The Trumpists were whooping it up after the assassinations at the Baghdad Airport. Pompeo claimed Iraqis were dancing in the streets and baking cakes for Trump, although that dancing may have been old footage-- or maybe he was thinking about Don, Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Jared and their bag of shit father. Iran has already vowed retaliation-- probably just what Trump and those around him want so they can get into a full-scale war. This was the official Iranian statement yesterday:
Ayatollah Khamenei said in a statement on Friday that the “cruelest people on earth” assassinated the “honorable” commander who “courageously fought for years against the evils and bandits of the world.”His demise will not stop his mission, but the criminals who have the blood of General Soleimani and other martyrs of the attack on their hands must await a tough revenge, the Leader added.The Leader noted that all the friends and foes must know that the Resistance movement’s struggle will continue more strongly, and a definite victory awaits those who fight on this auspicious path.“The demise of our selfless and dear general is bitter, but the continued fight and achievement of the final victory will make life bitterer for the murderers and criminals,” he stressed.In his statement, the Leader also offered condolences to the Iranian nation and General Soleimani’s family, and declared three days of national mourning over the tragedy.General Soleimani was martyred in a targeted assassination attack by US aircraft at Baghdad International Airport early Friday morning.The airstrike also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashad al-Shabi. The PMF media arm reported that the two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.
Assassinating the Iranians was a dangerous and typically lawless act by Trump. But many politicians were slow in reacting, waiting for focus groups, perhaps? Status Quo Joe’s statement was all over the map and pretty typical:Very much like Amy Klobuchar’s:And even Elizabeth:Only Bernie stepped up the the plate without fear or domestic political calculation:Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI), co-chairs of the Congressional Progress Caucus, led the opposition to the NDAA and, of course, both voted against it. This morning they issued this joint statement:
The assassination of Qasem Soleimani represents a dangerous, unconstitutional, and unprecedented military escalation with Iran. Congress has not given President Trump the authority to start a war with Iran-- in fact, in the House-passed NDAA earlier this year, we explicitly prohibited preemptive military action of this kind in an overwhelming, bipartisan vote. By circumventing Congress and green-lighting an unconstitutional strike, President Trump is doubling down on the reckless military brinksmanship that has already led us to the edge of war. It should be clear that the Trump Administration’s approach to Iran has been nothing short of a disaster: withdrawing from the Iran Deal and launching a harmful ‘maximum pressure’ campaign has unraveled decades of diplomacy and alienated us from our allies. With the latest airstrike, we may well be at the brink of war. Congress must act swiftly to stop the Trump Administration from further escalating before this situation spirals out of control. We need to know why Congress was not consulted, whether our allies were informed of our actions, how we will keep U.S. troops, regional partners, and civilians in the region safe, and-- critically-- how the White House plans to prevent a catastrophic war with Iran. While we seek those answers, Congress must make it clear that there is no congressional authority for war with Iran. We have spent the last eighteen years trying to extricate ourselves from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which have cost thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars. In countries across the region-- including Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Libya-- U.S. military action has destabilized the lives of millions of people and led to the deaths of countless innocent civilians. We cannot afford another deadly, costly, and unending war. There is no military solution to this crisis-- instead, we must pursue meaningful diplomacy to achieve peace and stability in the region.
I asked some of the progressive candidates running for Congress this year. Eva Putzova, the progressive running for the immense AZ-01 district against reactionary "ex"-Republican Tom O'Halleran, a Blue Dog, was the first to respond. "Last summer," she told me, "my opponent was among only seven Democrats who voted to give Trump the authority to go to war with Iran. Last night, Trump put the world at an incredible risk of war. Vote them all out. They all lack leadership and humanity. O’Halleran received contributions from lobbying firms representing Saudi Arabia and UAE-- countries that have been seeking war with Iran for a long time. It must be clear to everyone that my opponent doesn’t represent the interest of Americans but rather corporate interests of the military-industrial complex and the authoritarian regimes in the region."Rachel Ventura, a candidate for the Chicagoland congressional seat held by New Dem Bill Foster, emphasized that "We can't have a president deciding on his own to assassinate high level military figures from other countries like Iran. It’s an act of war. It is the responsibility of Congress to declare war and those boundaries should be respected. The last thing anyone wants is a World War III… Rep. Bill Foster voted for NDAA, giving Trump is blank check to start yet another war. I would have voted with the progressive caucus to stop this uncontrollable spending." Basically, her opponent gave a version of the Biden statement-- Soleimani was bad and deserved what he got but Trump shouldn't have done it without consulting Congress... cake and eating it too. Like