Republicans Praise US Killing of Soleimani
Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat
Republican lawmakers quickly spoke out Thursday in strong support of a US airstrike that killed Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad. "In a display of resolve and strength, we struck the leader of those attacking our sovereign US 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 US President Donald 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 Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. 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. Mood from the Democratic camp was decidedly critical, particularly from presidential candidates in the 2020 campaign. The targeted killing of Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, could draw forceful Iranian retaliation against American interests in the region. The Defense Department said it killed Soleimani because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region." It also accused Soleimani of approving the attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week when a pro-Iran mob laid siege to the mission. Trump was vacationing on his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, but sent out a tweet of an American flag. The 62-year-old Soleimani was the target of Friday's US attack, which was conducted by an armed American drone, according to a US official. His vehicle was struck on an access road near the Baghdad airport. A senior Iraqi security official said the airstrike took place near the cargo area after Soleimani left his plane and joined al-Muhandis and others in a car. The official said the plane had arrived from either Lebanon or Syria. Two officials from the PMF said Suleimani's body was torn to pieces in the attack, while they did not find the body of al-Muhandis. A senior politician said Soleimani's body was identified by the ring he wore.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2064361/republicans-praise-us-killing-soleimani
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