‘Stop this madness’: On Iraq War anniv, US Congressman says war on Iran fueled by ‘new lies’

On the 23rd anniversary of President George Bush’s Oval Office address announcing the start of the Iraq War, US Congressman Jim McGovern delivered a stark condemnation of the war's legacy and issued a dire warning over war against Iran.

In a statement marking the somber anniversary of the disastrous war, McGovern recounted the devastating human and financial toll of the war, which began on March 19, 2003.

He noted that over the course of the nearly nine-year war, which was based on the lies about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), 4,492 American soldiers were killed and 32,292 others were wounded.

The US lawmaker added that at least 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed during the war, leaving a profound and lasting humanitarian catastrophe.

“America wasted 9 years and 3 trillion dollars on a war that never should have happened—a war predicated on a lie, pushed by warmongering neocon politicians, and paid for by everyday people,” McGovern said.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who was one of the members of the US Congress to vote against the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) in Iraq, reflected on the opportunity costs of the prolonged war

He questioned what the trillions of dollars spent on the war could have achieved for domestic infrastructure, education, and healthcare, and lamented the lives of service members “stolen from us.”

“I voted against the Iraq War,” McGovern recalled. “I knew the White House would lie to Members of Congress and voters alike to manufacture the pretext for a conflict—and they did.”

McGovern drew a direct line from the Bush administration’s push for the Iraq invasion to the current war imposed by Donald Trump on the Islamic Republic of Iran, noting that the United States is once again being led toward an unnecessary war.

He characterized the current posture toward Iran as “Iraq 2.0,” saying it is fueled by “new lies, new bloodthirsty politicians, still paid for by American families.”

The congressman pointed to a recent request for an additional $200 billion for military operations by the Trump administration and expressed frustration that Congress had already allocated more funding to the Pentagon than it had requested.

“Enough is enough,” McGovern said. “It is not too late to learn from the past. Stop this madness. Bring our troops home. End this war.”

McGovern’s remarks come amid ongoing congressional debates over military authorization and defense spending, as lawmakers continue to grapple with the long-term consequences of the post-9/11 military engagements he cited.

The US-Israeli war against Iran, which started on February 28, has already cost US taxpayers billions of dollars, drawing anger across the country.

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