Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday came out forcefully against the Trump administration angling the United States into another costly and unnecessary war of choice in the Middle East—this time against Iran—delivering an online address in which he warned that any military action without approval from Congress would be an "unconstitutional and illegal" breach of office.
"Let me be as clear as I can be: a war with Iran would be an absolute disaster," said Sanders in the roughly six-minute speech. "Sixteen years ago, the United States committed one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of our country by attacking Iraq. That war was sold to the American people based on a series of lies about weapons of mass destruction. We should remember that one of the leading advocates for that war was John Bolton."
Sanders declaration against a possible war comes amid increasing concerns, as Common Dreams has reported, that Bolton—Trump's national security advisor—is leading the administration's underhanded attempt to provoke or manufacture a military confrontation with Iran.
While vowing to do everything in his power to avert such a colossal mistake—one, he noted, that even veteran U.S. military leaders have warned against—Sanders said Congress "must do everything it can to prevent a war with Iran" by reminding Trump that he has no authority to wage war without authorization.
"The Constitution of the United States is very clear," said Sanders. "I am committed to ensuring that majorities of the House of Representatives and the Senate make clear that before the president takes any military action, in Iran or anywhere else, he must seek authorization from Congress. Taking us into a war without Congressional authorization would be unconstitutional and illegal."
"A war with Iran would be an absolute disaster," Sanders added. "The United States Congress must do everything it can to prevent the Trump administration's attempts to put us on the brink of a catastrophic and unconstitutional war with Iran that could lead to even more deaths than the Iraq War."
