An Army veteran who was severely wounded by an Iranian explosive applauded President Trump’s decision to order a drone strike killing a top Iranian general.
Retired Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bartlett appeared on Fox News on Friday to support the U.S. attack that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani at an airport in Iraq on Thursday. Bartlett was injured by an Iranian-made explosive in 2005 while serving in Iraq. The attack left him severely burned on his face and hands and cost him an eye.
Bartlett said he celebrated after hearing the news of Soleimani’s death.
“I was thinking about all my friends who had died at the hands of the Iranians, and, to be honest with you, I had a cigar and a whiskey,” Bartlett said.
The wounded veteran also hit back at critics of the attack, asserting that the United States has failed to “send a message” and answer years of Iranian aggression.
“We need to send a message. They’ve been sending us a message for years that they’re at war with us, and we’ve done nothing,” Bartlett said. “We sent them money. That didn’t work. We tried to buy them morality. That didn’t work. We sent policies out, put sanctions on them — not at the level that they’re at now — but none of those things worked, so how many times do you have to stick your finger in this light socket before you realize it shocks you?”
