Rep. Ted Deutch said Friday Congress has “not enough” information as to why President Trump ordered and later called off a military strike in Iran and the strategy behind the attack.
“We don’t know. Like everyone else, we want to understand. We want a little clarity into what happened, why this happened and the president’s decision to call this off, but more than that, we want to understand if there’s a strategy here,” the Florida Democrat said on CNN’s “New Day” show.
“We want to understand what it is the administration is trying to accomplish here when you have different messages coming from — you have one coming from [National Security Adviser] John Bolton, you have one coming from Secretary [of State] Mike Pompeo and then you have a different one coming from the president,” Mr. Deutch said.
“If they don’t provide clarity, there’s no leadership of Congress and ultimately no leadership of our allies. It’s hard to have a strong coherent policy,” he said.
Mr. Deutch said “there is a real concern” about the “dangerous” behaviors Iran has committed in the Middle East.
“That’s why it’s important that there is a clear and coherent policy about what we’re trying to accomplish and why we’re trying to accomplish it, and it doesn’t seem like we have it,” he said.
“It’s hard to assert leadership when there are such mixed messages, and last night was the perfect example of that,” Mr. Deutch said.
Mr. Trump ordered a retaliation military strike Thursday night after Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance drone. The president said he eventually called off the attack after learning 150 people would be killed.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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