Cyprus News Agency

Speaking at a town hall in Fort Worth as part of the “Fight Against Oligarchy” tour, the progressive senator from Vermont emphasized that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump used language similar to that of Netanyahu and then-President George W. Bush in 2003 regarding the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Sanders quoted a 2002 congressional statement by Netanyahu in which the Israeli leader said, “There is no doubt that Saddam [Hussein] is seeking nuclear weapons.”

Sanders then pointed out that “George Bush said the Saddam regime was looking for a nuclear bomb” and argued that a preemptive strike was needed, referring to the former president’s analogy that the United States “could not wait for definitive proof in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

“Weapons of mass destruction were never found. This war was built on a lie. A lie that cost us 4,500 young Americans, 32,000 wounded, and trillions of dollars,” Sanders said.

Bush announced the 2003 invasion of Iraq under the pretext of eliminating weapons of mass destruction, a claim that was later debunked.

Netanyahu and Trump referred to the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, and the U.S. president said from the White House on Saturday, “Our goal was to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity and stop the nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism.”

Sanders, an independent working with the Democrats, told the Texas crowd, “Brothers and sisters, we cannot allow history to repeat itself. The United States is facing enormous domestic challenges. We must spend our money and manpower rebuilding America—not going to war against Iran.”