Shortly after reports emerged that top Iranian general and leader of the Quds forces Qassem Soleimani was killed in an airstrike of the Baghdad airport, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy asked if the US just set off a “massive regional war?”

“Soleimani was an enemy of the United States. That’s not a question,” Murphy wrote.

He added: “The question is this – as reports suggest, did America just assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most powerful person in Iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war?”

Soleimani was an enemy of the United States. That’s not a question.

The question is this – as reports suggest, did America just assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most powerful person in Iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war?

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 3, 2020

Other lawmakers also responded to the attack on the Baghdad airport that left Soleimani — and another top leader — dead.

The response, not surprisingly, fell largely down party lines with Republicans praising the action.

Soleimani’s support of international terrorism cannot be understated — he was responsible for the death of tens of thousands of people worldwide. This is a huge victory.

Promises made, promises kept by President @realDonaldTrump! pic.twitter.com/FfmAdb8V62

— Rep. Michael Waltz (@RepMichaelWaltz) January 3, 2020

As I said on @dailybriefing this afternoon, we shouldn’t hesitate to take terrorists like Soleimani and Muhandis — who have the blood of hundreds of Americans and thousands of our allies — off the battlefield. pic.twitter.com/6mqIdkYHJ9

— Rep. Mike Gallagher (@RepGallagher) January 3, 2020

The defensive actions the U.S. has taken against #Iran & its proxies are consistent with clear warnings they have received

They chose to ignore these warnings because they believed @POTUS was constrained from acting by our domestic political divisions

They badly miscalculated

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 3, 2020

The days of rolling US senior leaders at the negotiating table & killing US soldiers on the battlefield w/impunity are over. If reports are true & Iran Quds Force commander Qassim Soleimani has been killed, this would be very necessary justice served.

— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) January 3, 2020

The Pentagon has confirmed that the US was responsible for the attack. In addition to Iran’s top general, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces was also killed.

[Image via screengrab]

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/2SNGk5n