The bill H.J.Res. 114 (107th): Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 is often called the Iraq War Resolution, or, the Iraq Resolution, or, the Iraq AUMF.
The resolution authorized President Bush to use the Armed Forces of the United States "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate" in order to "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding Iraq.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Resolution
There were serious legal questions surrounding the launching of the war against Iraq and the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war in general. On 16 September 2004, Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, said of the invasion, "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN Charter. From our point of view, from the Charter point of view, it was illegal.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War
The 'shock and awe' bombing of Iraq in 2003.Fact: Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War Resolution.
Fact: Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War Resolution.
Fact: Hillary sided with George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and most Republicans by voting for this. Here is some more of her company on that vote:
| R | John McCain |
| D | Joseph Lieberman |
| D | Zell Miller |
| R | Mitch McConnell |
| R | Trent Lott |
| R | Chuck Hagel |
| D | Hillary Clinton |
| R | Jesse Helms |
| R | Rick Santorum |
| R | Arlen Specter |
| R | Strom Thurmond |
| R | Bill Frist |
| R | Fred Thompson |
| R | Phil Gramm |
| R | Kay Hutchinson |
| R | Orrin Hatch |
| R | George Allen |
| R | John Warner |
Fact: Bernie sided with Barack Obama and most Democrats by voting against this. Here is some more of his company on this vote:
| D | Barbara Boxer |
| D | Bob Graham |
| D | Daniel Inouye |
| D | Richard Durbin |
| D | Barbara Mikulski |
| D | Paul Sarbanes |
| D | Ted Kennedy |
| D | Carl Levin |
| D | Paul Wellstone |
| R | Lincoln Chafee |
| I | Jim Jeffords |
| D | Patrick Leahy |
| D | Patty Murray |
| D | Robert Byrd |
| D | Russell Feingold |
| R | Ron Paul |
| D | Nancy Pelosi |
| D | Barney Frank |
| D | Charles Rangel |
| D | Dennis Kucinich |
| D | Shelia Jackson Lee |
| I | Bernie Sanders |
| D | Tammy Baldwin |
| D | 120 more Democrats |
Sources for the votes:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/107-2002/h455
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/107-2002/s237
The Republican CandidatesBen Carson claims he is against it now and was against it “from the beginning.” Not clear if by the “beginning” he means 6000 years ago when the earth was formed or since his current campaign began.
Donald Trump claims he was against it from the beginning. His first public statements against the Iraq War seem to be in 2004.
My opposition to the war in Iraq is well documented. I was against the war from the very beginning, all the way back in 2004. I had the vision and foresight to understand that Iraq and Iran were equal powers, and that our takeover of Iraq, when there was no real evidence of weapons of mass destruction, would be catastrophic for the entire region, enabling Iran and other forces to become a more dangerous threat than Saddam Hussein ever thought of being.
Donald J. Trump took a moment to separate himself from his rivals by declaring that he had gone on the record with his opposition of the Iraq war some 11 years ago — in July 2004.
The claim, however, left out the reality that his opposition came well after the war was already underway. The war began in March 2003.
Hillary Clinton’s “Mistake”In 2014 Hillary Clinton acknowledged the vote as a “mistake.” That is ten years after Donald Trump is on the record opposing the Iraq War.
[April 2004]: "Obviously, I've thought about that a lot in the months since," she said. "No, I don't regret giving the president authority … " http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/21/iraq.hillary/
Of course, years later, she took it all back. In “Hard Choices,” Mrs. Clinton apologized. “I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn’t alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong,” she wrote — in 2014. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/17/joseph-curl-hillary-clinton-supported-iraq-war-bef/?page=all
Scorecard on the Invasion of IraqBernie Sanders: Voted against it.
Donald Trump: Publicly opposed it as early as 2004.
Hillary Clinton: Voted for it. Acknowledged that as a mistake in 2014.
ConclusionToday, the vast majority of the voting public see the Iraq War as a mistake. Millions of people died because of this illegal war and the instability and the body count continues to this day.
Hillary Clinton is vulnerable on this issue in the General Election because even Donald Trump has greater credibility on opposing the Iraq War than her.
Bernie Sanders got it right from the beginning.
Vote for Bernie. It’s the right thing to do and the best chance of winning.