Forum Post: Bernie Sanders position on the Iran deal.
Posted 8 years ago on Aug. 7, 2015, 6:26 p.m. EST by factsrfun
(8310)
from Phoenix, AZ
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Here is Mr. Sanders’s full statement supporting the deal.
“The test of a great nation is not how many wars it can engage in, it is how it can resolve international conflicts in a peaceful manner. The war in Iraq, which I opposed, destabilized the entire region, helped create and expand Al Qaeda and the Islamic State and cost the lives of 6,700 brave men and women, and resulted in hundreds of thousands in our armed forces returning home with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. I fear very much that many of my Republican colleagues do not understand that war must be a last resort, not a first resort. The United States must do everything it can to make certain that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, that Israel is not threatened by a nuclear Iran and that a nuclear arms race in the region is avoided.
President Obama and Secretary Kerry have worked through an extremely difficult and complicated process with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, Russia and of course Iran. This agreement is obviously not what many of us would have liked, but it beats the alternative: a war with Iran that could go on for years.
If Iran does not live up to the agreement, and that is a real possibility, sanctions can and will be reapplied. I think it is incumbent upon us however to give the negotiated agreement a chance to succeed. That is why I will support the agreement.”
stop airstrikes
stop US weapons exports
IRANDEAL
against war in Iraq but not airstrikes ?
Which airstrikes do you mean specifically? There are so many that it is futile to discuss them lumped together. Wars, interventions, incursions, airstrikes, rescue missions, aid packages, diplomatic efforts, etc. form a CONTINUUM of projecting power. A resourceful and flexible répertoire of options provides the finesse for customized responses to any situation.
It is not optimal to prove that the U.S. is really a dinochicken with death-ray weapons after others have already picked on it. The aftermath of 9/11/2001 should be lesson enough. Does anyone still have appetite for Afghanistan and Iraq war reruns?
US middle east arms build up threaten middle east stability #IranNuclearDeal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIvHd7
INVOKING boogie quada for airstrikes
DOD vilifies
label targets #terrorist invoke bias #hate tactics
soldiers bring home
racism follows
Why not oppose weapons distribution an air strikes in middle east work towards stopping the daily US air strikes on the people of Iraq?
INVOKE the specter al quada is a western propaganda referral to weapons distributors of the US arms
the concept of "death to America" makes no sense when one considers their own land and not a country across a world
the so called "Islamic State" contains secular sunni separatist that where deposed from power when Saddam fell Why not stop US airstrike?
Why not oppose weapons distribution an air strikes in middle east work towards stopping the daily US air strikes on the people of Iraq?
Why does this senate keep dodging direct action and instead find ways to say they oppose war with out stopping the US involvement I am so tired of these made reference made upon the middle East.
Why not start an anti-war movement of your very own?
OWS is about wealth inequality and for those of us not in the co-opt business we talk about that here.
But not that you care but Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War of course his lack of pure perfection, the perfection that only YOU have been able to achieve, you could not reward him for that vote by supporting him and there by encourage others to vote against war in the future, you prefer to remind us all of how perfect YOU are.
Doormat doesn't want to do something productive - I gave him all kinds of anti-war groups to hook up with and to work with - and he just won't do it - instead he just likes to continue with his lame quote the airstrikes routine. It means nothing - but he will continue to do it.
My hope is that the future of humanity doesn't rest on a hateful and judgemental mind like yours.
When observation of what is, is described as "hateful" the judgemental mind is revealed.
You sound pretty hateful and very judgmental. Only you are allowed - hey?
I was describing, not name calling. You called a user a doormat just above. That is in very bad taste. You should man up and take responsibility for your name calling.
I did take responsibility for my name calling. Did you miss it? Is your reading comprehension impaired?
I think you should ask for an apology to the user you insulted. If you already have, I'm sorry, but I did miss it. Simply provide the permalink where you apologize and I'll give you a big thumbs up. A man who takes responsibility for his bad actions is a very big man in my book.
Hypocrite =
[-] 0 points by poof (18) 57 minutes ago
Well said.
