News and Commentary

Nancy Pelosi Urges End To Trump’s ‘Needless Provocations’ Following Iran Attack

   DailyWire.com
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 7, 2020.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Shortly after news broke that Iran claimed responsibility for launching rockets at a U.S. base housing American troops in Iraq, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urged the Trump administration to cease the “needless provocations” that led to the attacks.

“Closely monitoring the situation following bombings targeting U.S. troops in Iraq,” Pelosi tweeted. “We must ensure the safety of our service members, including ending needless provocations from the Administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence. America & world cannot afford war.”

According to The Hill, Pelosi received news of the attack while “huddled with members of the Democratic Steering Committee in the Capitol on Tuesday.” Shortly thereafter, she was briefed of the attack in a phone call with Vice President Mike Pence.

Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the Iranian regime launched more than a “dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq” at the Asad air base in Anbar Province.

“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Asad and Erbil,” said Hoffman.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that President Trump has been closely monitoring the situation while consulting with his national security team.  “The President has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team,” she said.

The New York Times provided some history on the base and its strategic importance to the United States:

In December 2018, Mr. Trump visited American military forces at Al Asad. It was his first trip to troops stationed in a combat zone.

The base at Asad is an Iraqi base that has long been a hub for American military operations in western Iraq. Danish troops have also been stationed there in recent years.

In 2017, as the American-led coalition built up the base for its campaign against the Islamic State, roughly 500 American military and civilian personnel were located there. Some troops departed after the defeat of the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate in 2019, but the base maintains a robust presence of coalition troops.

The American base in Erbil has been a Special Operations hub, home to hundreds of troops, logistics personnel, and intelligence specialists. Transport aircraft, gunships, and reconnaissance planes have used the airport as an anchor point for operations in both northern Iraq and deep into Syria.

After the president ordered the drone airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassim Suleimani, Trump promised Iran that the U.S. would strike strike “very fast” against 52 possible targets if the country were to retaliate.

“Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters,” Trump tweeted on Saturday night.

“He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years,” he continued. “Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!”

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  Nancy Pelosi Urges End To Trump’s ‘Needless Provocations’ Following Iran Attack