Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was a "terrible guy" and it was a good thing to take him out, but the timing is questionable behind the Trump administration's decision to order the airstrike against him, Sen. Angus King said Thursday.
"Why last Friday?" the Maine independent told CNBC's "Squawk Box." "What had happened that provoked this rather startling strike at this particular moment in time? There's a lot of detail that we don't have about the strike."
White House officials briefed lawmakers on Wednesday about the decision, and King said that even though Soleimani was a "bad guy," one must "weigh that against the negatives" that come along with killing him.
Tuesday, Iran fired 15 missiles at Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops and coalition forces, and even though no American casualties, Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday there is "no doubt" Iran had hoped to kill Americans in retribution for Soleimani's death.
“We would be having a very different discussion right now if the Iranian missiles had killed Americans,” King said. “24 hours ago we were on the brink of a serious war. So you have to weigh all of these things together.”
King, also appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," where he commented that the question is whether Congress should have a voice in debating if the United States is going to war.
"When we were told that's really (like) emboldening the enemy, that's what set off (Sen.) Mike Lee, who has a deep and abiding feeling about the Constitution," said King. "That's totally inconsistent with the Constitution which says that Congress has the power to declare war and that's when people were getting uncomfortable, not so much about Soleimani, but what comes next, what are the next steps in Iran?"
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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