Tag: Trump-created Iran crisis

Republicans come out against Iran language they previously supported

Many House members who supported amendments on War Powers now opposed

In July, 27 Republicans voted for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to effectively prohibit the president from using military force against Iran without congressional approval. As the House readies to vote on a similar measure Thursday, few, if any, Republicans are likely to support it.

U.S. tension with Iran has escalated since July, resulting in recent attacks from both sides. President Donald Trump’s decision to kill Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani has drawn praise from Republicans who believe the administration line about the Quds Force commander and criticism from Democrats who say the intelligence does not support that claim.

The War Powers resolution the House will vote on Thursday directing the president to terminate the use of military force in or against Iran unless Congress authorizes it or such force is needed to defend Americans does not name Trump. But the measure is a referendum on his decisions on Iran, and Republicans don’t want to support Democrats’ latest effort to reprimand the president. Continue reading.

House passes measure seeking to limit Trump on Iran

The Hill logoThe House on Thursday approved a measure aimed at restricting President Trump’s ability to go to war with Iran, a day after a number of lawmakers expressed frustration at the briefing where the administration provided its arguments for a drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. 

In a largely party-line vote of 224-194, the House passed a war powers resolution that would direct the president to end military hostilities with Iran unless Congress specifically authorizes it or the United States faces an “imminent armed attack.”

The measure would not need Trump’s signature because it’s what’s known as a “concurrent resolution.” But that has also left Democrats open to criticism that the resolution is just a messaging bill since concurrent resolutions are typically nonbinding, though their use to force the end of military hostilities under the War Powers Act is untested in court. Continue reading.

Trump Falsely Blames Obama For Iran’s Missile Strike On US Bases

Donald Trump on Wednesday delivered an address from the White House in which he tried to blame former President Barack Obama for the attacks Iran carried out against U.S. troops Tuesday night.

In the speech, Trump claimed that Iran paid for the missiles it used to strike Iraqi bases housing American troops with money it had received from the nuclear deal struck under the Obama administration.

“The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration,” Trump said, repeating a false statement he has used previously about Obama giving Iran billions of dollars.  Continue reading.

Poll: Trump’s Iran Strike Made US Less Safe

Donald Trump’s decision to order an airstrike killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, less than a month after the House of Representatives impeached him, makes America less safe and war with Iran more likely, according to a Morning Consult poll released Wednesday.

While the White House claimed “Americans are safer” after Soleimani was killed, half of Americans (50 percent) disagree, responding that Trump’s decision makes the country less safe. Less than a third (32 percent) of those polled said it made the country safer.

A much larger majority, 69 percent, said Trump’s decision makes war with Iran more likely, while only 15 percent of respondents said war is now less likely. Late Tuesday night, after the poll was completed, Iran launched missiles targeting American military bases in Iraq. Continue reading.

The Memo: Trump claims Iran win while turning down heat

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Wednesday sought to turn down the heat on confrontation with Iran before the showdown spiraled out of control.

In doing so, he brought relief both to Republicans, who believe he can claim a victory, and to Democrats, who had warned that Trump was careening toward a major and potentially catastrophic war.

In remarks at the White House on Wednesday morning, Trump focused on his insistence that Iran should not get a nuclear weapon and on his long-standing criticisms of the nuclear deal agreed between Tehran and other major powers, including the United States, in 2015. Continue reading.

Trump’s Iran Strategy: A Cease-Fire Wrapped in a Strategic Muddle

New York Times logoMr. Trump has yet to resolve the two conflicting instincts on national security that emerge from his speeches and his Twitter feed: bellicosity and disengagement.

President Trump opened a small window for diplomacy with Iran on Wednesday, but combined his words with bald threats that made it hard to see how the two countries could break out of their cycle of confrontation and revenge.

The speech was, in many ways, the sound of muddled policy. It showed that after three years in office, Mr. Trump has yet to resolve the two conflicting instincts on national security that emerge from his speeches and his Twitter feed: bellicosity and disengagement.

And he included all the other requisite elements of a Trump policy speech on Iran: burning resentment of President Barack Obama, critiques of his predecessor’s nuclear deal, dubious factual claims and campaign-year self-congratulation. Continue reading.

After ripping up Obama’s Iran playbook, Trump quickly pieces it back together

Following years of trashing his predecessor’s engagement with Iran, Trump found himself echoing key elements of the Obama approach to avoid creating another front in America’s Middle East wars.

President Donald Trump started with over-the-top, machismo rhetoric toward Iran. He ended by backing down so far that he sounded more like his predecessor.

In a span of just 24 hours, Trump went from threatening to devastate Iran and bomb its cultural sites — a move widely considered a war crime and condemned by Republicans — to calmly delivering a measured address about slapping economic sanctions on the country, striking a new nuclear deal and urging an international institution — NATO — to become more involved in the Middle East.

“The fact that we have this great military and equipment … does not mean we have to use it,” Trump said in televised remarks late Wednesday morning, surrounded by a phalanx of men in uniform who stood in a half-moon formation behind his podium. “We do not want to use it.” Continue reading.

Democrats ‘utterly unpersuaded’ by evidence behind Soleimani strike

The Hill logoDemocrats said Wednesday that the Trump administration failed to present evidence supporting the claim that a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. drone strike was planning an imminent attack.

The frustration boiled over after back-to-back closed-door briefings on the strike that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the evidence represented a “far cry” from an imminent attack, while Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) called the briefing “sophomoric.”  Continue reading.

Trump says Iran ‘appears to be standing down’ in address to nation

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Wednesday said Iran “appears to be standing down” in an address to the nation following missile attacks on two Iraqi bases housing U.S. military personnel.

Trump celebrated that no American lives were lost in the attacks, and announced that his administration would impose new “punishing” sanctions on Tehran until the regime changes its behavior.

Flanked by military leaders and White House officials including Vice President Mike Pence, Trump also seemed to be taking a victory lap of sorts after a week that saw the U.S. and Iran tiptoe toward a major military confrontation.

Cracks emerge among Republicans over Trump’s handling of Iran crisis

Washington Post logoThe Trump administration has lost the support of at least two Republican senators over how it handled the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, after top national security officials failed to tell lawmakers when, if ever, they would notify Congress about future military strikes.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), standing beside Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), lit into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley on Wednesday, telling reporters they refused to answer specific questions during a closed-door session he described as a “drive-by notification or after-the-fact, lame briefing” that was both “insulting” and “completely unacceptable.”

Several senators tried to press officials on why the administration had not approached Congress to authorize the operation to kill Soleimani, and whether there was any situation in which the Trump administration would see fit to approach Congress in advance of a strike. Continue reading.