CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Reaction continues to come in after that US drone strike near the Baghdad airport that killed a top Iranian military leader.
Iran is now vowing revenge and the US embassy in Iraq is urging US citizens to leave immediately.
The Drone attack killed Iranian General Qasem Soleiman who has been blamed for the deaths of numerous American servicemembers and civilians.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Soleimani was planning new attacks in the region aimed at Americans.
North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis reacted in a Tweet calling Soleimani a “terrorist,” adding, “The Iranian government should understand that their acts of aggression and terror against American civilians and servicemembers will have consequences.”
Democrat Cal Cunningham, a veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan when he was in the Army, is running against Tillis.
Cunningham said Soleimani was a terrorist and murderer, but added, “Since this targeted killing was carried out without Congressional authorization, we need to see the facts and hear the justification for why the action was taken now and how we mitigate the very high risk that we are precipitating a serious regional conflict.”
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he was briefed by President Trump on the strike while Graham was visiting Mar-A-Lago in Florida this week.
Democratic Congressional leaders complained that they were not given a similar briefing and no request was made by Trump for congressional authorization.
Democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams in a tweet called Trump unfit for office, writing, “President Trump is on a deadly irresponsible course that will lead to war. The President is putting the safety&security of American lives around the world in danger.”
In Raleigh, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg opened a new campaign office and talked about the strike.
Bloomberg said he hoped Trump had carefully considered the national security implications of the attack, adding, “But given his track record and history of making reckless decisions that undermine US strategic objectives, particularly recently in Syria, there is every reason I think to be deeply concerned.”