I simply find Renneye's position bewildering. We live in a capitalist society where people can build companies and make money. She targets those who do well, the 1%, even if they played by the rules. In her mind, the only way to be in the right is to be poor.
I think it's better to be against the system itself if one does not agree with capitalism. We cannot attack the actors and blame them for following the rules. If you remove a 1%, he will just be replaced by another. Nothing will change.
After carefully analyzing past posts, it seems to me that Renneye might be paid to make OWS look bad. That, or she is truly a conspiracy theorist of wacko proportions. She sounds like an Alex Jones follower.
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Hypocrite? Why? I don't use name calling. I simply describe Renneye's position of that of a conspiracy theorists. These people exist. They call themselves conspiracy theorist. Jesse Ventura had a show called Conspiracy Theory.
Nothing posted here means much. Just words in a forum. No connection to the ground. Everyone has the right to their opinion. You shouldn't try to shut them down with name calling.
" No connection to the ground." = BULLSHIT.
Everyone who stops by to have a look is a connection to the ground.
Everyone who posts something has a connection to the ground.
The ground (people) may or may not post things of their own.
The ground (people) - can make what they will of what they come across here - or anywhere else on the internet or anywhere else off of the internet.
I am not trying to shut doormat down - I am trying to get doormat to actually try to do something.
Perhaps you are correct that everyone who participates here as a connection to the ground. I will give you that. The problem is that there is no organized efforts to translate what is said here to real tangible projects on the ground.
If you want to inspire users to be active and do things, perhaps not calling them names would be a good start.
Be an inspiring person and others will follow. Be a bully name calling other users, and they'll just want to run away from you. Internet bullies are not inspiring.
My challenge to you, should you choose to accept it, is to become a force of inspiration.
Many liberal Democrats left the site due to bullying, you make a good point.
BULLSHIT - there is plenty posted on this site to bring people together to make united efforts to make this a better nation and to make this a better world.
You choose to ignore the opportunities presented and just state bullshit.
Faire enough, I will believe you.
Still, there is no reason why you should insult other users. What other people do is their business. Who are you to judge others and insult them if they don't do what you think they should?
Only you should be able to do such things? HYPOCRITE !!!
wealth inequality is not enforceable without violence
if not for wealth inequality there would be no airstrikes, the airstrikes will not end until wealth inequality is addressed, we can address that now with an all out effort to elect Bernie Sanders, but I know he is not perfect enough for you, your perfection exceeds all...
Additionally - a decent article on Sanders and his stance on Israel Palestine and the Middle East in general:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/where-does-bernie-sanders-stand-on-israel/
Where does Bernie Sanders stand on Israel? The Jewish candidate for president, 73, has a long record of criticizing — and defending — the Jewish state By Ron Kampeas August 17, 2015, 10:53 pm
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin) Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin) Newsroom
Related Topics
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Bernie Sanders’s best friend is a Zionist who teaches Jewish philosophy, he had a formative experience on a kibbutz and “Saturday Night Live” dubbed him the “old Jew.”
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Still, Sanders can’t get away from the inevitable “But where is he on Israel?” question, especially now that the Democratic presidential contender, an Independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, the first primary state.
“Do you view yourself as a Zionist?” the left-leaning online magazine Vox asked Sanders in a July 28 interview.
It’s a funny question for Sanders, who if there were an “out and proud” metric for Jews in politics would score high.
Sanders, 73, is best friends with Richard Sugarman, a professor of Jewish philosophy at the University of Vermont who champions Zionism to his left-leaning students. His other best friend — and former chief of staff — is Huck Gutman, a University of Vermont professor of literature who is a passionate aficionado of the prose of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai.
When comedian Sarah Silverman introduced Sanders at an August 10 rally in Los Angeles, she shunted aside for a moment her caustic Jewish shtick.
“His moral compass and sense of values inspires me,” she said. “He always seems to be on the right side of history.”
