Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Friday recommended that all senators wait before passing judgment on President Trump’s use of force to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani via a drone strike Thursday.
The Kentucky Republican labeled Soleimani the “architect and chief engineer” of terrorism and said no man alive was responsible for more deaths of American service members.
“For too long this evil man operated without constraint and countless innocents have suffered for it. Now his terrorist leadership has ended,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor. “Now, predictably enough in this political environment, the operation that led to his death may prove controversial or decisive.”
Mr. McConnell said Soleimani was not simply a threat to the U.S. and Israel, but also the entire Middle East region, functioning as the head of terrorist proxies in places such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. He added that the Trump administration would soon brief senators on the operation that led to Soleimani’s death.
Mr. Trump’s Democratic opponents have not waited for the administration’s briefing before condemning his actions. Among Democrats running for president, some of the harshest criticism came from Sen. Bernard Sanders, who described the attack as a “dangerous escalation,” and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who called it an unconstitutional “act of war.”
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