Washington(ANN)-US Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have condemned US President Donald Trump for threatening ‘war crimes’.
In a tweet, New York Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez responded to Trump’s threats to hit Iran ‘fast and hard’, after claiming the US had 52 Iranian sites, some of cultural heritage, in its crosshairs if Iran responded to the assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
She said: “This is a war crime. Threatening to target and kill innocent families, women and children – which is what you’re doing by targeting cultural sites – does not make you a “tough guy.”
She continued: “It does not make you strategic, it makes you a monster.”
Minnesota representative Omar also condemned Trump’s threats as war crimes.
She tweeted: The President of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes on Twitter. God help us all!”
Iran FM: Trump’s attack threat ‘war crime’
Targeting sites of heritage and cultural significance is a tactic terror group Daesh use.
In response to Trump’s threats, Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib shared a video of the late British politician and veteran of the anti-war movement Tony Benn. She said: “This is how we need to talk about war.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed Europe for not being ‘supportive enough’ of the assassination, and claimed the US ‘friends in the Middle East region’ had been very supportive of his actions.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has so far remained silent and decided not to cut his holiday in the Carribean short in response to US actions.
However, UK foreign minister Dominic Raab has said that the UK are ‘on the same page’ as the US following the assassination, and claimed the act of aggression was self defence.
Iran: ‘Like ISIS, Like Hitler…Trump is a terrorist in a suit’
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that if there were further Iranian attacks on US targets, Washington would respond with lawful strikes against decision-makers orchestrating such attacks. Democratic critics of the Republican president have said the strike that Trump authorised was reckless and risked more bloodshed in a dangerous region.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who gave Soleimani the country’s highest honor last year, vowed “severe retaliation” in response to his killing. Thousands mourned his death in Iraq, Iran and Gaza.
Qassem Soleimani was the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force and the mastermind of its regional security strategy. He was killed early Friday near the Baghdad international airport along with senior Iraqi militants in an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump. The attack has caused regional tensions to soar and tested the US alliance with Iraq. Fearing escalation, NATO has suspended it’s training activities in Iraq, while the British Navy has committed to escort every UK-flagged ship across the Straits of Hormuz.
Showing no signs of seeking to reduce tensions, the US president has since issued a stern threat to Iran on Twitter, saying that the US has targeted 52 Iranian sites that it would strike if Iran attacks Americans or US assets in response to the US drone strike that killed Soleimani. He later added that the US will use ‘new’ equipment to strike Iran.