Silverman ticked off a list of Sanders’s qualifications that align him with positions that polls show American Jews overwhelmingly favor: for same-sex marriage, for civil rights, against the Iraq war. She might have added favoring universally available health care.
“He is a man of the people,” Silverman said. “He has to be; his name is Bernie.”
Fresh out of the University of Chicago and already deeply involved in left-wing activism, Sanders spent several months in the mid-1960s on a kibbutz. The Brooklyn-born and accented Sanders has been shaped by the murder of his father’s extended family in the Holocaust. Sen. Bernie Sanders addressing a rally on Capitol Hill in 2013. (Courtesy JTA)
Sen. Bernie Sanders addressing a rally on Capitol Hill in 2013. (Courtesy JTA)
“As everyone in this room knows, I am a Jew, an old Jew,” actor Fred Armisen said while playing Sanders in a 2013 “Saturday Night Live” sketch.
Sanders’s well-known pique surfaced in June when Diane Rehm, the NPR talk show host, declaratively told him he had dual US-Israel citizenship, citing an anti-Semitic meme circulating on the Internet.
“Well, no, I do not have dual citizenship with Israel,” Sanders said. “I’m an American. I don’t know where that question came from. I am an American citizen, and I have visited Israel on a couple of occasions. No, I’m an American citizen, period.”
So where does Bernie Sanders stand on Israel? Here’s a review.
He backs Israel, but he believes in spending less on defense assistance to Israel and more on economic assistance in the Middle East.
Is Sanders a Zionist? Here’s what he told Vox’s Ezra Klein:
“A Zionist? What does that mean? Want to define what the word is? Do I think Israel has the right to exist? Yeah, I do. Do I believe that the United States should be playing an even-handed role in terms of its dealings with the Palestinian community in Israel? Absolutely I do.
“Again, I think that you have volatile regions in the world, the Middle East is one of them, and the United States has got to work with other countries around the world to fight for Israel’s security and existence at the same time as we fight for a Palestinian state where the people in that country can enjoy a decent standard of living, which is certainly not the case right now. My long-term hope is that instead of pouring so much military aid into Israel, into Egypt, we can provide more economic aid to help improve the standard of living of the people in that area.” Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders greets fairgoers as he tours the Iowa State Fair on August 15, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders greets fairgoers as he tours the Iowa State Fair on August 15, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP)
He will defend Israel to a hostile crowd, but will also fault Israel – and will shout down hecklers.
At a town hall in Cabot, Vermont, during last summer’s Gaza war, a constituent commended Sanders for not signing onto a Senate resolution that solely blamed Hamas for the conflict, but wondered if he would “go further.”
“Has Israel overreacted? Have they bombed UN facilities? The answer is yes, and that is terribly, terribly wrong,” Sanders said.
“On the other hand — and there is another hand — you have a situation where Hamas is sending missiles into Israel — a fact — and you know where some of those missiles are coming from? They’re coming from populated areas; that’s a fact. Hamas is using money that came into Gaza for construction purposes — and God knows they need roads and all the things that they need — and used some of that money to build these very sophisticated tunnels into Israel for military purposes.”
Hecklers interrupted, some shouting epithets.
“Excuse me, shut up, you don’t have the microphone,” Sanders said. “You asked the question, I’m answering it. This is called democracy. I am answering a question and I do not want to be disturbed.”
His critical but supportive posture on Israel has been consistent and has included using assistance as leverage.
As mayor of Burlington, Vermont, in 1988, Sanders was asked if he backed then-candidate for president Jesse Jackson’s support for the Palestinians during the First Intifada. Sanders excoriated what he depicted as Israeli brutality as well as Arab extremism.
“What is going on in the Middle East right now is obviously a tragedy, there’s no question about it. The sight of Israeli soldiers breaking the arms and legs of Arabs is reprehensible. The idea of Israel closing down towns and sealing them off is unacceptable,” he said at a news conference, according to video unearthed by Alternet writer Zaid Jilani. “You have had a crisis there for 30 years, you have had people at war for 30 years, you have a situation with some Arab countries where there are still some Arab leadership calling for the destruction of the State of Israel and the murder of Israeli citizens.”
