 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
 By Becca MILFELD Washington (AFP) Jan 3, 2020
Republican lawmakers quickly spoke out Thursday in strong support of President Donald Trump's attack that killed Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, as Congress complained it received no advance notice of the strike. The high praise from the right stood in stark contrast to reaction from Democrats, who severely criticized Trump's latest move in a sign of Washington's polarization ahead of this year's presidential elections. "In a display of resolve and strength, we struck the leader of those attacking our sovereign U.S. territories," top House Republican Kevin McCarthy said in a statement. The sentiment was swiftly echoed by his fellow Republicans. "Wow - the price of killing and injuring Americans has just gone up drastically," Senator Lindsey Graham, a close confidant of Trump, wrote on Twitter. The strike on Soleimani, which occurred at Baghdad's international airport on Friday in Iraq, also killed the deputy chief of Iraq's powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force. It came after a pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy following deadly American air strikes on a hardline Hashed faction. The US had called the strikes in response to a rocket attack days earlier that killed an American contractor working in Iraq. The White House traditionally gives warning to senior members of both parties in the Senate and House of Representatives ahead of major military action. But House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Eliot Engel said in a statement that the strike "went forward with no notification or consultation with Congress." Soleimani was "the mastermind of immense violence" who has "the blood of Americans on his hands," the Democratic lawmaker said. But "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," Engel said. - 'Stick of dynamite' - Mood from the Democratic camp was strongly critical, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying the killing of the top ranked Iranian commander risks provoking a "dangerous escalation of violence". "America -- and the world -- cannot afford to have tensions escalate to the point of no return," she added in a statement. Presidential candidates in the 2020 campaign also weighed in against the attack. "President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox," said former vice president Joe Biden, who leads the pack of Democratic contenders, in a statement. "Iran will surely respond. We could be on the brink of a major conflict across the Middle East," Biden said. US entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang wrote on Twitter that "war with Iran is the last thing we need and is not the will of the American people. "We should be acting to deescalate tensions and protect our people in the region." Democratic Vermont senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said "Trump's dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars." The winner of the Democratic primary will battle Trump for control of the White House in November elections, with the attack sure to feature center-stage during pre-vote debates. It was already a topic being pored over in US-based think tanks and diplomatic circles on Thursday. "Make no mistake: any war with Iran will not look like the 1990 Gulf war or the 2003 Iraq war," Richard Haass, president of the US-based Council on Foreign Relations, wrote on Twitter. "The region (and possibly the world) will be the battlefield," he wrote.
General Qasem Soleimani: Iran's regional pointman Tehran (AFP) Jan 3, 2020 Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed Friday in a US strike, was one of the most popular figures in Iran and seen as a deadly adversary by America and its allies. General Soleimani, who headed the external operations Quds Force for the Guards, had wielded his regional clout publicly since 2018 when it was revealed that he had direct involvement in top-level talks over the formation of Iraq's government. It was no surprise at the time for a man who has been at the centre ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
