Sen. Rand Paul warned that the Trump administration should be careful not to spark a war in the Middle East without the approval of Congress.
The Kentucky Republican invoked the Constitution and 19th-century statesman Henry Clay in a multi-tweet thread on Friday after U.S. forces killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani at the direction of President Trump.
“When Henry Clay lost his son in the Mexican American War in 1847, he spoke to a public gathering in Lexington, which included a young Congressman Abraham Lincoln in the crowd,” Paul said in a tweet. “Clay’s words still ring true: ‘A declaration of war is the highest and most awful exercise of sovereignty…such a vast and tremendous power ought not to be confided to the perilous exercise of one single man.’”
[Click here for more Soleimani coverage]
Clay’s words still ring true: “A declaration of war is the highest and most awful exercise of sovereignty…such a vast and tremendous power ought not to be confided to the perilous exercise of one single man.”
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 3, 2020
Paul, 56, went on to compare Soleimani to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who American forces captured in 2003 following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. He said that the overthrow of Saddam, who was executed in 2006, bolstered Iran and its proxies, an unintended consequence of the power vacuum left by the deposed dictator.
“President Trump viscerally understands that the toppling of Saddam Hussein made Iran stronger. Soleimani, like Hussein, was an evil man who ordered the killing of Americans. Yet, the question remains, whether his death will lead to more instability in the Middle East or less,” the Kentucky senator said.
“The question today is whether the assassination of Soleimani will expand the war to endanger the lives of every American soldier or diplomat in the Middle East?” Paul said.
The question today is whether the assassination of Soleimani will expand the war to endanger the lives of every American soldier or diplomat in the Middle East?
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 3, 2020
“If we are to go to war w/ Iran the Constitution dictates that we declare war. A war without a Congressional declaration is a recipe for feckless intermittent eruptions of violence w/ no clear mission for our soldiers. Our young men and women in the armed services deserve better,” Paul concluded.
If we are to go to war w/ Iran the Constitution dictates that we declare war. A war without a Congressional declaration is a recipe for feckless intermittent eruptions of violence w/ no clear mission for our soldiers. Our young men and women in the armed services deserve better.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 3, 2020
Soleimani, 62, was killed in a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad International Airport along with Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, leader of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces, a largely Shiite group that exerts Tehran’s influence in the politics of Baghdad.
Soleimani was the long-time head of the Quds Force, a branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for special operations in other countries.
His death came after a violent protest and attack by Iranian-backed protesters at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The United States responded by bolstering the embassy with 100 Marines and the deployment of 750 members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that an “imminent threat” precipitated the U.S. airstrike against Soleimani.
The general was one of the top military leaders in Iran, and his death is expected to generate an Iranian retaliation, the scale of which is not known.
[Read more: ‘Proud of President Trump’: Nikki Haley says Soleimani death ‘should be applauded’]
