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From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IRAQ
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, this morning, Iran's master terrorist
is dead. The architect and chief engineer of the world's most active
state sponsor of terrorism has been removed from the battlefield at the
hand of the U.S. military. No man alive was more directly responsible
for the deaths of more American servicemembers than Qasem Soleimani,
the leader of the Quds Force within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps.
Soleimani's schemes and his agents killed hundreds of American
servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan. He personally oversaw the
state-sponsored terrorism that Iran used to kill our sons and
daughters. As we have seen in recent days and weeks, he and his
terrorists posed an ongoing and growing threat to American lives and
American interests.
Soleimani made it his life's work to take the Iranian revolutionary
calls for ``Death to America'' and ``Death to Israel'' and turn them
into action, but this terrorist mastermind was not just a threat to the
United States and Israel. For more than a decade he masterminded Iran's
malevolent and destabilizing work throughout the entire Middle East. He
created, sustained, and directed terrorist proxies everywhere from
Yemen to Iraq, to Syria, to Lebanon. Innocents were killed. These
sovereign countries were destabilized.
In Syria this leading terrorist and his agents acted as strategists,
enablers, and accomplices to Bashar al-Assad's brutal repression and
the slaughter of the Syrian people.
In Iraq, his violence expanded Iran's influence at the expense of the
Iraqis themselves. His dark, sectarian vision disenfranchised countless
Sunni Arabs and paved the way for the rise of ISIS.
With ISIS largely defeated, Soleimani and his agents again turned
their sights on controlling the Iraqi people, who through massive
protests are rejecting not only a corrupt government but also Iran's
influence over that government. Once again, there were Iran and its
proxies facilitating violence against these peaceful protesters.
For too long this evil man operated without constraint, and countless
innocents have suffered for it. Now his terrorist leadership has been
ended.
Predictably enough, in this political environment, the operation that
led to Soleimani's death may prove controversial or divisive. Although
I anticipate and welcome a debate about America's interests and foreign
policy in the Middle East, I recommend that all Senators wait to review
the facts and hear from the administration before passing much public
judgment on this operation and its potential consequences.
The administration will be briefing staff today on the situation in
Iraq. We are working to arrange a classified briefing for all Senators
early next week.
For my part, I have spoken to the Secretary of Defense, and I am
encouraged by the steps the U.S. military is taking to defend American
personnel
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and interests from a growing Iranian threat. I know I speak for the
entire Senate when I say that my prayers are with all American
diplomats, personnel, and brave servicemembers serving in Iraq and in
the Middle East. I am grateful for their courageous service to protect
our country.
Right from the outset of this new year, it is already clear that 2020
will require the Senate and our whole Nation to redouble our resolve to
keep America safe in this troubled world.
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