Democrats’ logic was the first casualty of Trump’s attack
President Trump’s decision to take out a murderous Iranian commander has suddenly injected war and foreign policy into the 2020 race — and handed a new issue to Trump to set himself apart from Democrats openly critical of the commander-in-chief’s move.
Trump is likely to gain at least a temporary bounce from the killing of Qassem Soleimani, though it also carries risks if it escalates the conflict with Iran or even leads to war.
But it was Democrats who seemed to be flummoxed by Trump’s airstrike — on one hand condemning Soleimani as a ruthless terrorist and killer of American troops but at the same time taking pains to paint Trump’s move as reckless.
Nowhere was that more apparent than in U.S. Sen. Elizabeth’s Warren campaign, which at first issued a tweet acknowledging Soleimani as a “murderer” but then, under attack from the left, responded with a clarifying statement calling the Iranian thug a “senior foreign military official.”
“Donald Trump ripped up an Iran nuclear deal that was working,” Warren tweeted. “He’s repeatedly escalated tensions. Now he’s assassinated a senior foreign military official. He’s been marching toward war with Iran since his first days in office — but the American people won’t stand for it.”
Actually, senator, what the American people won’t stand for is a flip-flopping presidential candidate who can’t stand up to the far left and calls a terrorist a “military official.”
Warren’s stumbling response — like her flip-flop on when her Medicare for All plan would take effect — is one reason why her campaign has been slumping lately.
The rest of the Democratic field, including Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, were also critical of Trump, which carries risks if it turns out that the killing of Soleimani prevented a potential terrorist attack.
Their words could be thrown right back at them if the Trump administration presents clear evidence of Soleimani’s role in planning an attack on troops or even civilians here at home.
Trump was clear to personally take credit for Soleimani’s killing in a drone strike as his caravan was leaving the Baghdad airport, saying the strike was “at my direction.”
“He was planning a very major attack, and we got him,” Trump boasted. “We take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over.”
But actually it’s Trump himself who in the past has warned about the U.S. getting dragged into another war — a warning that Democrats are now echoing on the campaign trail.
“This must not be the beginning of another endless war,” former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg said while campaigning in New Hampshire.
And if Iran responds to the Soleimani attack with military action or terror attacks that harm American troops or citizens, Trump could leave himself open to blame.
One thing Trump does not want is another all-out war that puts thousands of more U.S. troops into combat. Americans have seen enough of that in Iraq and Afghanistan.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Fl2fcs
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