For Immediate Release
January 3, 2020

Media Contact:
Angela Allmond, Communications Director
Oklahoma Democratic Party
405-536-2412

ODP Statement on Soleimani Assassination

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Democratic Party is extremely concerned and dismayed about the reckless and dangerous assassination of General Qassim Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Qods Force (IRGQ), in a drone strike near the Baghdad Airport. President Trump has committed the United States to a course of action that may well result in open military conflict with a foreign power without consultation of Congress, without any attempt at serious diplomacy, and seemingly without a plan to mitigate the almost certain heavy military response from Iran. Moreover, he did this apparently without consultation of Congress as prescribed nor of our allies in the region, including the Iraqi government, and at a time when he has zero credibility with other world leaders and with the majority of the American people.

There is no question that General Soleimani was a terrible person and no person dedicated to peace or freedom should mourn his death. He was responsible for the planning and execution of violent attacks that killed hundreds, if not thousands of people world-wide, including Americans, and his death is a blow to organized terrorism everywhere. But there can also be no doubt that to assassinate him without a firm, well thought out plan to deal with the consequences of that action places the lives of Americans, and others, across the globe at risk. Iran is not a ragtag terrorist organization, it is a full-fledged regional power, and General Soleimani was a high ranking official in that government. It has the military and intelligence capacity to launch strikes, both overt and covert, at American interests all over the region, and the Iranian government is likely to consider his assassination an act of war. The fact that we are sending 3000 additional troops into harm’s way based on a whim is disheartening.

In the entirety of his administration, President Trump has shown no sign that he is capable of responding to such a crisis in a coherent or reasonable fashion. The world will now witness what happens when a superpower is governed not by considered, deliberate policy, but by wanton, ego-driven lunacy.

The Oklahoma Democratic Party asks all Oklahomans concerned with this unprecedented behavior to redouble their efforts to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency, either by impeachment or defeating him in November 2020. We also ask every Oklahoman to keep the innocent lives, both American and not, who are now in danger of reprisal attacks or open warfare in mind and in prayer.

We further encourage you to contact your congressional representative to express concerns.

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For more information about the Oklahoma Democratic Party, visit the party website at okdemocrats.org, or call party headquarters at 405-427-3366.