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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Sunday spoke out against President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran, warning that such an attack may backfire as the U.S. government monitors the Middle Eastern country’s response to widespread protests.
During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Paul said he is unsure that striking Iran “will have the effect that is intended.”
“I don’t think I have ever heard a president say they may take military action to protect protesters,” Paul said. “Certainly, with Soleimani, when the Trump administration hit him, there were massive protests against America. But they are shouting ‘death to the Ayatollah.'”
“We wish them the best,” he added. “We wish freedom and liberation the best across the world, but I don’t think it’s the job of the American government to be involved with every freedom movement around the world.”
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Paul also stressed concern about how the Trump administration would distinguish Iranian protesters from law enforcement if the president were to seek military action.
“How do you drop a bomb in the middle of a crowd or a protest and protect the people there?” Paul asked.
The Republican lawmaker also warned that attacking Iran may unintentionally rally protesters behind the Ayatollah.
“If you bomb the government, do you then rally people to their flag who are upset with the Ayatollah, but then say, ‘Well, gosh, we can’t have a foreign government invading or bombing our country?'” Paul said.
“It tends to have people rally to the cause,” he continued. “So, I think the protests are directed at the Ayatollah, justifiably so.”
Paul added: “The best way is to encourage them and say that, of course, we would recognize a government that is a freedom-loving government that allows free elections, but bombing is not the answer.”
The liberty-minded senator also affirmed that presidents cannot strike other countries without the approval of Congress.
“There is this sticking point of the Constitution that we won’t let presidents bomb countries just when they feel like it,” Paul emphasized. “They’re supposed to ask the people, through the Congress, for permission.”
Protests erupted in Iran in recent weeks over the country’s economic free fall, and many have begun to demand total regime change as the demonstrations continue.
Thousands have been arrested, according to reports. Agencies have been unable to confirm the total death toll because of an internet blackout as the country’s leaders seek to quell the dissent, but The Associated Press reported that more than 500 were killed.
Trump warned Iranian leaders on Friday that they “better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too.”
“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.
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Paul has opposed Trump in various instances in recent months when it has come to military strikes, including against Iran and Venezuela.
He helped the Senate advance a resolution last week that would limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military’s recent move to strike the country and capture its president, Nicolás Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican said amounts to war.
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“I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is, by all definitions, war,” Paul told reporters before the vote last week. “Does this mean we have carte blanche that the president can make the decision any time, anywhere, to invade a foreign country and remove people that we’ve accused of a crime?”
Paul has also criticized the administration’s military strikes on boats near Venezuela it accuses, without evidence, of carrying narco-terrorists, raising concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people. The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
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