Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded Sunday to President Trump’s threat to attack 52 Iranian sites, including those “important to Iran & the Iranian culture” if Tehran retaliates for Gen. Qassem Soleimani’s death by saying the U.S. will “behave lawfully.”
ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos pushed Pompeo on the president’s Saturday tweet, saying the Geneva conventions forbid attacks on places of worship and cultural objects.
“We’ll act lawfully,” Pompeo responded. “We’ll behave inside the system. We always have, and we always will.”
NEW: @GStephanopoulos presses Sec. of State Mike Pompeo on Trump's tweet warning cultural sites could be targeted if Iran retaliates: "Why is the president threatening Iran with war crimes?"
Pompeo: "We'll behave lawfully. We'll behave inside the system." https://t.co/gJwvmAsvm8 pic.twitter.com/thUzbapH0w
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 5, 2020
“The American people should know that every target that we strike will be a lawful target, and it will be a target designed at the singular mission of protecting and defending America,” Pompeo said.
CNN’s Jake Tapper also pushed Pompeo on the point, asking “So cultural centers are theoretically fair targets in your view?”
“We’re going to the things that are right and the things that are consistent with American law,” Pompeo responded.
“We will respond with great force and great vigor if the Iranian leadership makes a bad decision,” he added. “We hope that they won’t.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on President Trump's threat on Iranian cultural centers: "We will respond with great force and great vigor if the Iranian leadership makes a bad decision. We hope that they won't" #CNNSOTU https://t.co/SoFha51rCl pic.twitter.com/GS1COvnUy0
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) January 5, 2020
…….
- Discussion
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Pompeo on Trump threat to strike Iranian cultural targets: "We'll behave lawfully" https://t.co/9Bs9rOjusR pic.twitter.com/KTJEv0tqOm
— The Hill (@thehill) January 5, 2020
2 things are clear based on facts we know: 1) Soleimani was a legitimate military target dependent on imminence and proportionality. 2) In aftermath, attacking cultural sites is a war crime unless they’re being used for military purposes. (2/2)
— Jill Goldenziel (@JillGoldenziel) January 5, 2020
It’s only Sunday. https://t.co/4BgVthQvgw
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 5, 2020
2/ …do exactly what they did with Trump's pardon of men who committed war crimes.
Of course, a few members of the Senate will do the "Well, the President isn't a politician and sometimes he speaks off the cuff and I wish he wouldn't tweet." <furrowed brow emoji>
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 5, 2020
4/ After the war, SECAF Rice commissioned the Gulf War Airpower Survey.
I have consulted my copy and wish to provide you with a quote about the RULES the US followed in the planning and execution of the air war.
It's important, because it's the same rulebook…
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 5, 2020
6/ "Second, harm to structures of cultural and religious significance to the Iraqi people would be avoided. Third, damage to the Iraqi economy and its capacity for postwar recovery would be limited."
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 5, 2020
8/ But this is the moral corrosion question that faces us.
Ambitious men (hai, Mike Pompeo) and ambitious generals seeking to please a President without limit, strategy, or the ability to see beyond the time horizon of his own ADD-ragetweets are common in today's Washington.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 5, 2020
10/ …because if the options range from "soft power diplomatic" to "nuke Tehran into a glowing radioactive plane of glass" Donnie might choose the far edge of the spectrum of options just to see the pretty fireworks.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 5, 2020
6B/ (sorry for omission)
"Fourth, the lives of the hostages held by Iraq would be protected to the extent possible."
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) January 5, 2020
He's aiming to be the first U.S. President both impeached and extradited to the Hague. https://t.co/4NaHilsWnz
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 6, 2020
Trump just doubled down on his threat to commit war crimes against Iran. He said this, according to the pool report: pic.twitter.com/3cj0QCf9yy
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 6, 2020
The eternal three-step:
1) Trump says inflammatory thing
2) Trump officials say he didn’t say what people are saying he said
3) Trump says he totally said and meant it pic.twitter.com/aYaDLbDmeG— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 6, 2020
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