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WASHINGTON: Trump administration officials failed to convince many US lawmakers on Wednesday that an imminent threat had justified the killing of a top Iranian military commander, and congressional Democrats scheduled a vote on legislation to rein in the president’s ability to wage war.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and CIA Director Gina Haspel held classified briefings for all 535 members of Congress to discuss President Donald Trump’s decision to order a drone strike that killed elite Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq last week.
The House was to vote Thursday on a measure limiting Trump’s ability to take military action against Iran as Democratic criticism of the US killing of the top Iranian general intensified. Following the sessions, Democrats and a few Republicans said the officials had not provided evidence to back up assertions by Trump and military commanders that Soleimani had posed an “imminent threat” to the United States, and they disputed the administration’s argument that the killing of a foreign leader in a third country was legally justified. “The basic theme of it was the administration essentially saying: Trust us. And that’s really what it all boils down to. I’m not sure who I trust or what I trust when it comes to these issues because we’ve been told so many different things that really just bother me,” Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters. US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said shortly afterward that the Democratic-controlled chamber would vote on a war powers resolution. “Members of Congress have serious, urgent concerns about the Administration’s decision to engage in hostilities against Iran and about its lack of strategy moving forward,” Pelosi said. She said Trump’s report to Congress about the strike and the briefings had not addressed members’ concerns. The war powers resolution directs Trump to terminate the use of US armed forces in or against Iran, unless Congress has declared war or passed an authorisation for the use of force against it. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council reaffirmed its commitment to “an international order based on international law” amid fears of armed conflict between the United States and Iran. The 15 members said the Security Council “reaffirms its commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, including the purposes and principles of the Charter, and an international order based on international law.” The declaration was issued at the start of a debate on the UN Charter which had been tabled before the present crisis by Vietnam, a non-permanent member of the Security Council and which assumes the rotating presidency this month.A record 111 countries, including several ministers, had signed up for the marathon debate on peace and security that will bring US and Iranian officials into the same room for the first time since the two countries came to brink of war in the past week. أكثر... ??????? ??????: US Congress divided over justification of Soleimani's killing || ??????: ahlam1399 || ??????: اسم منتداك
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