Rep. Dean: Killing Qassem Soleimani A 'Unilateral Escalation'

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — Montgomery County's U.S. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean called the killing of an Iranian leader in a drone strike a "unilateral escalation" in a statement on Friday reacting to the attacks.

An American drone strike outside of Baghdad International Airport, ordered by President Trump, killed Iran's Gen. Qassem Soleimani and several others. Dean (D-4) acknowledged that Soleimani was "responsible for the deaths of Americans" and "a constant source of instability in a region craving peace."

However, she expressed concern over how the strike was carried out and what it's consequences could be.

"The President's unilateral escalation will have far-reaching and potentially dangerous impacts for our country and the region," she said in a statement. "If the strike was necessary to protect American national security interests, the President had a responsibility to come to Congress for authorization. Acts of war require Congressional authorization. That's what the Constitution mandates."

Most Republicans said that the move was an appropriate and much needed to response to the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Bagdhad by Iranian-backed militias last week.

President Trump said in a tweet Friday that Soleimani had "killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more . . . but got caught!"

Beyond being just a veteran military leader and long-serving presence in Iran, Soleimani enjoyed wide-ranging power throughout the Middle East as the head of the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force. Multiple sources have identified Soleimani as the second most powerful person in Iran and have likened his killing to an assassination of an American vice president.

Nearby, other southeastern Pennsylvania lawmakers were split along party lines. Bucks County's Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick sided with the President. Montgomery County's Democratic U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, like Dean, acknowledged the harm done by Soleimani but said that Trump should have come to Congress for authorization.

Iran, meanwhile, has vowed revenge. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "severe revenge awaits those criminals" who killed Soleimani, according to the Washington Post.