House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call for a war powers resolution to limit President Donald Trump's military actions regarding Iran is a play to "tie his hands" and that could lead to serious consequences, Sen. John Barrasso said Monday.
"I'm happy to have that debate," the Wyoming Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "We've had it about Yemen, about ISIS, about Al Qaeda, but that's not what she's trying to do."
Instead, Pelosi is trying to limit Trump's authority, and "in the process, I am concerned she is going to turn Soleimani into a political martyr rather than the killer and criminal he is."
Barrasso added that he is not concerned that the attack killing Iranian Gen. Qassam Soleimani will lead to a broader conflict, as Trump does not want war.
"He wants to do these things in the negotiated way," he said. "You want to negotiate from the position of strength. That's what this administration has done."
Trump had "every authority" as commander-in-chief to take out Soleimani, as "American lives were at stake," said Barrasso.
"What we've seen is 11 attacks in the last two months," said Barrasso. "Soleimani (was) getting much more bold, more aggressive in terms of his actions...we know he was a war criminal and it was the right decision."
He also said he disagrees with former Vice President Joe Biden's contention that Iran is "now in the driver's seat."
"Iran is not in the driver's seat," Barrasso said. "Iran is in the center of the bullseye of the target. They need to know that anything they do against the United States, they will pay doubly for."
Instead, Iran should negotiate and realize that it should not have nuclear weapons,
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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