During an appearance on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” this week, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks), who serves as the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, called on President Donald Trump to retaliate against Iran for shooting down a U.S. drone in international airspace.
Trump had the military poised for a strike Iran but reportedly called it off at the last minute with concerns over the number of casualties the attack would incur.
“Absolutely — there has to be some response to that provocative act, unprovoked act,” Rogers said. “But it does need to be measured. And I think that’s what the president is trying to decide now — whether it needs to be a kinetic strike like was being planned, or something in the way of other diplomatic approaches to put pressure on them. But I don’t know what his thinking is right now. But, I think he is going to make some response.”
Rogers said Trump consulted with Congress about any action but said he disagreed with the notion the president needed an Authorization for Use of Military Force resolution from Congress.
“He did take the time to consult with Congress yesterday,” Rogers said. “He had the leaders of both chambers over yesterday as well as leading members of the Armed Services Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and a couple of others to talk with them about what he should do. So, he did consult with Congress as he was trying to decide what action to take, but when you have a country like Iran shoot down an American drone in international air space, I don’t think we need to have three months of argument in the Congress to decide what needs to be done. We have him as a commander in chief to make decisions like this. I don’t care if it’s a Republican or Democrat. I felt the same way about Barack Obama when he was president. Now if we are going to get into a long-term war, it’s a different story.”
The Calhoun County Republican warned that, without a response from the United States, other nations could take more “provocative” actions.
“But he needs to take action in a quick manner. Whether it’s sanctions or a kinetic attack, he needs to make that call, but there has to be a response. Otherwise, you’re going to see countries like North Korea, China and Russia becoming much more provocative in their actions toward us if they know we’re going to be paralyzed and unable to respond.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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