Rand Paul Says Soleimani’s Death Increases Chances Of Iran Attacking U.S.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul appeared on Friday’s edition of Fox News’ Your World and spoke about Donald Trump‘s controversial drone strike, which killed Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani. According to Paul, the move has increased the likelihood that Iran and its proxies will launch an attack on the United States, Breitbart reports.
“I think the problem is that there is an open question whether or not attacks from Iran are more or less likely,” Paul said.
The 56-year-old politician said that even if the notion that Soleimani was planning an attack on the U.S. is true, his death nevertheless throws fuel onto the fire amid an already tense relationship between America and Iran.
“But with his death, do you think it’s more or less likely that Iran and their militias and their proxies will attack the U.S.? I would argue that it’s much more likely,” he continued.
Paul said that in the absence of a declaration of war and the lack of approval from Congress and the American people, the mission becomes “messy.” He suggested the mission will consist of “escalating, intermittent violence” and “no purpose or plan,” noting the lack of a call for unity around the issue.
“The president said he didn’t want perpetual war in the Middle East. But he’s adding more and more troops. If you don’t want perpetual war, you don’t keep sending more targets over there.”
Damn. I hate agreeing with Rand Paul. pic.twitter.com/ee4MKuomgO
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) January 3, 2020
Paul has been known to identify with a libertarian ideology like Independent Justin Amash, who has also been vocal about his opposition to U.S. involvement in the Middle East. While Paul has generally been supportive of Trump, Amash left the Republican Party and became an Independent following his calls for the president’s impeachment after the release of the Mueller report.
In response to the recent drone strike, the Michigan congressman said that Trump does not have the authority to go to war with Iran, noting that Congress must authorize war due to the effects such an action would have on the people of America. According to Amash, the congressional system requires “consent for war” from the citizens of the country, via their senators and representatives in Congress.
As The Inquisitr reported, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna took action against a potential war with Iran on Friday by introducing a bill that would block Pentagon funding for unilateral military action against the Western Asia country without congressional approval. The proposal comes as Paul, Amash, and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy took aim at Trump’s failure to obtain authorization for Congress for the recent drone strike, Axios reports.
