WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today shared a video voicing his concerns about potential involvement by the United States in the Israel-Iran conflict, urging Senators of both parties to strongly oppose allowing Netanyahu to pull the U.S. into yet another forever war in the Middle East: 

Watch the full video here:

Read a transcript of the video below: 

“I do not want the United States to get involved in another Mideast war, this time with Iran, and I am increasingly concerned by recent remarks from President Trump that he is, in fact, considering joining Israel’s war against Iran.  

“What’s becoming very clear is that Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing all he can to lull President Trump into abandoning the commitment he made as a candidate to keep us out of Mideast wars, to get him in yet another one. You know, since he came into office, President Trump has been focused on diplomatic negotiations with Iran. We do not want them to have a nuclear weapon, just as Obama did not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon.  

“And just days ago, Trump’s peace negotiators were set to meet again with the Iranian negotiators. I supported those negotiations. But Prime Minister Netanyahu has been talking about bombing Iran for 30 years. He put those talks to an end with his targeting of Iran’s top negotiator on the first night of the airstrikes.  

“And those strikes, by the way, have not included just nuclear facilities, but Iranian leadership and civilian centers in the heart of Tehran. These are tell-tale signs that the Netanyahu goal is not just about Iran’s nuclear program. It’s about regime change. Prime Minister Netanyahu is determined to get a new regime in Iran. You know what? That sounds easy. But what we’ve learned over and over again that forcing regime change from outside in, in the Middle East does not create lasting peace. Quite the opposite. We saw that with Iraq, and we saw that with Afghanistan.  

“The Constitution explicitly gives Congress the responsibility to declare war. And of course, bombing a country, Iran is an act of war. That’s why I strongly support measures by my colleagues, Senator Kaine and Senator Sanders, that would require Congress to debate whether we should be dragged into Netanyahu’s next war.  

“If we had that debate, I’d remind Americans about the track record of regime change wars in the Middle East. Netanyahu advocated strongly for President Bush’s ill-fated invasion of Iraq in 2003. And remember when Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said that the Iraq War would last only five days or five weeks or five months? But it certainly isn’t going to last any longer than that. That’s what he said. Eight years later and thousands of American soldiers were killed, we knew how wrong he was.  

“If we had that debate in Congress, I would remind Americans that President Bush promised the war in Afghanistan—America’s longest war ever—had clear objectives. President Bush said, ‘To all the men and women in our military, I say this. Your mission is defined. Your objectives are clear.’ Yes. Of course. 20 years later and thousands of lives later, we’re back to the Taliban in charge.  

“And if we had that debate in Congress about this proposed war, I would remind Americans that Netanyahu has already had a chance to try bombing his way to peace. 60,000 lives have been lost and we flattened the homes of over 2 million people, orchards, schools, and hospitals. And in fact, the population of Gaza is still under siege, not getting access to the food and the medicine that are absolutely essential if they’re not going to starve.  

“Senators of both parties must come together to oppose allowing Netanyahu to pull the United States into yet another forever war in the Middle East.” 

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Learn more about Senator Welch’s work by visiting his website or by following him on social media. 

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