Ohio Green Party congressional candidate Joe Manchik took aim at President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday for his role in the United States’ initiation of the Iraq War. His comment was a response to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which claimed that activists and young voters “made a difference in November” by electing Biden as president.
“Wake up, @BoldProgressive! The FACT is, Joe Biden is a fascist war criminal who should be in prison today for treason instead of The White House, just like Donald Trump,” he tweeted to the political action committee.
Manchik linked to the documentary Worth the Price? Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War , which is narrated by Danny Glover. As reported by Democracy Now! , the film was directed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s Mark Weisbrot, who focused on Biden’s role in pushing the invasion, which he later apologized for supporting.
Weisbrot stressed Biden’s part in “enabling and allowing and getting the authorization” for the Iraq War through Congress.
“That was a huge role in bringing us this war. It wasn’t just a vote for the war. He was the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And, you know, when I was going through this footage, it was amazing, all the things that he did. He argued very strongly for the war. He had a lot of influence.”
As reported by The Guardian , Biden argued in favor of a 2002 resolution that provided George W. Bush the authority to invade Iraq. Notably, he contended that failing to pass the resolution would increase the chances of war. The president-elect also chose the 18 witnesses in the primary Iraq Senate hearings, which were mostly people with pro-war beliefs who warned of Saddam Hussein’s potential to acquire nuclear weapons within the decade.
The Guardian noted that Biden did not select witnesses who could have clarified that Hussein’s secular government was opposed to religious extremists like al-Qaida, who were behind the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Biden’s support of the Iraq War was a focal point during the 2020 presidential primary. As The Inquisitr reported, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed the lawmaker’s support of the military intervention and claimed the Democrat still refused to admit he was wrong to support the proposal. Unlike Biden, Sanders opposed the Iraq War and voted against it in the Senate. The Medicare for All advocate suggested that the former vice president’s vote for the intervention was a sign that he was unfit to lead America.