Bernie Sanders's Antiwar Message Highlights Ascendant Young Left

[JoeOtterbein]

HuffPost

The post-9/11 generation is a core of the Vermont senator’s White House campaign coalition.

By Daniel Marans

When the Democratic presidential candidates announced their reactions to Thursday’s assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in an attack directed by President Donald Trump, Sen. Bernie Sanders’s statement stood out.

Unlike former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sanders denounced Trump’s action unequivocally without commenting on Soleimani’s character.

“Trump promised to end endless wars, but this action puts us on the path to another one,” Sanders declared Thursday.

The senator from Vermont then elaborated Friday in a live-streamed speech in Anamosa, Iowa. He again framed it as a moment of moral gravity akin to the run-up to the Iraq War, not least because so much of the present conflict with Iran stems from the fateful intervention that began in 2003.

snip

more at link

Again Bernie leads and Dems follow!

[comradebillyboy]

1. Ascendant Young Left? Really?

The Democratic Party isn't following Bernie anywhere.

[BannonsLiver]

12. Same fantasy. Different decade.

[George II]

2. What is Bernie "leading"? That's merely the opinion of a single pundit. What are Sanders'....

....foreign policy creds or accomplishments? Cheering on Daniel Ortega at a rally 30 years ago?

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/bernie-sanders-pro-sandinista-past-problem.html

Bernie’s Pro-Sandinista Past Is a Problem, and His Response Is Not Good

A week ago, the New York Times reported on Bernie Sanders’s 1980s-vintage foreign-policy stands, which at times crossed over from mere opposition to American policy to outright support for communist governments. Sanders initially refused to speak with the reporters, but after the article appeared, he called one of them and gave an extremely crusty interview. Now he has a video framing the issue, which he says is about “my opposition to war” and refusal to apologize for his opinions.

Any politician is going to frame issues selectively, but Sanders is presenting a spin on the controversy so selective it completely fails to convey any of the points relevant to the controversy.

During the 1980s, the Reagan administration was giving military aid to the Contras, a right-wing guerrilla insurgency attacking the Nicaraguan government. Most Democrats opposed aiding the Contras while still deploring the communist Nicaraguan government.

The Times shows that Sanders went well beyond mere opposition to funding the war. He wrote to Sandinista leaders that American news media had not “reflected fairly the goals and accomplishments of your administration.” On a visit to the country, he attended a Sandinista celebration at which the crowd chanted, “Here, there, everywhere, the Yankee will die,” and complained that American reporters ignored “the truth” about Nicaragua’s government, telling a CBS reporter, “You are worms.”

(more....)

[The Valley Below]

3. Sanders is the only one who ignores the character and the murderous

past of Qassem Soleimani, and some spin that as a "positive?"

LOL.

DiSqUaLiFyInG!

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread JoeOtterbein.

[ehrnst]

5. So he's changed his philosophy?

Sanders is often considered anti-war, but this is wishful thinking. His decades-long record in office demonstrates otherwise.

[ritapria]

6. One candidate opposed the Disastrous War in Iraq

Last edited Sat Jan 4, 2020, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)

The other candidate worked hand in glove with the Bush-Cheney crowd to get us in that damnable War ...The Choice is yours... From Truthout July 28, 2019... : "How Biden's Secret 2002 Meeting Lead to War in Iraq "... From Politifact ( September 15, 2019) :"Joe Biden falsely claims he immediately opposed Iraq War ".....From The Atlantic ( January 31, 2012 ) :" Joe Biden's History of Making the Wrong Call ".... From Vox (August 6, 2015 ) : "Why DC Loves Biden's terrible plan to Divide Iraq " .. What a Biden brainstorm …..

[ehrnst]

7. Well...

In 1998 Sanders voted in favor of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998, which said: "It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."

Later that same year, Sanders also backed a resolution that stated: "Congress reaffirms that it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime."


Sanders also voted for the 2001 Authorization Unilateral Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), which pretty much allowed Bush to wage war wherever he wanted.

Authorization for Use of Military Force - Authorizes the President to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons.
States that this Act is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of the War Powers Resolution.

[Docreed2003]

11. +1

Thanks ehrnst!

[George II]

8. "Hand in glove"? Give us a break.

[ehrnst]

10. IKR?

[ehrnst]

14. ....

[beastie boy]

9. Another totally off the wall article touting Berne.

The article itself states: "He again framed it as a moment of moral gravity akin to the run-up to the Iraq War, not least because so much of the present conflict with Iran stems from the fateful intervention that began in 2003."

2003, And Bernie's anti-war message is even older than that. Over 16 years of ascending, and Bernie has less support from the young left than in '16.

Not that his message is anything but commendable, not that the young left is anything but commendable, but the connection between the two which is at the core of the article seems pretty dubious.

[msongs]

13. is gonna give everyone a free F-35? nt

[ehrnst]

15. ....