Sanders Highlights Opposition to Iraq War In Advance of TV Debate

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders highlighted on Thursday his foreign policy differences with frontrunner Hillary Clinton, ahead of the first televised debate of the Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday.

In a press release on Saturday, the Sanders campaign linked to a speech the Senator gave on the floor of the House of Representatives on Oct. 9, 2002, in which he highlighted five reasons why he “vigorously opposed” the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the military action “which destabilized the region and is now considered one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of the United States.”

While not mentioning her by name, Hillary Clinton is likely to be criticized by Sanders for voting in favor of the war in Iraq as Senator, the same way Barack Obama used the issue in 2008. The timing of the press release indicates that Sanders is going to make use of this policy difference in front of the millions watching the debate.

The Sanders campaign also noted in the press release that “with instability in the world putting a focus on foreign policy,” the candidate’s record “shows that he has the judgement and experience to make foreign policy decisions in the best interests of the United States and our allies.”