Senator Tom Cotton Calls For Strikes Against Iran

Gives His Blessing For Trump to Strike Without Congressional Authorization

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) joined Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation to speak on the attacks of the two tankers last week in the Gulf of Oman. Cotton said, “These unprovoked attacks on commercial shipping warrant a retaliatory military strike.”

Brennan asked the Senator if he believes the President could attack Iran without getting authorization from congress first, to which Cotton replied, “Yes, Margaret. Going back to President Washington and all the way down to President Trump, the fastest way to get the fire and fury of the U.S. military unleashed on you is to interfere with the freedom of navigation on the open seas and in the air.”

Cotton referenced an inconclusive, grainy, black and white video released by U.S. Central Command last week as proof the Iranians were responsible for the attack, “Everybody can see with their own two eyes, those Iranian sailors going up to a ship and taking a mine off of it.”

The Senator repeated another unsubstantiated claim the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made, “they’ve increased their support on attacks on American troops by supporting a Taliban attack in Afghanistan.” The attack in question is a car bomb blast that occurred on May 31st, targeting a convoy of U.S. troops. The Taliban took responsibility immediately after the attack, and Pompeo offered no evidence that Iran was involved. The Taliban using car bombs against U.S. troops is nothing new.

Brennan did not challenge Cotton on any of these claims, instead she changed the topic to recent comments by Trump about possibly listening to foreigners if they have any dirt on his political opponents.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.