Sanders said the United States should exercise the prerogative it has as an economic power.
“We are pouring billions of dollars in arms into Arab countries. We have the clout to demand they and Israel, who we’re also heavily financing, to begin to sit down and work out a sensible solution to the problem which would guarantee the existence of the State of Israel and which would also protect Palestinian rights,” he said.
He doesn’t think the Iran nuclear deal is perfect, but he backs it.
“It’s so easy to be critical of an agreement which is not perfect,” he told CBS News on August 7. “But the United States has to negotiate with, you know, other countries. We have to negotiate with Iran. And the alternative of not reaching an agreement, you know what it is? It’s war. Do we really want another war, a war with Iran? An asymmetrical warfare that will take place all over this world, threatening American troops? So I think we go as far as we possibly can in trying to give peace a chance, if you like. Trying to see if this agreement will work. And I will support it.”
from what I can tell,
that's the name of the weapons distributors the US supplies
sure , but you should seen what the other guy looked like
Iran hasn't been at war since the US funded Saddam Huisan Iraq to attack it
Al Qaeda was at one time an ally (Mujahideen force) of the U.S. fighting the former Soviet Union's invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Is it really any surprise that al Qaeda became a distributor of U.S. weapons after the Soviets had pulled out and the U.S. was NO LONGER supporting al Qaeda? The job was over so al Qaeda was fired from the U.S. payroll.
Matt,
Iran was involved in destabilizing Iraq while the U.S. forces were there fighting the chaos - the IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that penetrated our troops' humvees killing and maiming many U.S. servicemen had shaped charges that Iran's elite Quds force possessed.
Iran may not have fought wars since the Iran-Iraq War but it was very far from being a passive spectator of the chaos there.
really, were you a leader at that time ?
because I heard nothing about it when I had to quit my navy job
got Google?
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/video/flashback-rep-bernie-sanders-opposes-iraq-war
I heard only Barbara Boxier opposed the Iraq war from KPBS at the time
i've seen an that listed expanded some years later
I see this as a complete lack of integrity
You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, yes you should pay attention and so you should have known that Bernie opposed the war at the time but to call it "a complete lack of integrity" seems harsh, yes you do have a complete lack of integrity in your opposition to war as demonstrated by your refusal to do anything about it and your support of the GOP in elections but that's a different matter.
this post could have spoken against war
have you been barred from posting?
Sanders supports air strikes daily on foreign countries
and has nor spoken against that
again you are showing your integrity you discover one complaint is baseless so you move to another, the 1% and GOP thank you for your consistent support.....
The Iraq War sucks but do we really want an Iran War, too? Shaped charges were one very important step on the path to a plutonium bomb. The U.S. cannot dislodge knowledge that Iran has unless we go the route of the Mossad trying to kill everyone who knows. The Iran deal is a peaceful way to resolve for some time the differences between countries bent on going to war otherwise. Iran may well break out to nuclear bombs sometime but nuclear bombs or not, they will be taken out then, so ... peace in our time!
noise
Consider: ''War With Iran: The Same Old Story'' by 'The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program' http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/32256-if-you-liked-the-iraq-war-you-ll-love-the-iran-war & re. The Iran Deal ... do Americans know that the Largest Population of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel .. have been living in Iran since 700BC?! Now Bernie Sanders may be the best voice that The US 99% have had for over two generations - but re. foreign affairs in general and Iran in particular ... he is Not The Messiah!
Does anyone in the USA recall Iran's democratically elected Mohammad Mossadegh ... removed by the then OSS (now CIA) staged ''Operation Ajax'' run by none other than Kermit Roosevelt Jr. straight out of the US Embassy in Tehran ... the same US Embassy that was the focus of attention in 1979, when the hated US backed 'Shah of Iran' was overthrown in a popular uprising and is this actually worth knowing?
Further, ''Iran Is Not The Problem'' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncv5qx-xhAk … made in America by Americans for people in USA & maybe try to consider ... http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-generation-ago-israelis-found-paradise-in-iran/ and ask yourself - just WTF is actually going on in the Middle East?
