White House says Trump used Iraq War authorization to kill Qassem Soleimani

President Trump used the 2002 congressional authorization for the war in Iraq to launch the strike in Baghdad that killed Iran’s most senior military leader, according to his national security adviser.

Democrats have demanded to know the legal justification for killing Qassem Soleimani, the feared leader of Iran’s Quds Force responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American personnel.

Speaking to reporters, national security adviser Robert O’Brien said Trump made his decision after receiving intelligence that Soleimani was traveling around the Middle East plotting “imminent” attacks against American troops and diplomats.

“The president exercised America’s clear, inherent right of self-defense to counter this threat,” he said. “It was a fully authorized action under the 2002 [Authorization for Use of Military Force] and is consistent with his constitutional authority as commander in chief to defend our nation and our forces against [an] attack like those that Soleimani has directed in the past and was plotting now.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among those warning that the strike rising a dangerous escalation in the Middle East and had been conducted without an “authorization for use of military force” against Iran and without the consultation of Congress.

However, the 2002 AUMF was cited earlier this week by a State Department official to justify carrying out strikes against the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah, following the killing of an American serviceman. And O’Brien cited the same authorization to conduct Thursday night’s strike.

He added that the measure would help bring security to the region. “This was designed to prevent further bloodshed. It was a defensive action,” he said.

O’Brien declined to divulge details of Soleimani’s plans other than to say he had arrived in Baghdad as part of a plot to cause bloodshed.

“He had just come from Damascus where he was planning attacks on American soldiers, airmen, Marines, sailors, and against our diplomats. This strike was aimed at disrupting ongoing attacks that were being planned by Soleimani and deterring future Iranian attacks through their proxies or through the IRGC Quds directly against Americans,” he said.

Washington has long viewed Soleimani as a deadly enemy of the United States responsible for hundreds of deaths of American soldiers killed by Iranian-made explosives during the Iraq War. O’Brien said the toll was more than 600 lives, with hundreds more maimed.

Although he had a reputation for living in the shadows, he had begun to operate more openly in recent years.

A former member of the National Security Council under Trump said Soleimani had long been considered a target.

“Opportunities to attack him had been around for a long time. Previous administrations didn’t want to do that. They were worried it was too provocative,” he said.

“He operated in such a way that he assumed he would never be attacked. He was operating out in the open.”

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