During a speech on the Senate floor on Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stated that “The risk of a much longer military engagement in the Middle East is acute and immediate.” And the killing of Qasem Soleimani “may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war, exactly the kind of endless war the president promised he would not drag us into.”
Schumer said, “The administration did not consult in this case, and I fear that those very serious questions have not been answered and may not be fully considered. Among those questions: What was the legal basis for conducting this operation? And how far does that legal basis extend? Iran has many dangerous surrogates in the region and a whole range of possible responses. Which responses do we expect? Which are most likely? Do we have plans to counter all of the possible responses? How effective will our counters be? What does this action mean for the long-term stability of Iraq and the trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives sacrificed there? How does the administration plan to manage an escalation of hostilities? And how does the administration plan to avoid a larger and potentially endless conflagration in the Middle East? These are questions that must be answered.”
He added, “The president’s decision may add to an already dangerous and difficult situation in the Middle East. The risk of a much longer military engagement in the Middle East is acute and immediate. This action may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war, exactly the kind of endless war the president promised he would not drag us into. As our citizens, and those of our allies, evacuate Iraq and troops prepare for retaliatory action, Congress needs answers to these questions and others from the administration immediately, and the American people need answers as well.”
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