Obama, Bush, Biden rejected Netanyahu’s Iran war plan, Trump agreed: Ex-US top official

Kerry said Netanyahu had presented the case for a war with Iran to the United States during earlier administrations, but Washington declined to move forward. “Netanyahu presented the Iran war case to us too. The response was no,” Kerry said, adding that the proposal was based on predictions that regime change would follow and that people would rise up. “None of that happened,” he noted.

According to Kerry, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Joe Biden all rejected the plan. He further alleged that the rationale behind such a war was misrepresented. “We were lied to about what that war was about,” Kerry said.

Drawing parallels with past conflicts, Kerry invoked the lessons of the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. He warned against misleading the public and emphasised the human cost of military action. “The lesson of Vietnam and Iraq is: don’t lie to the American people. Don’t ask them to send their sons and daughters to fight,” he said.

The origins of the month-long conflict, which has left over 2,000 dead in Iran and affected the global economy, go back to February 11 when Netanyahu visited the White House.

Netanyahu came up with a goal to get Trump to agree to a major strike on Iran. He also came up with a plan. However, a day later, key members of Trump’s team reportedly rejected that plan, calling it “farcical” and “bullshit,” according to a report by The New York Times.

Despite this, Netanyahu’s pitch matched Trump’s own thinking about weakening Iran’s leadership. Within two weeks, even though there were differences inside his team, Trump approved what was called Operation Epic Fury.

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