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Mounting tensions with Iran have left US even more polarized

The killing of General Qassem Soleimani of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force in Baghdad has once again polarized U.S. politics.

The Democrats are blaming Trump for not notifying Congress beforehand and violating Congress’ authority to declare war.

The Trump administration held a briefing on Wednesday in the U.S. Congress after reactions to Soleimani’s killing mounted.

The briefing, which was attended by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, State Secretary Mike Pompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and National Security Adviser Robert O Brien have left the Democrats less than satisfied.

The information presented to lawmakers was not more illuminating or detailed than what the press had reported.

The Democrats are of the opinion that the administration’s defense that Soleimani was an “imminent threat” was void of any real legitimacy, so much so that it was said that the concern could be clearly read on the faces of Esper and Milley.

CIA Director Gina Haspel in her turn decided not to directly answer any question asked by deputies and senators.

The Dems drew attention to the fact that Trump, even behind closed doors, was unable to give them satisfactory answers regarding developments that could trigger yet another war.

They find this situation highly concerning for the U.S.’s national security.

Even Republican senators Mike Lee and Rand Paul weren’t happy with the justifications Trump put forth, with Senator Lee saying that it was the “worst military briefing” on Iran ever made.

Senator Paul, who vehemently defended that the U.S. should avoid Trump’s wars in the Middle East, also thought the briefing was a fiasco.

Paul noted that the assassination put the U.S. forces in the region in even more danger and that it would render Trump’s negotiations with Iran impossible.

The Democrat majority House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously passed a bill that would hinder Trump from taking any military action against Iran.

Lawmakers voted on this bill, which has no binding effect on the Trump administration, along party lines.

However, in addition to an independent deputy who resigned from the Republican Party, three Republican deputies voted “yes” and eight Democrats voted against the bill.

Since the Republicans make up the majority of the Senate, it doesn’t seem possible that such a bill will be ratified.

Republican senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee for their part announced that they would support the bill.

For the resolution to be binding, two thirds of the 100-member Senate have to vote “yes.”

The Democrats have 47 seats in the senate, so even if the bill is largely accepted, Trump can veto the whole process if at least 67 senators don’t vote “yes.”

On the other hand, there has been another interesting development. The House of Representatives approved a bill for Trump’s impeachment.

For the resolution to yield any legal results, Trump has to be tried in the Senate.

House President Nancy Pelosi wasn’t able to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate because Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell was unwilling to compromise on the proceedings of the trial.

Senator McConell’s announcement that if Pelosi did failed to send the articles to Senate that the voting procedures would be changed on a simple majority basis frightened the Democrats.

After the “nuclear option” suggestion which would mean a deep-seated change, Pelosi announced that she would send the impeachment articles to the Senate in the upcoming week.

Hence the impeachment process has gained speed.

The tensions with Iran on the one hand, the developments concerning US troops withdrawing from Iraq, and Trump’s impeachment on the other hand will only cause more polarization among Americans.

The U.S.’s invasion of Iraq was decided with a bipartisan consensus.

Nowadays American politics looks as if it has completely disintegrated. This is a harbinger that the 2020 presidential election is going to be far more dirtier than the previous one.

#US
#Iran
#Qassem Soleimani
#Trump
#impeachment
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