WASHINGTON: Senior US senators clashed sharply over President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, with Democrats calling it illegal and demanding that troops be brought home, while Republicans defended the president’s authority and said his actions were aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would force another vote this week to end US involvement in the conflict. He accused the administration of withholding information about American casualties.
“Trump cannot hide the wounded and call it peace. Congress must end this war,” Schumer said after a closed Democratic policy luncheon.
He said more than 500 American troops had been injured in recent weeks and information about nearly 100 of them had been withheld by the Pentagon. Almost 20 US service members had been killed, he said.
“The Pentagon knew our troops were wounded. The only people kept in the dark were the American people,” Schumer said. “That’s not operational security; it’s political protection for Donald Trump.”
Senator Tim Kaine said the remains of three US troops killed in the war would return to Dover, Delaware, on Wednesday. Their deaths would bring the total number of American troops killed in the conflict to 18, he said.
Kaine called it a “war of choice” and said Congress had declared that the conflict was illegal. He urged lawmakers to use the appropriations process to restrict funding.
“We shouldn’t be shoving massive increases in dollars over to the Pentagon where they’re in the middle of a war that is illegal,” Kaine said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, speaking separately after a Republican policy luncheon, defended Trump’s response to Iran. He said Tehran had violated a ceasefire and was blocking shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.
“I think the President has within his authority, obviously, based upon not only the law, but also, I think, based upon the way the Iranians have reacted to the cease fire and an unwillingness to sit down and actually make a deal,” Thune said.
He said Trump’s actions were intended to force Iran back to negotiations.
Asked whether the administration should provide Congress with more information before lawmakers approved additional war funding, Thune pointed to Congress’ power of the purse.
The administration’s supplemental funding request was not limited to Iran and included money to replace munitions, he said. Thune added that most Republican senators were likely to support it, although some had raised questions about its size and whether the spending would be offset.
--IANS
