Rep. Adam Kinzinger said Friday he wouldn't be surprised if President Donald Trump does not order a military strike against Iran after last weekend's Saudi oil asset strikes, and he fears that Iran's aggression won't end if something isn't done.
"We saw what happened with the drone strike," the Illinois Republican, an Air National Guard pilot, told CNN's "New Day," referring to the response to the downing of a U.S. unmanned aircraft earlier this summer. "It was ordered and then pulled back. That shows weakness and can invite further attacks."
And in the situation with the Saudi attacks, "this is not going to end," Kinzinger said.
"This has been continuing for the last year," said Kinzinger. "It's really continued since 1979, this attack on Americans. It's not going to end. It's like a bully flicking you in the ear. Eventually, you have to hit him in the face and he'll stop."
With Iran, there are many options, including hitting an Iranian oil facility, strikes on the weaponry used to fire missiles, and more, said Kinzinger.
In the current situation, the United States itself didn't come under attack, but Saudi Arabia is an ally, Kinzinger said.
"We have a unique responsibility to protect global commerce of which this is a massive violation," he said. "If Saudi [Arabia] does the reaction to Iran, you have just created a regional Sunni/Shia conflict in the Middle East. If that's what people want, so that Saudi Arabia defends itself, that's fine. But then don't come back and be upset when a regional war kicks off.
"This is something where the United States can do it. We protect our allies, too. We can do it and not create a broader regional conflict."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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