Democratic Contenders Condemn Iran Strike

EghtesadOnline: US Democratic presidential contenders on Friday condemned the airstrike that killed Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani, saying US President Donald Trump’s decision was reckless and could lead the United States to another war in the Middle East.

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05 January 2020

“President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox,” former vice president, Joe Biden, said, Reuters reported.

“We’re on the brink of yet another war in the Middle East,” liberal US Senator Elizabeth Warren said. “We’re not here by accident. We’re here because a reckless president, his allies and his administration have spent years pushing us here.”

Public opinion polls show Americans in general are opposed to US military interventions overseas. A survey last year by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found only 27% of Americans believe military interventions make the United States safer and nearly half said they make the country less safe, according to Financial Tribune.

“There are serious questions about how this decision was made and whether we are prepared for the consequences,” Pete Buttigieg, a former Navy Reserve officer who served in Afghanistan, said.

While the Democrats were united in condemning Trump’s decision, there were some distinctions in their responses.

Biden and Buttigieg indicated they viewed Soleimani as a security threat, whereas US Senator Bernie Sanders and Warren referred to him more neutrally and called his killing an “assassination”.