Former Vice President Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration’s airstrike on Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, but said nobody will mourn his death. Sen. Bernie Sanders took a different route.
Biden panned President Donald Trump’s decision Thursday night, calling the airstrike akin to tossing a “stick of dynamite into a tinderbox,” but he hedged, saying in a statement that Soleimani “deserved to be brought to justice.” Sanders, for his part, called the drone strike an assassination.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts mirrored Biden’s reaction, hitting Trump for his perceived recklessness while adding a significant qualification to her criticism.
“Soleimani was a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans,” she said Thursday. “But this reckless move escalates the situation with Iran and increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict.”
Sen. Chris Murphy talks about the assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani. (Screenshot MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show)
“Trump’s dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars,” the Vermont senator noted in a statement after reports confirmed Soleimani’s death.
He added: “Trump promised to end endless wars, but this action puts us on the path to another one.” (RELATED: Joe Biden Pans Trump’s Decision To Target And Kill Iran’s Top Military General)
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of an Iraqi paramilitary group that attempted to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 31, 2019, was also reportedly killed in the drone strike. The Pentagon said in a statement addressing the strike that Soleimani directed the attack on the embassy.
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