'Dangerous Escalation​:' Rep Scalon On Qassem Soleimani Killing

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — United States Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon joined the many politicians in weighing in on the assassination of Iran's Qassem Soleimani.

"There is no doubt that Qassem Soleimani was an evil man who was a danger to American lives and interests," she said on Twitter. "However, I am concerned about the consequences that may result from this administration’s dangerous escalation and provocation in carrying out an assassination in this volatile region without consultation with Congress."

Scanlon — whose district covers Delaware County, part of the Main Line, and part of South Philadlephia — went on to say she is praying for those who are in harm's way due to the Trump Administration's decision to launch an airstrike that killed Soleimani.

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. Madeleine Dean and Chester County Rep. Chrissy Houlahan 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.