Pompeo struggles to defend killing of Iranian general
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tried to justify why the United States killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a string of television interviews.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on several news networks over the weekend to try and explain why Donald Trump authorized the military strike in Iraq that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani — a move that could spark escalating violence.
Pompeo in large part sidestepped requests for details on the matter, throwing Trump’s decision further into question.
The public line from the White House so far has been that Soleimani was planning an “imminent attack” that required an immediate hit on the general.
“It was the time to take this action so that we could disrupt this plot, deter further aggression from Qassem Soleimani and the Iranian regime — as well as to attempt to de-escalate the situation,” Pompeo said Friday morning on CNN. “The risk of doing nothing was enormous. The intelligence community made that assessment, and President Trump acted decisively last night.”
However, CNN has since reported that there is “skepticism” among national security officials about whether there really was an imminent threat that required Soleimani’s murder.
The Washington Post also reported that Pompeo has long fought for aggressive action against Iran and spoke with Trump “months ago” about killing Soleimani — calling into question whether he was simply waiting for a justification.
NBC’s Chuck Todd pushed Pompeo on the issue Sunday morning, saying that a successor to Soleimani had already been named and asking Pompeo why he was “convinced that taking out Soleimani has done anything to stop” the imminent threat.
Pompeo dodged the question, telling Todd that the United States would be “culpably negligent had we not taken this action.”
When pressed on CNN about whether there was still a threat because Iran has vowed to respond in kind to Soleimani’s killing, Pompeo suggested there may be additional violence.
“I’ve been part of the discussion and planning process — everything I’ve seen about how we will respond with great force and great vigor if the Iranian leadership makes a bad decision,” Pompeo said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ “We hope that they won’t, but when they do, America will respond.”
Pompeo also lied during an appearance on Fox News when he tried to deny that Trump threatened to bomb Iranian cultural sites — a move that, if taken, would amount to war crimes.
“President Trump didn’t say he’d go after a cultural site — read what he said,” Pompeo said.
Trump, in fact, said exactly that, tweeting over the weekend that he would respond to any retaliatory moves from Iran by bombing “52 Iranian sites” some of them “important to Iran & the Iranian culture.”
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
Recommended
Biden campaign launches new ad focused on Affordable Care Act
Former President Trump has said he wants to do away with the popular health care law.
By Kim Lyons, Pennsylvania Capital-Star - May 08, 2024Trump leaves door open to banning medication abortion nationwide
Donald Trump is planning to release more details in the weeks ahead about how his administration would regulate access to medication abortion, according to comments he made during a lengthy interview with Time magazine published Tuesday.
By Jennifer Shutt, States Newsroom - April 30, 2024Biden on abortion rights: President expects to give speech Tuesday on new Florida 6-week ban
‘Having the president of the United States speaking out loud and with confidence about abortion access is a great thing’
By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix - April 22, 2024