by the media, coalition governments and others to estimate the Iraqi casualties. The table below summarizes some of these estimates and methods.

Source Iraqi casualties March 2003 to ...
Iraq Family Health Survey 151,000 violent deaths. June 2006
Lancet survey 601,027 violent deaths out of 654,965 excess deaths. June 2006
PLOS Medicine Study 460,000 excess deaths including 132,000 violent deaths from conflict violent deaths from the conflict.[51] June 2011
Opinion Research Business survey 1,033,000 violent deaths from the conflict. August 2007
Iraqi Health Ministry 87,215 violent deaths per death certificates issued.
Deaths prior to January 2005 unrecorded.
Ministry estimates up to 20% more deaths are undocumented. January 2005 to
February 2009
Associated Press 110,600 violent deaths.
Health Ministry death certificates plus AP estimate of casualties for 2003–04. April 2009
Iraq Body Count 105,052–114,731 violent civilian deaths.
compiled from commercial news media, NGO and official reports.
Over 162,000 civilian and combatant deaths January 2012
WikiLeaks. Classified Iraq War Logs 109,032 violent deaths including 66,081 civilian deaths. January 2004 to
December 2009

(snip)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War

[SFnomad]

12. BS was for an Iraqi War ... before he was against it

Look up his vote for the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998.

[UniteFightBack]

14. Oh for fucks sake.

[mia]

15. The Iraq war brought me to DU

I was of like mind with Sanders back then and voted for him in the primaries.
I still respect him, but his time has passed.

[betsuni]

18. Anti-Democratic types can recycle their old protest signs!

Just cross out the name of the last Democratic nominee above "is a warmonger" and write in Biden's name.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

22. Ya, think the people who believed bush was not evil and a liar voted for it.

[ucrdem]

23. Bernie voted to fund the Iraq war on the same day he voted against the AUMF.

Alternet: "While it's true he voted against the Iraq war, he voted in favor of authorizing funds for that war and the one in Afghanistan. More recently, he voted in favor of a $1 billion aid package for the coup government in Ukraine and supported Israel's assault on Gaza."

from: "Bernie Sanders’ Troubling History of Supporting U.S. Military Violence Abroad," by Michael Arria, AlterNet May 13, 2015
https://www.alternet.org/2015/05/bernie-sanders-troubling-history-supporting-us-military-violence-abroad/

So if he tries to push this line in a debate he'll get rolled like he did in 2016.