Both of Arizona’s Senators and potential 2028 Presidential Aspirants, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, appeared on Sunday morning political talk shows today to discuss the United States and Israel’s bombing of Iran and the counterattacks from that nation.
The common theme from both Senators and military veterans: Where is the plan?
Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, Senator Gallego expressed serious reservations about what Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu did in bombing Iran, saying that Trump’s comments that he “hopes” things will work out are no substitute for an actual plan about what to do in the long term.
While also saying he “hopes he is wrong” about the United States apparent illprepardness for what happens after the bombing is over and Iran’s leaders are removed, Gallego commented:
“We don’t know what the end result of this. There is no plan. There’s no clarity of decision on where we’re going. There’s no clarity of who’s actually going to take over in Iran. We may have made things worse, not better, because sometimes the persons that take over tend to be the hardliners because they’re the ones that are surviving.”
When CNN’s Dana Bash asked if the killing of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other hard line leaders was a good thing, Gallego responded with:
“Certainly, it’s a good thing in the sense that he’s a horrible person. But the question is, what is the plan now? Who’s going to take over? Who do we negotiate with to actually get out of this? It sounds like right now, hope is the plan. I hear Lindsey Graham saying, I hope things go well. President Trump saying, I hope the Iranians take over. When countries depend on their foreign policy ending with hope, it usually does not end up well. I am one of those persons that had to live through that. You have to actually have the clarity of plan, of mission, and what is the exit strategy here? Right now, we’re just hoping something happens in Iran, so that way things end well. That is not in our national interest. What we just did was essentially go to war on behalf of at least a couple of interests in the Middle East, and now they have no plan to get us out of this. How is that going to end up helping us be safer, our allies be safer in the long run? In the end, how is this in our national interest? It’s not.”
Later, Gallego repeated his concerns after trashing Bash’s question for one of the reasons Trump decided to bomb Iran now was becasue it was weak, saying:
“What is the exit plan? Right now, it seems like the president has a day one plan, a day two plan. What is the day 10 plan? Day 20 plan? What’s going to happen when we start running out of munitions? What happens when we start running out of Patriot batteries? These are the things that a real leader would understand, would actually plan out. And also, then you would actually go back to the American public and explain to them what victory looks like, because no one’s actually had described victory right now. And if you can’t describe victory, then you don’t really know how to put a plan together. And all right now, I think they’re running on is a hope that things end well. And I hope it ends well, too, but… Leadership requires you to actually have a plan and figure out how to execute it to keep the American public safe and to actually make sure that it is in the national interest of this country.”
On Trump’s rationale for bombing Iran and his broken promises, Gallego offered:
“This was a BS reason for us to go to war. This president talked all the time about how he was going to keep us out of war. All the time. He also talked a lot of time about exposing the pedophiles on the Epstein list. Coincidentally, that’s also [not] happening right now. This president talked about that. He talked about running to end wars and exposing the pedophiles. Now you’re starting wars and covering for pedophiles.”
Senator Kelly appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press following Lindsey Graham, who probably caused many viewers’ jaws to drop when he said Mr. Trump is not responsible for determining Iran’s future leadership. That is like telling the Germans they could keep the Nazis if they want, following World War Two.
Kristen Welker asked Senator Kelly similar questions Gallego received from Bash, saying on the bombing and death of Khamenei.
Kelly gave many of the same answers saying that while the death of Khamenei was a good thing, relying on hope is not a plan, saying:
“Hope is not a strategy. We got to have a plan here. I mean, what is the strategic goal and how do we achieve it? And my job here in the United States Senate is to make sure that this administration, you know, has a plan and doesn’t put Americans, especially U.S. service members, at further risk.”
On Trump, Vance, and Graham saying that American ground troops would not be necessary and this conflict would not last long, Senator Kelly, a pilot, scoffed at that, commenting:
“That is incredibly challenging. I mean, for somebody, you know, myself, I’ve, you know, used air power in defense of this country. I flew 39 combat missions. We could take out targets. You could destroy a building. You could even, you know, based on what happened, you know, previously, you could, this summer, you know, you can even hit underground targets. But eliminating things and fully taking out a capability is really challenging without putting people there on the ground.”
On this becoming a prolonged conflict, Kelly offered:
“Well, absolutely, it could be. And that’s the concern here. And that’s why we need to get back in Washington and have a discussion with the White House on this and have a vote. Hey, you got the President and the Vice President saying things that are 180 degrees out, right? On one hand, not going to be prolonged. In the other, it could be a drawn-out conflict. Which one is it? And what is your plan going forward? And by the way, Kristen, I mean, if the Iranians decide to shut down the Straits of Hormuz, what is the plan there? Because you’re going to put a huge number of service members at risk. And on the other side, if you don’t do something about it, we could wind up with a significant economic hit to the worldwide economy. So these are complicated scenarios and complicated decisions. And I think this administration, my sense is that they did not go into this with any kind of strategic plan. It was an operation with no discussion about what comes next.”
The Senator also reminded viewers that Donald Trump helped create this situation by pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Treaty in his first term, said that while the Homeland was not in “imminent danger,” American assets and personnel in the Middle East region are now more so.
He also questioned Mr. Trump’s failure to make the case for bombing Iran in his State of the Union Address last week, saying:
“Why on Tuesday, during the State of the Union, didn’t the president make a case to the American people on why he is going to conduct an attack on Iran?”
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