Senator Ted Cruz is promoting a resolution commending the Trump administration for its mission to take out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. In doing so he is daring the Senate Democrats to oppose it. It is the perfect antidote to the criticism the left has voiced since the news of Soleimani’s death was announced.
If Democrats decide to show disapproval of the resolution, they run the risk of showing disdain for those who carried out the mission to rid the world of Soleimani. The best part is that the resolution is “structured and worded the same way as a 2011 resolution that commended the Obama administration for killing Bin Laden, which received unanimous support in the Senate.” It’s an on the nose gesture to get Democrats to acknowledge that the mission was a good thing but it is something that needs to be done. The Democrats can suck up their Trump Derangement Syndrome for long enough to do the right thing and honor those who took the risk and carried out the mission.
If the Senate could come together and unanimously pass a resolution in 2011 during Obama’s administration surely they can do the same now. No one is going to think the Democrats suddenly support President Trump on anything but the voters want to see politicians work together. This is an easy way to do that. So far, the reaction of most Democrats has been less than admirable. All of the top candidates running for president have made a point of issuing statements against the mission, mostly because of the bad Orange Man. Elizabeth Warren even had to walk back her statement on Soleimani’s murderous record because the far left reacted badly to that. The left not only didn’t want him taken out, they want to re-write history to make him a decent human being. It’s ridiculous but, sadly, expected in Trump’s America.
Some Democrats are busy huffing and puffing about stopping President Trump from further action. They voice fears of retaliation. This completely ignores that for years, even before Trump was elected, Iran has been behind the attacks and murders of American military members and civilians alike. Soleimani was the mastermind of the attacks. Trump is not a hawkish president, as Democrats know. They just want to play to the far left now and seek approval for their reaction to the mission. It’s a very cynical way to serve their constituents.
The Senate must not let this President march into another war in the Middle East without debate and authorization from Congress. Yesterday I joined @timkaine to introduce a resolution preventing Pres. Trump from starting a war with Iran all on his own. https://t.co/f5ejxqdsT4
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) January 4, 2020
While Democrats accuse Trump of being a war criminal and trying to start a war with Iran, it was Iran who literally committed an act of war when the U.S. embassy in Baghdad was attacked. An American embassy sits on American soil. Now Democrats are afraid the war criminal will commit war crimes. Sane Americans, however, recognize Trump’s actions for what they are – taking out the evilest man on earth to protect American lives, and the lives of others, too. Soleimani was behind the deaths of his own people, too, in Iran. But the left would rather criticize a Republican president when they did not hold Obama accountable in the same way when Osama Bin Laden was killed. They sound hysterical because Trump is clearly stating that if the attacks continue, there will be a quick response.
This is a war crime.
Threatening to target and kill innocent families, women and children – which is what you’re doing by targeting cultural sites – does not make you a “tough guy.”
It does not make you “strategic.”
It makes you a monster. https://t.co/IjkNO8BD07— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 5, 2020
The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes on Twitter.
God help us all! #25thAmendment https://t.co/nYZSvpo8rG
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 5, 2020
We cannot stay silent as this lawless President recklessly moves us closer to yet another unnecessary war that puts innocent lives at risk at home & across the globe. Congress alone has the authority to declare war, & we must reclaim our responsibility & say no to war with Iran.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 3, 2020
Trump was elected to end continuous wars in the Middle East. He isn’t trying to start a war now, he is responding to Iranian attacks. Most people know that Trump has shown great restraint as Iran has grown bolder. He has continued to state that he wants to hold talks with Iranian leaders. I expect Trump to show strength without an all-out war.
Cruz has an established history of hawkish behavior toward Iran. In December Cruz leveraged the State Department to release a portion of an internal legal opinion that says the U.S. has the right to demand that all U.N. sanctions on Iran be reinstated despite President Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal. He supported withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. He, along with others, supported a resolution last May to recognize the anniversary of that action. Last September he released a statement as the United Nations General Assembly met to apply maximum pressure to Iran by invoking the snapback provision in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231.
We’ll see how many Democrats can put aside their hatred of President Trump to now at least honor those who participated in the Soleimani mission.
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