On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) blamed President Donald Trump for the Ukraine plane crash, which killing all 176 people.
U.S. Defense officials said Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was probably shot down accidentally by Iran during their missile strike in response to a U.S. drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani last week.
Speier said, “I have been briefed on it in the Intelligence Committee. I’m not at liberty to say. But if what is being projected is true, this is yet another example of collateral damage from the actions that have been taken in a provocative way by the president of the United States.”
She added, “The continued saber-rattling by the president doesn’t help us. I also feel strongly that by taking out General Soleimani, that that did not somehow rid us of any of the planning that the Iranians would be doing or that the Shia militia that is throughout the region is also engaged in doing. And we also have the leader of the Shia militia who was assassinated as well. That may be the subject of some efforts to seek revenge. This needs to be deescalated. The president needs to stop saber-rattling. He needs to find a way to use our allies to find a means by not just tamping this down but getting Iran to the table, where we can renegotiate a joint agreement on the use of nuclear weapons and move forward in a manner that is not as bellicose as the president has been as he addresses Iran. Iran has been a bad actor. Soleimani was a bad actor. There are many people who are bad actors. We have to find a way to live together and attempt to move towards peace.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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