many of the candidates Blue America has endorsed, Rachel retweeted Ro Khanna: Shaniyat Chowdhury is taking on corrupt New Dem Gregory Meeks in southeast Queens. “Democrats like Meeks,” Shan told us, “can talk negatively about Trump all they want on CNN. The fact of the matter is, he and the other 187 Democrats who voted to expand the military budget, were conned into doing so. They forgot the President was a conman long before he came to the White House. It’s no coincidence in a time where the lame duck president is being impeached that he’s decided to jump the gun and push the button himself. People dying in a chaotic war is a smoke screen for his crumbling presidency. Starting a war with no congressional approval is criminal. Trump is a war criminal. His actions are foolish and dangerous. Anyone who voted to approve the military spending and believes a war with Iran is good, then they will be complicit in the murders of innocent Iranians and Iraqis in the region. Maybe they should be the ones to sign up for war and see the consequences of war firsthand. Innocent people should not have to suffer.Marie Newman is also up against a reactionary Democrat who talks like he’ll protect his constituents from Trump— and then never does. “Unfortunately, yet predictably,” she said this morning, “Trump has chosen a wholly risky and horrifying path. The minute he walked away from the Iran Deal (as a reminder, my opponent voted against it), reasonable folks knew yesterday’s events would be quite likely. Further, walking away from the Iran Deal combined with the blank check-NDAA passing allowing war without criteria or Congressional approval (Lipinski supported this), clearly enabled Trump to act like a king and potentially start a war in the Middle East. So, very sadly, I am not surprised. I am however, very determined to unseat Dan Lipinski as he proves time and time again, he lacks the judgement and discernment to make decisions for IL-03.”Kara Eastman is the progressive activist both the GOP and DCCC fear in Omaha. "The issue is not that Suleimani was an enemy of the United States," she just told us. "We all know that. But the President just assassinated one of the most powerful Iranians without congressional approval. This is another foreign policy failure, and it's a direct result of Trump's haphazard withdrawal from the JPOA. My right-wing opponent Rep. Don Bacon continues his unwavering support for Trump. He recklessly conflates anti-terror activity with an act of war, and as a result, helped push our nation further into an armed conflict."Heidi Sloan is a Texas Democratic Socialist taking on Trumpist stooge Roger Williams. This was Williams' sick perspective. Here's Sloan's: "We've knocked on thousands of doors in this district and have asked thousands of people what keeps them up at night, and not a single person has said Iran. The assassination of an Iranian general in Iraq is an act of war committed by the US government, but since the assassination the stock price of every single major military contractor has gone up. Endless war is the inheritance Trump has planned for our children, and we know it will be our children sent to wage war and to die for rich war profiteers. Draft dodger Trump as always has ardent support from Roger the Dodger, who accepts generous contributions from military contractors and applauds the foolish and avoidable escalation of this conflict. It's not the rich who pay for wars, it's us, and we will do everything in our power to fight back. No war but class war."Jennifer Christie is the progressive in the open seat Indiana race to replace Susan Brooks in the suburbs and exurbs north of Indianapolis (IN-05). "There is no question that Qassim Suleimani was an enemy of America and our allies," she wrote. "The fact that Trump did not even bother to alert our Congressional leaders nor our allies is deeply disturbing and irresponsible. If there was an imminent threat that required action, then we should know what the intelligence said. Congress should have been immediately notified and briefed of any strategy. Our Constitution grants authority to Congress, not the President, to declare war. It is plausible that Iran will seek retaliation which amounts to war. The American People expect our leaders to be nonpartisan and responsible when it comes to acts of war. This is a very serious escalating situation. Trump has a responsibility to go to Congress to seek any further military action. And here is a reality check: we have a president who has been impeached by the House for misuse of power (specifically around foreign military decisions) and just carried out an assassination strike without even notifying Congress, not even contemporaneously. We have yet to hear of a strategy or reason for a preemptive strike. We have an impeached president who has marched us toward war. Trump has an obligation to the People of the United States to work closely with our Congress and make an account to the People since it is We who could be engaged in war. We are all ears..."Teresa Tomlinson is the progressive Senate candidate taking on Trumpist incumbent David Perdue in Georgia. While Perdue is in lockstep with Trump on everything, Teresa has a more thoughtful approach. "The escalating tension and military actions in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran," she said, "are of grave concern to the American people, our allies in the region and beyond, and to global stability. Given the Trump Administrations’s history of irresponsible and ill-considered strategies-- such as the declaration of trade wars with no plan or objective, the reckless emboldening of Kim Jong Un in North Korea or the knee jerk withdrawal of troops from Syria and the betrayal of our military allies on the ground-- the American people deserve an immediate explanation of the long-term strategy to end this present escalation, prevent war and establish regional and global stability."
