Duckworth Highlights Risks of Trump’s Iran Operation on Troops

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper this afternoon, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) excoriated Donald Trump for launching an illegal military campaign against Iran without Congressional approval and without a plan for what comes next, all while putting our servicemembers and national security at risk. Video of the interview can be found on the Senator’s YouTube.

Key Quotes:

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• “I’m glad that Khamenei is dead…but Donald Trump promised Americans that he would get us out of forever wars, and yet here he is, on his own, launching an attack on Iran without Congressional oversight when there appears to be no imminent threat. He’s in violation of the War Powers Act. He or his aides need to come to Congress to explain and justify to us why he was able to do this, and if there is no justification, then we should have a vote in the Senate on the War Powers Act.”

• “There’s no evidence of any imminent threat presented by the Iranians. In fact, they don’t have the capabilities to launch a ballistic missile at the United States...And it was President Trump himself who said that Operation Midnight Hammer annihilated the Iran nuclear program. So, which is it? Did we annihilate their nuclear program, or are they imminently about to launch a nuclear attack on the United States? Their arguments don’t hold water, and frankly, I’m deeply concerned that the American taxpayers, and in particular our men and women in uniform, are going to be paying the price for Donald Trump’s recklessness.”

• “If you’re going to take out the leadership of Iran, what is next? There’s going to be a power vacuum there. And in fact, Trump signaled to Islamic terrorist groups all around the world that it’s okay now to attack U.S. forces and Americans. Frankly, I think what he’s done is similar to what happened in Iraq, when we went in there without a plan of what we were going to do after the initial couple of weeks, and we ended up being in there for 20 years. And Americans became the target of terrorist organizations all around the world.”

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