by Guy Page
Vermont’s congressional delegation responded promptly on the X social media platform Saturday night, June 21 to the U.S. bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran
Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking at a Tulsa, Oklahoma rally (see video on X), with a crowd shouting ‘No more war,’ shook his head, frowned, and exclaimed:
“It is so grossly unconstitutional. The only entity that can take this country to war is Congress. The president does not have the right!”
Rep. Becca Balint said on X –
“This is reckless, illegal action from the president. He does NOT have the authority to enter us into a war with Iran. He MUST consult Congress. This is not what Americans want. I’m thinking about our troops tonight.”
Sen. Peter Welch tweeted –
“President Trump’s decision to strike Iran doesn’t make America safer, it puts us in danger.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is dragging us into another forever war in the Middle East.
“Congress has the power to declare war, not the President.”
Later, Sanders issued a more detailed statement, denouncing President Trump’s military strikes against Iran, warning that the U.S. is once again on the brink of a dangerous, costly war based on falsehoods.
“The American people were lied to about Vietnam, with tragic consequences. The American people were lied to about Iraq, with tragic consequences,” Sanders said. “The American people are being lied to again today. We cannot allow history to repeat itself.”
The statement comes amid reports that the president ordered strikes in response to alleged Iranian threats to U.S. interests in the Middle East. Details of the operation remain classified, but Pentagon sources confirmed a limited engagement.
Sanders, who has long opposed U.S. military intervention in the Middle East, invoked historical comparisons to Vietnam and Iraq—conflicts he said were justified with misinformation and resulted in thousands of American deaths and trillions in taxpayer costs.
“In the 1960s the United States government lied to the American people and took us into a terrible war in Vietnam,” Sanders said. “In 2002, we were told Iraq was building weapons of mass destruction. It was a lie. That war cost us thousands of lives and destabilized the region for decades.”
The senator also pointed to comments made in 2002 by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who urged Congress to support the war in Iraq, promising “enormous positive reverberations” if Saddam Hussein’s regime were toppled. “That war was based on a lie,” Sanders said.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be dragged into another Middle East war based on lies,” he added. “The U.S. faces enormous problems here at home, which we must address.”
Sanders has not yet announced any legislation in response but called for immediate congressional oversight and public accountability.