U.S. Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress have expressed outrage at Donald Trump’s order to assassinate Iran’s iconic general Qassem Soleimani, saying the Republican president did not seek a congressional authorization and did not inform them.
Former U.S. vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden warned that “Iran will surely respond.”
“President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox, and he owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep safe our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interest, both here at home and abroad, and our partners throughout the region and beyond,” Biden said on Twitter.
U.S. Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders condemned the assassination, warning that it is set to destabilize the region and put the U.S. on the path to another war.
“When I voted against the war in Iraq in 2002, I feared it would lead to greater destabilization of the region,” Sanders tweeted. “That fear unfortunately turned out to be true.”
“The U.S. has lost approximately 4,500 brave troops, tens of thousands have been wounded, and we’ve spent trillions,” Sanders added.
“Trump’s dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars. Trump promised to end endless wars, but this action puts us on the path to another one.”
U.S. Senator Cory Booker, who like Sanders is a Democratic presidential candidate, expressed concern that the consequences of such a strike were not well thought out.
“This is not something that should be done on impulse,” Booker told CNN. “It should be done in a larger strategic vision and understanding what the consequences could be in taking out this significant—assassinating someone of such a significant leadership role in Iran.”
“We cannot put the lives of American servicemembers, diplomats and others further at risk by engaging in provocative and disproportionate actions,” said U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Tonight’s airstrike risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence. America – and the world – cannot afford to have tensions escalate to the point of no return,” Pelosi said in a statement Friday.
“The Administration has conducted tonight’s strikes in Iraq targeting high-level Iranian military officials and killing Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani without an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Iran. Further, this action was taken without the consultation of the Congress,” she added.
U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, another top Democrat in the lower chamber of Congress, warned Trump over the killing, saying “Congress didn’t authorize and American people don’t want a war with Iran.”
“All steps must now be taken to protect our forces against the almost inevitable escalation and increased risk,” Schiff tweeted.
Representative Ilhan Omar, a Muslim lawmaker from Minnesota and a fierce critic of Trump, also attacked the U.S. president for his order to assassinate the top Iranian general.
“So what if Trump wants war, knows this leads to war and needs the distraction? Real question is, will those with congressional authority step in and stop him? I know I will,” she tweeted.
U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren called the American attack a “reckless move” that “increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict.”
Senator Tom Udall said the strike could put “U.S. forces and citizens in danger and very possibly sinking us into another disastrous war in the Middle East that the American people are not asking for and do not support.”
“I urge members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to show courage on this issue, and I urge the Trump administration to change course and pursue diplomacy before we are entangled in yet another war in the Middle East with no end in sight,” he added in a statement.
Democratic Senator Ed Markey said: “Trump’s apparent assassination of Soleimani is a massive, deliberate, and dangerous escalation of conflict with Iran. The President just put the lives of every person in the region – U.S. service members and civilians – at immediate risk. We need de-escalation now.”
Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat from New York and chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in a statement that “we are now again on the brink of direct confrontation in the Middle East. Tonight’s action represents a massive escalation in our conflict with Iran with unpredictable consequences.”
“Finally, this strike went forward with no notification or consultation with Congress. To push ahead with an action of this gravity without involving Congress raises serious legal problems and is an affront to Congress’s powers as a coequal branch of government,” he added.
Meanwhile, American actress Rose McGowan apologized to Iran over the assassination, saying the United States is “held hostage by terrorist regime.”
“Dear #Iran, The USA has disrespected your country, your flag, your people.
52% of us humbly apologize. We want peace with your nation. We are being held hostage by a terrorist regime. We do not know how to escape. Please do not kill us. #Soleimani,” she wrote on Twitter.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been rising ever since 2018 when Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal that Tehran had signed in 2015 with the United States and five other nations.
Trump’s policy on Iran has been defined by military threats and economic sanctions.
source: This article/news was published on Friday, 03 January 2020 on the http://kayhan.ir/en/news/74698