Washington, DC: US president Donald Trump is facing severe criticism back home for what the Democrats are calling an “illegal” war against Iran.
The US didn’t have any “imminent threat” from the Middle Eastern country, the Democrats have said, even as Trump and his top aides claimed that the US launched a preemptive strike on Iran on Saturday to prevent Tehran’s potential retaliation on American military bases.
“I just left a classified briefing on Iran and here’s what I can say. It is so much worse than you thought. You are right to be worried,” senator Elizabeth Warren said after the second day of closed-door briefings with Trump officials at the Capitol, as reported by NDTV.
“Trump administration has no plan in Iran. This illegal war is based on lies and it was launched without any imminent threat to our nation. Donald Trump still hasn’t given a single clear reason for this war and he seems to have no plan for how to end it either,” she said in a video statement on X.
“Like a lot of you, I am really angry. I am angry at what Donald Trump is doing and I feel grief for those already killed in this unnecessary conflict and I will keep doing everything I can to fight to end this war,” Warren said.
Senator Angus King, the independent from Maine, said it’s “very disturbing” that Trump took the US to war because Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to bomb Iran.
Past US presidents “have consistently said, ‘No'”, he said.
Senator Richard Blumenthal warned against sending US military troops into Iran.
“I am more fearful than ever we may be putting boots on the ground,” he said after the briefing, even as House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries asked why the Trump administration was “spending billions of dollars to bomb Iran.”
These remarks came ahead of the US Senate heading towards a vote on Wednesday on Trump’s decision to embark on a war against Iran. The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, gives lawmakers an opportunity to demand congressional approval before any further attacks are carried out.
Trump, on Tuesday, said that his administration thought Iran was “going to attack first”, a day after his top diplomat, Marco Rubio, told reporters that the US launched the attack because of fears that Iran would retaliate in response to planned Israeli action against Tehran.
“Based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they (Iran) were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen,” he said at an Oval Office meeting with Germany’s chancellor.
“So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
Rubio also doubled down after meeting with US House and Senate members on Tuesday, while insisting that “No, I told you this had to happen anyway.”
“The bottom line is this: The president determined we were not going to get hit first. It’s that simple, guys,” he told reporters.
