"On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein, a former ally who was well supplied with American equipment, invaded Kuwait. On August 9, U.S. troops sent by President Bush began arriving in Saudi Arabia to prevent further Iraqi aggression. Now, in early January, Bush was seeking congressional authority for an all-out war with Iraq. I was opposed to giving him that authority.
"From the very beginning of the Persian Gulf crisis, I was of
the belief that the United States could push Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait
without having to resort to war. Diplomacy, economic boycott, isolation,
financial leverage: we had many means for reversing the invasion. I was not
opposed to the war because of the potential destruction and loss of life, but
also because I believe it is possible
for the major countries of this planet, and a virtually united world community,
to resolve crises without carnage. If this matter could not be solved without
massive bombing and killing thousands of people, then what crisis could ever be
solved peacefully?
Further, I was angry that the Iraqi situation was deflecting
attention from the serious domestic crises that we faced, problems that I was anxious
to tackle. (Some would argue that deflecting attention away from domestic
injustice is one of the major functions of war.) Twenty percent of our children
live in poverty, millions of Americans lack decent housing, workers’ standards
of living is in free-fall, and we need a major overhaul of our health care
system to ensure affordable medical care for everyone. And now we were going to
spend months engaged in a war with a two-bit tyrant."
-Bernie Sanders
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