Former Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday night that the Trump administration’s airstrike against one of Iran’s top military lieutenants was a rash action that could potentially backfire on the U.S.
President Donald Trump “just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox,” Biden said in a statement after reports confirmed a U.S. drone strike killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani. “I hope the Administration has thought through the second- and third-order consequences of the path they have chosen.”
.@JoeBiden tonight says Trump “just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.”
“I hope the Administration has thought through the second- and third-order consequences of the path they have chosen.”
Full statement: pic.twitter.com/3LN03aMOJl
— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) January 3, 2020
Biden did suggest Soleimani “did deserve to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region.” He went on to say the president “owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep safe our troops.”
Supporters of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force protest outside the US embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on January 1, 2020 to condemn the US air strikes that killed 25 Hashed fighters over the weekend. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)
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.
The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday addressing the airstrike that Soleimani was “actively developing plans” to attack American diplomats in Iraq. (RELATED: Sen Graham: The Price Of Killing Americans ‘Has Just Gone Up Drastically’)
Analysts said Soleimani’s death could escalate tensions in the Middle East and potentially lead to a war against Iran. The Quds Force have provided supported terrorist groups for years.
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