by Bernie Sanders

"Fox Attacks: Iran" is a bold effort to provide Americans with a different view of our policy toward Iran than the one Fox News keeps pushing on us. While Fox beats the drums for war, Robert Greenwald has produced documentary evidence that unmasks the 'coverage' for what it is: propaganda to get Americans ready for a Bush administration attack on yet another Middle Eastern nation. Robert has done something remarkable. He has used his extraordinary media skills to make a short video - only three minutes - to educate the American people, using the Internet as a way to connect us.

The issue here is pretty simple. The war in Iraq, which Bush misled us into, has been a disaster. It caused us, and the Iraqi people, a great deal of suffering: more than 3,700 American casualties, more than 70,000 Iraqi casualties, 2 million Iraqis displaced within Iraq by violence fear, and another 2 million Iraqis living as refugees in Syria and Jordan. It has cost our nation a great deal of money, money which could have been better used in educating our children, providing health care to every American, rebuilding our bridges and infrastructure, and helping us move toward a new green economy.

And, ironically, it has made us less safe from the very serious problem of international terrorism.

Osama bin Laden is alive and well and, according to the National Intelligence Estimate, Al Quada is growing stronger throughout the world.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban is reemerging as a powerful adversary, using terrorist skills they learned in Iraq, and the situation there is becoming more difficult. One of the reasons for the reemergence of the Taliban is, in my view, that in order to fight the war in Iraq, the Bush administration has diverted military, intelligence and reconstruction resources away from Afghanistan.

In the midst of all this, the United States, because of Bush's actions, is held in lower regard by the international community than at any time in the modern history of our country.

And, now, there are increasing rumblings that Bush and Cheney are thinking of waging an attack on Iran. They are considering the possibility of bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, and are also considering the possibility of cross-border raids into Iraqi territory.

I believe that the American people understand that with all our problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with our active duty military and National Guard significantly over-extended, the last thing in the world that we want is a war in Iran. That is why I introduced S. Con Res. 13 - which would express the sense of Congress that the president should not initiate military action against Iran without first obtaining authorization from Congress.

A war with Iran, combined with what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be an horrendous disaster. Here's what Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor, wrote recently: "An attack on Iran would be an act of political folly, setting in motion a progressive upheaval in world affairs."

A major military action against Iran would almost certainly unleash a lengthy war with the Muslim world which would significantly increase the threat of attacks against the U.S. and our allies, as well as compound difficulties for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It would also strengthen President Ahmadinejad's position in Iran against the moderates there.

It would further isolate us with regard to world affairs.

It would likely dramatically increase the cost of oil, and throw the world economy into a recession.

And, if President Bush embarks on military action against Iran without consulting with Congress, it is likely to create a constitutional crisis in the United States.

Nonetheless, Fox News continues to beat the drums for war, war, war, against Iran.

Every American should watch Robert Greenwald's short video, for it shows us that the current Fox drumbeat for war is almost exactly the same as what Fox did, and most of the American media did, in the days before we invaded Iraq.

We know that most of what we were told then in that very loud and determined campaign about the dangers of Iraq turned out to be false. We need to be very, very careful that we don't follow another loud and determined campaign into another disastrous war.

Bernie Sanders is US Senator from Vermont.
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