Washington, DC – In response to the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, Foreign Policy for America released the following statement:
President Trump’s dangerous escalation with Iran risks sparking a wider conflict in the region. The stated goal of this strike was to prevent imminent loss of American lives. If Iran retaliates, as they have threatened to do, President Trump has to answer for those lives lost. Killing the leader of an adversary’s military, on a foreign country’s soil, is an incredible escalation in the already simmering tit-for-tat situation in the region. This strike was made without congressional authorization, or apparently congressional notification, and many questions need to be answered by this administration to address how they will prevent this from becoming a wider conflict.
If Americans thought the war with Iraq was bad, a war with Iran would be immeasurably worse. Dangerously escalating a conflict, with little apparent foresight for the consequences, does not show strength. It shows a disregard for the other tools of American foreign policy, such as diplomacy, and puts Americans, our partners, and our allies in the region in imminent danger. Foreign Policy for America condemns this strike in the strongest possible terms and urges maximum restraint in the face of any Iranian retaliation.
“This is what we’ve always feared — President Trump has dismantled the State Department, attacked our intelligence officials, and now he’s making decisions based solely on his fragile ego, from his golf course, surrounded by yes men,” said Andrew Albertson, Executive Director of Foreign Policy for America. “He feels insulted, he lashes out, the Pentagon refuses to push back, and now American servicemembers across the country are asking themselves — Will I be asked to fight a war because this President is a fool?”
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