President Donald Trump’s decision to launch an airstrike against top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani has prompted both vows of revenge from Iranian leaders and condemnations from some U.S. lawmakers and politicians back home, but some U.S. military veterans are happy with the news.
On Thursday evening Marine veteran Jesse Kelly tweeted praise for the strike after attributing the disfigurement of many U.S. troops to Soleimani’s support for violent attacks throughout the Middle East. Kelly said, “He’s unquestionably an enemy of America and I’m glad he’s dead and I’m bummed it was a quick death.”
If you’ve been to a VA hospital in recent years and seen a young man missing limbs, there’s a reasonable chance Qasem Soleimani is responsible for it. He’s unquestionably an enemy of America and I’m glad he’s dead and I’m bummed it was a quick death.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) January 3, 2020
Trump retweeted Kelly’s remarks on the death of Soleimani, raising up Kelly’s tweet in support of the strike.
Trump himself described Soleimani’s connection to attacks throughout the Middle East, including deaths of protesters opposing the Iranian regime from within.
….of PROTESTERS killed in Iran itself. While Iran will never be able to properly admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within the country. They are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe. He should have been taken out many years ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020
Sean Parnell, a former U.S. Army captain who was wounded in combat in Iraq, also praised Trump’s decision to carry out the airstrike against Soleimani.
Iran is the world’s #1 state sponsor of terror. They kidnap & kill Americans.
They’re responsible for the deaths of thousands of US troops.
They’ve wounded thousands more.
They attacked our embassy.
Soleimani was the architect of it all. The world is better off without him. https://t.co/OyHGkGENlV— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 3, 2020
Parnell also defended the Trump administration’s decision for the strike against criticism from Ben Rhodes, a speechwriter for former President Barrack Obama’s administration and a proponent of the largely defunct 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
Iran has been attacking & killing Americans for DECADES. They’re already at war with us.
The administration you worked for sent Iran billions, in multiple currencies, & in turn Iran funneled that money into more attacks on Americans.Maybe sit this one out. https://t.co/hLEyJZnde3
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 3, 2020
Texas Army National Guard Special Forces soldier Tim Kennedy did warn that while the U.S. has been in similar situations in the past, the strike against Soleimani does place the U.S. in a dangerous position.
I’m on @foxandfriends this morning. Discussing the way forward. We have scary times ahead of us. We have killed evil men before. This isn’t uncharted territory. But it is a dangerous time.
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) January 3, 2020
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who served with the Navy in Afghanistan, described Soleimani as the mastermind of attacks on U.S. troops and allies in the region, but said the U.S. must now contend with “the immediate and very real dangers to American citizens in and out of uniform in the Middle East.”
My statement on the killing of Qassim Suleimani. pic.twitter.com/DUCVczjNzm
— Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) January 3, 2020
Buttigieg is one of several Democratic presidential candidates who criticized the strike.
