FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 2, 2020
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Tonight, media outlets reported U.S. military strikes killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, the latest escalation between Washington and Tehran. Defense Priorities Senior Fellow Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, USA, Ret. issued the following statement in response:
“Qassem Soleimani had a lot of blood on his hands, and nobody should mourn his death.
“Following this latest action, every possible precaution should be taken to safeguard U.S. military forces in Iraq, Syria, and throughout the region, who remain vulnerable to retaliatory strikes. The best way to keep U.S. forces safe is to remove them from the region.
“Leaving behind U.S. troops with murky and unclear aims is an unjustified risk. With the defeat of ISIS’s caliphate, all U.S. forces should have long ago been removed.
“Iran is a middling power, easily checked by its neighbors. With limited and diminishing U.S. interests at stake in the Middle East, the U.S. should avoid mistakes that bring us closer to war with Iran. Managing the trouble this strike seems likely to produce will further weaken the United States and entangle it in peripheral conflicts disconnected from U.S. security.”
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