On Iran Deal: Bernie Sanders Storms The Senate And Calls Out GOP Warmongers

[Jackie22]

[h=1]On Iran Deal: Bernie Sanders Storms The Senate And Calls Out GOP Warmongers[/h]Those who have spoken out against this agreement, including many in this chamber, and those who have made every effort to thwart the diplomatic process, are many of the same people who spoke out forcefully and irresponsibly about the need to go to war with Iraq – one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the modern history of our country.

Sadly, people like former vice president Dick Cheney and many of the other neo-cons who pushed us to war Iraq were not only tragically wrong then; they are wrong now. Unfortunately, these individuals have learned nothing from the results of that disastrous policy and how it destabilized the entire region.

I fear that many of my Republican colleagues do not understand that war must be a last resort, not the first resort. It is easy to go to war, it not so easy to comprehend the unintended consequences of that war.

As the former Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, I have talked to veterans from WWII to Iraq, and I have learned a little bit about what the cost of war entails. In Iraq and Afghanistan, we have lost 6,700 brave men and women, and many others have come home without legs, without arms, without eyesight.

Let us not forget that 500,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan came back to their families with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. The suicide rate of young veterans is appallingly high. The divorce rate is appallingly high, and the impact on children is appallingly high. God knows how many families have been devastated by these wars.

And we should not forget the many hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women, and children who died in that war, and those whose lives who have been completely destabilized, including those who are fleeing their country today with only the clothes on their back as refugees. The cost of war is real.

Yes, the military option should always be on the table, but it should be the last option. We have got to do everything we can do to reach an agreement to ensure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon without having to go to war.


http://www.politicususa.com/2015/09...floor-calls-republican-war-mongers-wrong.html

 

[Shalimar]

Beautifully put.

 

[BobF]

I did not know the Republicans had declared war on Iraq. I know that Iraq has been set aside and pretty much ignored since Iraq took over our Embassy and all people found there many years ago and held those people as prisoners till after our President of those times, a Democrat, had left office. I have heard nothing about a war on Iraq but I have heard a lot of discouraging comments about our current government, Democrats, love affair with Iraq. And our willingness to hand them lots of monies and unearned freedoms and other benefits.

Seems maybe this person has exaggerated some thoughts and given half this nations people a black eye for nothing. As long as we have the President we have their is no way the Republicans can actually declare war on Iraq. That should have happened 30 years ago I would think. Today we have a much more scary thing looking right at us. A $18+ trillion debt created mostly by out current government. We only had a $7.5 trillion debt when the Democrats took over in Bush's last two years. And the debt was more like $11 trillion when our current government took over. No matter which side wins the next year election, that debt is a big problem and must be addressed.

 

[WhatInThe]

I did not know the Republicans had declared war on Iraq. I know that Iraq has been set aside and pretty much ignored since Iraq took over our Embassy and all people found there many years ago and held those people as prisoners till after our President of those times, a Democrat, had left office. I have heard nothing about a war on Iraq but I have heard a lot of discouraging comments about our current government, Democrats, love affair with Iraq. And our willingness to hand them lots of monies and unearned freedoms and other benefits.

Seems maybe this person has exaggerated some thoughts and given half this nations people a black eye for nothing. As long as we have the President we have their is no way the Republicans can actually declare war on Iraq. That should have happened 30 years ago I would think. Today we have a much more scary thing looking right at us. A $18+ trillion debt created mostly by out current government. We only had a $7.5 trillion debt when the Democrats took over in Bush's last two years. And the debt was more like $11 trillion when our current government took over. No matter which side wins the next year election, that debt is a big problem and must be addressed.

That's what I want to know. Yes there are hardline opinions, politicians and pundits. But WHO in a position to do so actually proposed war or an invasion of Iraq. I don't call a bombing raid or a special op a war if they think Iran is up to no good without an agreement. And now with this agreement a technical violation might bring us much closer to conflict because without an agreement the world community would probably wait for 100% undeniable proof before allies would consider military action. And what if one of our "allies" drops out or wants action more than we do. What happens if Iran starts returning hostages in body bags which is why hostages should have been part of this 'agreement'. Or it's found Iran facilitated terrorist activity on the US or another country.