On the second anniversary of the U.S. strike that killed Iran’s terrorist mastermind, Qassem Soleimani, Cicely Davis released the following statement:
Two years ago, President Donald Trump gave the order to strike Iran’s terrorist mastermind, Qassem Soleimani–an individual responsible for killing over 600 Americans and wounding thousands more in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.
I applaud President Trump for making that decision and sending the clear message that Iran can no longer expect to kill U.S. citizens and strike U.S. embassies with impunity.
At the time, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar denounced the action and sponsored a House resolution to tie the President’s hands even when he must act swiftly to protect American lives. As her rhetoric and voting record suggest, she seems to never miss an opportunity to assist America’s foreign adversaries while blaming America for all the problems around the globe.
The case against Qassem Soleimani, which she ignored, was air tight. Since 1998, he had commanded Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the terrorist arm of the Iranian regime tasked with planning and executing terror and military operations outside Iran’s borders, across six continents, including inside the United States.
For decades under Soleimani’s command, the Qods Force fueled destabilizing sectarian conflicts throughout the Middle East. The armies, militias, and terrorist groups that he directed, supported, trained, and equipped killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, devastated civilian infrastructure, and turned millions of people into refugees.
Soleimani personally directed and provided arms to militias in Iraq for more than a decade. With Soleimani’s support and lethal assistance, proxies of the IRGC-QF targeted and killed over 600 Americans between 2003 and 2011.
For his actions and those of his terrorist network, the United States designated the Qods Force a Foreign Terrorist Organization and designated Soleimani as a Specially-Designated Global Terrorist. He was also designated and sanctioned by the United Nations and the European Union, and was banned from international travel by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. Meanwhile, Iran had already secured a spot with the state designated by the U.S. State Department as the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism nearly 40 years ago (1984).
At the time of the U.S. strike, Qassem Soleimani had been traveling in the Middle East–violating the ban imposed by the UN Security Council–coordinating further imminent large-scale attacks against U.S. diplomats and service members. His campaign of violence culminated with his orchestrating a series of attacks against American forces in Iraq, including the rocket attack on December 27, 2019 that killed an American citizen, wounded four American service members, and threatened the lives of many more American personnel. Soleimani also ordered the assault on the American Embassy in Baghdad. These attacks immediately preceded President Trump’s decision to act in early January 2020.
Naturally, Ilhan Omar rushed to defend the terrorist: “We are outraged the president would assassinate a foreign official,” Ilhan Omar tweeted at the time, “possibly setting off another war without Congressional authorization and has zero plan to deal with the consequences.”
Days later, Omar claimed in a press release that the strike “was an act of war undertaken without Congressional authorization…” She continued, “This follows years of saber-rattling and threats of war against Iran by President Trump and his accomplices.”
As usual, Ilhan Omar demonstrated an extraordinary lack of understanding when it comes to national security matters. To begin with, she reverses causes and effects. The fact is, Soleimani was a valid target at any time based on his responsibility for the deaths of over 600 U.S. troops. She also appeared unconcerned about the Americans he had killed. Nor did she understand that the first step of any counter-terrorism strategy is to not allow state-sponsors of terrorism to attack the United States without repercussions. At a minimum, describing Soleimani as merely “a foreign official” reveals either a stunning display of ignorance or mendacity.
A look at Omar’s congressional voting record reveals a pattern where she is aligned against most of America’s allies and supportive of our adversaries, from terrorist groups such as Hamas in Gaza, to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism–Iran, to the socialist human rights abusers in Venezuela.
Ilhan Omar does not represent the values of the people in this district. Americans should expect more from their elected officials, especially when they sit on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as she does. America’s national security will be a top priority when I defeat Ilhan Omar this November. And when it comes to identifying our country’s friends and foes, I will speak with a clear voice. I will stand with the people of Iran, unlike Omar, who stands with the terrorist-sponsoring regime that oppresses them.
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