“'I think the threat to Americans in the region, the threat to our national security, is substantially higher today than it was before the attack,' former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy says about the Soleimani killing..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview
"Qasem Soleimani was pure evil. He had the blood of innocents the world over on his hands, including hundreds of our troops due to a murderous campaign of improvised explosive devices that he masterminded during the Iraq War. A terrorist mastermind is dead, and for that we should be grateful. "But whether we are safer is just one of the many questions unleashed in the wake of Friday’s drone strike at the Baghdad airport, along with profound implications for the security [...]
"The killing of Qassem Soleimani is surely a game-changer. He was the mastermind of Iran’s policies in the region, and perhaps the second most powerful figure in the Iranian hierarchy. "He developed and shaped Shia militias as tools of Iranian coercion, leverage and intimidation in the Middle East. He trained, financed, armed and helped guide their operations — and they, in turn, enabled Iran to extend its influence at minimal cost. His successes permitted Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, to refer [...]
"I think we're right now in a situation that unfortunately seems to be spiraling and there's no real clear offramp. In terms of the explanations thus far, I think what we've seen is a series of mixed messages. And it's very, very important that the administration brief, on a bipartisan basis, Congress about what did lead to the attack. "Let's be clear. I'm not mourning, nobody should be mourning, quite frankly, Qasem Soleimani. The man was pure evil. He has the [...]
"The [assassination] ban arose in response to covert CIA plots to, for example, kill Fidel Castro with an exploding cigar during peacetime—essentially, attempting to kill because of political differences, not in wartime self-defense, said Matthew Waxman, who directs the National Security Law Program at Columbia University and served in the Bush administration. The Obama administration used the term targeted killing for strikes on terrorist leaders in overseas battlefields—arguing that they fell under a right to self-defense in an ongoing war against [...]
"President Donald Trump says he ordered the airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani to 'stop a war' and not start one. NBC’s Hans Nichols reports for Weekend TODAY and the McCain Institute’s Nicholas Rasmussen joins for analysis..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview
"Well, there will be a response, not just because they're saying it, but because he was part of the core of the regime, the right-hand man, in many respects, to the supreme leader. For the supreme leader not to react when there's a threat to the core of the regime would suggest, somehow, they're willing to live with things of that sort. "Having said that, Ali Khamenei is someone who was very much scared by the Iran/Iraq war, doesn't like direct [...]
Nick Rasmussen joins Geoff Bennett to discuss the aftermath of the strike against Soleimani: the threat to U.S. personnel in the region, the potential for escalation, and concern about the ability of this Administration to manage a crisis of this magnitude... Watch the full interview here: Full Interview
"Nick Rasmussen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center and an NBC News contributor, said Iran's overseas capabilities can be viewed as three concentric circles. "In its immediate neighborhood, Iran could put together a response almost immediately, such as this week's assault on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. In the broader Middle East, it might take Iran more time, but its proxies could still threaten U.S. personnel, business people or tourists, Rasmussen said. In the rest of the world, including Southeast [...]
"'We need to be at an increased security posture to protect against threats to our people in Baghdad and more broadly, we should consider risks beyond the immediate region given the penchant for proxies abroad,' said Lisa Monaco, homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to President Barack Obama..." Read the full article here: Full Article