US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have condemned US President Donald Trump for threatening ‘war crimes’.
US congresswoman Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, US on 4 October 2016 [Lorie Shaull/Flickr]
January 5, 2020
US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have condemned US President Donald Trump for threatening ‘war crimes’.
In a tweet, New York Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez responded to Trump’s threats to hit Iran ‘fast and hard’, after claiming the US had 52 Iranian sites, some of cultural heritage, in its crosshairs if Iran responded to the assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
This is a war crime.
Threatening to target and kill innocent families, women and children – which is what you’re doing by targeting cultural sites – does not make you a “tough guy.”
It does not make you “strategic.”
It makes you a monster. https://t.co/IjkNO8BD07
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 5, 2020
She said: “This is a war crime. Threatening to target and kill innocent families, women and children – which is what you’re doing by targeting cultural sites – does not make you a “tough guy.”
She continued: “It does not make you strategic, it makes you a monster.”
Minnesota representative Omar also condemned Trump’s threats as war crimes.
She tweeted: The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes on Twitter. God help us all!”
The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes on Twitter.
God help us all! #25thAmendment https://t.co/nYZSvpo8rG
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 5, 2020
Iran FM: Trump’s attack threat ‘war crime’
Targeting sites of heritage and cultural significance is a tactic terror group Daesh use.
In response to Trump’s threats, Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib shared a video of the late British politician and veteran of the anti-war movement Tony Benn. She said: “This is how we need to talk about war.”
This is how we need to talk about war. https://t.co/IVqxVPAj7x
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 5, 2020
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed Europe for not being ‘supportive enough’ of the assassination, and claimed the US ‘friends in the Middle East region’ had been very supportive of his actions.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far remained silent and decided not to cut his holiday in the Carribean short in response to US actions.
However, UK foreign minister Dominic Raab has said that the UK are ‘on the same page’ as the US following the assassination, and claimed the act of aggression was self defence.
Iran: ‘Like ISIS, Like Hitler…Trump is a terrorist in a suit’
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that if there were further Iranian attacks on US targets, Washington would respond with lawful strikes against decision-makers orchestrating such attacks. Democratic critics of the Republican president have said the strike that Trump authorised was reckless and risked more bloodshed in a dangerous region.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who gave Soleimani the country’s highest honor last year, vowed “severe retaliation” in response to his killing. Thousands mourned his death in Iraq, Iran and Gaza.
Qassem Soleimani was the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force and the mastermind of its regional security strategy. He was killed early Friday near the Baghdad international airport along with senior Iraqi militants in an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump. The attack has caused regional tensions to soar and tested the US alliance with Iraq. Fearing escalation, NATO has suspended it’s training activities in Iraq, while the British Navy has committed to escort every UK-flagged ship across the Straits of Hormuz.
Showing no signs of seeking to reduce tensions, the US president has since issued a stern threat to Iran on Twitter, saying that the US has targeted 52 Iranian sites that it would strike if Iran attacks Americans or US assets in response to the US drone strike that killed Soleimani. He later added that the US will use ‘new’ equipment to strike Iran.
US Democratic White House contenders condemn Trump’s strike against Iranian commander, warn of war
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders delivers a speech during his first presidential campaign rally at Brooklyn College in New York, United States, March 2, 2019. [Atılgan Özdil/Anadolu Agency]
January 3, 2020 at 9:00 pm
Democratic presidential contenders on Friday condemned the air strike that killed prominent Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, saying President Donald Trump’s decision was reckless and could lead the United States to another war in the Middle East, Reuters reports.
The candidates, vying for the right to challenge Trump in the November 2020 election, questioned whether the president had a broader strategy in dealing with Iran, and used the action to highlight their approach to dealing with foreign adversaries.
“President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox,” former US Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement.
At a campaign event in Dubuque, Iowa, he added that no American would mourn Soleimani’s death but “the prospect of direct conflict with Iran is greater than it has ever been.”
Liberal US Senator Bernie Sanders, who has consistently opposed US military intervention overseas, said the move “brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars.”
I was right about Vietnam.
I was right about Iraq.
I will do everything in my power to prevent a war with Iran.
I apologize to no one. pic.twitter.com/Lna3oBZMKB
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 3, 2020
The overnight attack against the general, regarded as the second most powerful figure in Iran, was a dramatic escalation of hostilities in the Middle East between Iran and the United States and its allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strike aimed to disrupt an “imminent attack” that would have endangered Americans in the Middle East. But it was a risky gamble for Trump, who has criticized longstanding US entanglements in the region and promised to end “endless wars.”
Republicans said the move was a sign Trump – who was impeached by the Democratic-led House of Representatives last month and faces a Senate trial on charges he abused his office and obstructed Congress – was restoring American strength and leadership.
“At a time when the president is under impeachment by the Democrats, there’s nothing wrong with him showing strength and resolve in the face of a foreign threat,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean, who is close to the White House.
Democrats said it was another troubling indication of Trump’s erratic approach to foreign policy.
READ: Soleimani’s assassination -America’s declaration of war on Iran
“We’re on the brink of yet another war in the Middle East,” said liberal US Senator Elizabeth Warren. “We’re not here by accident. We’re here because a reckless president, his allies and his administration have spent years pushing us here.”
Many of the Democratic White House candidates, who will face voters for the first time in a month when Iowa kicks off the state-by-state nominating battle on Feb. 3, pounced on the strike to emphasize their own foreign policy philosophies and credentials.
Biden, a former chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee who emphasizes his foreign policy experience, released a 30-second online ad on Friday calling Trump “an erratic, unstable president” and portraying himself as “someone tested and trusted around the world.”
Sanders mentioned in his statement his 2002 vote against authorizing war in Iraq, which he frequently uses as a contrast to Biden, who backed the war.
Biden, Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and other Democrats made clear in their statements that they viewed Soleimani as a threat, but Warren, Sanders and entrepreneur Andrew Yang did not mention the Iranian commander.
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