Ambassador O'Brien: 'Iran has two choices -- We hope they choose the right path"
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| Ambassador John O'Brien |
(The Slice): American citizens, politicians and the rest of the world are questioning if the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian general was justified.
The man who replaced John Bolton as National Security Advisor and Ambassador, John O'Brien was designated to provide answers to press on Friday. He addressed critical questions with regard to both Pres. Donald Trump's reasoning and his rights as Commander-in-Chief in ordering an attack to thwart terrorism that has major implications in international affairs. Trump said Friday that Soleimani was plotting "imminent and sinister attacks," a claim backed by Sec. of State Mike Pompeo.
Iran has promised there will be repercussions. There are conflicting views on when and how Iran will retaliate (whether in the form of a physical or cyber attack). The response can be unpredictable. But, Trump said the U.S. stands ready come what may, although he does not want to start a war. White House, Congress and the Pentagon have been in discussions about how the U.S. will maneuver The Trump Administration has warned Congress of a prospects of an attack. has shaken American throughout the world.
Both Geraldo Rivera and Tucker Carlson of the conservative FOX News have condemned the decision as hasty, alarmed that such actions will have dire ramifications in the region and possibly internationally.
In response to Pres. Trump's "decisive action" to protect troops, diplomats and American personnel in the region, O'Brien explained that the deceased was responsible for the deaths of numerous Americans over the years, including the Dec. 27 death of an American contractor who was the victim of a rocket attack on the K-1 Air Base in Iraq, which also resulted in four other service men and women being injured.
O'Brien said that Congress had been kept in the loop within the past 24 hours of the take down. There had been question abut the timing of informing Congress, especially the "Gang of Eight." Intelligence matters of the highest levels of sensitivity are shared with the "Gang of Eight," two members each of the Executive branch from both chambers in Congress and Intelligence Committee leads. In the current administration they are:
- Adam Schiff (D-CA-28), Chair
- Devin Nunes (R-CA-22), Ranking Member
- Richard Burr (R-NC), Chair
- Mark Warner (D-VA), Vice Chair
- Leadership in the United States House of Representatives:
- Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12), Speaker of the House
- Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23), Minority Leader
- Leadership in the United States Senate:
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Majority Leader
- Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader
The U.S. was on the defensive
"The this action was taken to stop a war, not to start a war. President Trump has been very clear he's offered to talk without preconditions, at any time, with Iran. And he continues to seek a peaceful resolution with Iran. Unfortunately, those efforts by the President have been rebuffed."
"Soleimani has a long history of attacking Americans. And there are at least 600 Americans that were killed with these shaped explosives -- IEDs -- that were used in Iraq on a regular basis, and there were many, many more Americans that were maimed, losing arms, legs, their limbs, because of his activities.
The alternate path is to sit down with the United States, for Iran to give up its nuclear program, for Iran to stop its regional escapades and proxy wars in the Middle East, to stop taking hostages, and to behave like a normal nation that's part of the community of nations. In that case, as the President said today, Iran has a fabulous future -- you know, a terrific future for the Iranian people. . .We hope they choose the right path."
Due to Democrats saying they were not briefed on the strike in advance, one of the most pressing questions was whether that attack was authorized in the first place, for which O'Brien initiated an explanation saying,"It was a fully authorized action under the 2002 AUMF. . ."
He added that Iran has only two options in the way forward -- further escalation or agreeing to talk to the U.S., a request that has been ignored in the past.
Below are highlighted points from that briefing:
Soleimani had a history of killing Americans
He's also been involved in activities such as supporting the Assad regime and their brutal efforts in Syria, which has resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives in Syria, and was involved in, most recently, in putting down the protests in Iran at the cost of countless -- probably over a thousand lives of Iranian citizens."
The most notable example of his activities in the past couple of weeks was the attack on the K-1 Air Base, on December 27th, which resulted in the lives -- the loss of life of one American contractor and the injury to four of our service men and women."
Protecting sovereignty through shaky relations in Iraq
"We really look at the operation that took place. It was an operation that was in support of the people of Iraq, that was in support of a sovereignty of Iraq against oppressors from Iran and specifically against Soleimani and the IRGC Quds Force.
So we're certainly -- we’ve invested a lot in the future of Iraq and the friendship that we have with the Iraqi people, so we're looking forward and hopeful that we'll have a good relationship with Iraq going forward. Certainly, there's some high tensions after what's happened. But again, I look at those people going out into Tahrir Square to demonstrate in favor of the United States and to celebrate a bit of a new lease on freedom as a very positive sign with Iraq.
As far as do we consider what could happen as a result of this operation, we certainly considered all aspects."
What happens next, according to O'Brien
"Iran has two choices here; they just got two roads to go down. One is further escalation. And pursuing that path will lead to nowhere for the Iranian people or for the regime. And the United States will not be intimidated by threats from our adversaries. And we've made it very clear that should Iran retaliate or escalate -- and again, this was us disrupting a plot that their leadership was well aware of, that Soleimani was involved with.
They know what they were up to. We had the right to self-defense; they understand that. If they choose to escalate, that would be a very poor decision, in my view, for the Iranian regime.
