Donald Trump's allies on Sunday defended the US-Israel strikes on Iran, while Democrats condemned the action as a 'war of choice' requiring congressional approval. Republican senators Tom Cotton, Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz voiced support for the operation, but Democratic senator Mark Warner insisted the administration must explain its reasoning.
Warner, vice-chairman of the Intelligence Committee, told CNN's State of the Union that he welcomed the elimination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but questioned the timing. 'The question is why now? Why not make the case to the American public?' he said. He added that there was no imminent threat to the United States and that the president must justify the decision to go to war.
Warner also warned of the risk of a broader Middle East conflict, noting that Washington had little visibility into who might replace Khamenei or how Iran's leadership would respond. He predicted that a deeply embedded Iranian leadership 'will fight vociferously to try to maintain their power.'
Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Armed Services Committee, argued that the strikes were necessary to end Iran's 47-year campaign of terror and revolutionary violence. He said the immediate focus would be on Iran's missile arsenal and manufacturing capability, and he ruled out large-scale ground troops. 'The president has no plan for any kind of large scale ground force inside of Iran,' he told NBC's Face the Nation.
Cotton predicted overwhelming Republican support if Democrats force a vote under the War Powers Act, and he urged his colleagues to back the troops. Senator Ted Cruz, speaking on CBS, said diplomacy with Iran had been an 'abject failure' because the Iranians approached it with arrogance.
