Presidential hopeful, Senator Elizabeth Warren, has been speculating about the real reason why the Trump administration took the decision to assassinate Iran’s military commander Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad Airport on Friday and has been asking some rather pertinent questions.
She argues that the Trump administration have been suspiciously inconsistent when offering an explanations for the decision to take out Soleimani. The official line is that it was a retaliatory act – a response to the killing of an American contractor on 27th Dec. Warren asks why, when there were a number of options available to the administration, did Trump decide to take the most aggressive action available.
Virginia Democrat, Senator Mark Warner, who is himself a ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also expressed concerns over why the Trump administration chose not to consult with Congress or with US allies before taking the decision to launch the airstrike, thus conveniently avoiding any scrutiny or challenge.
Warren reminds a CNN news that it was Trump who started the aggression against Iran when he unilaterally pulled the US out of Iran’s nuclear deal and that he’s been “repeatedly escalating tensions” ever since. She points out that this recent decision has brought the US closer to a war with Iran than ever before and that this has put US military personnel and US diplomats at serious risk in the region and she goes on to ask why? What could possibly be the reason for the Trump administration to take such a reckless decision now and not a month ago or a month from now?
Warren believes the impeachment trial could be extremely damaging for Trump, given the fact that the administration have, so far, failed to offer any evidence or witnesses in their defence. In fact, they have denied access to first hand witnesses and have defied a court order to release relevant documents.
Warren argues that it has to be more than a coincidence that Trump is due to face a damaging impeachment trial next week and escalating tensions in the middle east would provide a great distraction because it moves the conversation onto the likelihood of war with Iran and throws up worrying questions around whether the US might be sending yet another generation of young people to war, in a foreign country, for an indefinite length of time. Warren also points out that this is not an untypical tactic for Trump to use because he did exactly the same thing during the Ukraine scandal. In fact, it seems that as soon as people start to ask questions, the Trump administration manages to find ways to deflect attention by introducing all manner of speculation.
SOURCE:
https://www.euronews.com/2020/01/05/warren-questions-iran-attack-timing-impeachment-trial-looming-n1110596