The ancient Persians, Medes and Magi, who make up what is now Iran, are a bulwark against continued chaos in the Middle East and 'The Iran Deal' - is actually a good thing .. IF chaos is truly NOT The Goal!
Finally, Iran's Central Bank is - State Controlled and Entirely Government Owned, NOT Privately Owned! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Bank_of_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran & is that, a reason for war?!
Hegemony and Power are age old pursuits but lessons can not be learned, IF Our History Is Hidden. Therefore, re. Syria, Iraq etc. see: http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=oded_yinon and ask yourself honestly IF indeed that can work, IF Iran was to remain a strong, independent country?!
If you are looking for the Messiah you should go to church.
I'm interested in finding someone that will seriously address wealth inequality, because if we don't I really do believe America will become little more than a Monarchy then it won't matter what the people think only the Royals, it is pretty much that way now but we can change this if we don't screw it up like we did in 2000.
''Iran'' was the subject of your forum-post and my reply was restricted to it. However, you ignore my reply and prefer to digress back to your usual obsessions. So face it .. America is an Oligarchy and from that Oligarch Class came none other than the 0.01% Patrician Millionaire, Al Gore.
Gore's utter refusal to fight for his corner in 2000 - when people all around the USA & the world knew that it was a Stolen Election - reflected his interests in maintaining the US shamocracy. You should focus your concerns there perhaps, with any view to correct 'blame allocation'.
Also fyi, re.US Oligarchy, perhaps consider the implications of: http://www.oligarchyusa.com/ and http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/21/americas-oligarchy-not-democracy-or-republic-unive/ but re.Iran, maybe try to consider http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42588.htm
As I have pointed out Gore took it to the Court are you suggesting he should have armed the nation and gone to war?
It was the ego whores who claimed to care about the environment then ran against the most environmentally sound person the nation had ever had run, Gore was much better on the environment than Nader, well they saw their chance for fifteen minutes of fame and sold the nation out for it.
No, just a 'Florida Recount' hold out would have done! You don't want to face The Stone Cold Fact of Al Gore's 0.01% Patrician Oligarch background but I get why .. because your lip-lock with both Democrap DNC ass-cheeks on a near permanent basis, is really well understood on this forum. Get over yourself.
Ralph Nader was/is a time served warrior for the US 99% for over 50 years and I double dare you to stand his record against ''King Gore's'' + your addiction to Corporate Donkey is noted .. once again!
Finally, per the OP - you may wish to consider the content and implications of this.. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ivan-eland/scorecard-on-us-intervent_b_7965962.html
Ralph Nader elected W Bush and is the scum of the earth.
You are the witless fool of the GOP.
More ''stuck needle on the record'' - fkn half-wittery, hating on someone with a 60 year record of working for The US 99% ... whilst Totally Fkn Absolving, The 0.01% Patrician Aristocrat from ANY responsibility in selling out The 99% AND desperate Dem supporters! Al Gore was/is.. a Sell Out Cunt - and you can tell him I said so, the next time you genuflect to kiss his lilly white, 0.01% ass! More usefully, consider: http://occupywallst.org/forum/why-liberals-have-to-be-radicals/#comment-1065583 -Good Luck with that and with getting over your reductionist, binary of - Corporate Donkey/Ass and Corporate SmellElephant!
you are the "stuck" one you have one message, hate for the dems, you don't give a damn if the GOP win and make the rich richer, you only give a damn about your own dreams of power, you are the stupid servant of the 1%
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yep US only pays 41% of the total world military budget
World Military budget in Billions (percent total) by Nation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures
Global Arms Sales By Supplier Nations
39% United States
18% Russia
8% France
7% United Kingdom
5% Germany
3% China
3% Italy
11% Other European
5% Others
http://www.globalissues.org/article/74/the-arms-trade-is-big-business#GlobalArmsSalesBySupplierNations
FYI: https://www.warresisters.org/
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