Trump Claims on Twitter Iran is ‘Planning a Sneak Attack’ on U.S. Troops in Iraq
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that “Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq,” adding, “If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!”
The president took to Twitter to make his assertion:
Upon information and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops and/or assets in Iraq. If this happens, Iran will pay a very heavy price, indeed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 1, 2020
Trump’s language regarding “information and belief” could indicate the nature of his allegations, as New York Times investigate reporter Mike McIntire pointed out.
Weird choice of phrasing. “Upon information and belief” is usually reserved for civil lawsuits where the evidence is second-hand or aspirational. https://t.co/dNpZGjEnD6
— Mike McIntire (@mmcintire) April 1, 2020
MSNBC justice and security analyst Matthew Miller made the same point:
Wonderful. The United States is threatening wars now based on the standard lawyers use when making allegations they can’t necessarily prove. https://t.co/502osaMuof
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) April 1, 2020
Trump’s claim, which follows months of tensions between the United States and Iran, came shortly after the president received an intelligence briefing. U.S. forces killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general and leader of the Quds force, in an airstrike in Baghdad earlier this year, an event that brought the two nations to the brink of war.
While tensions between the U.S. and Iran faded from the news cycle in America in the aftermath of the strike — replaced by Trump’s impeachment and the current coronavirus pandemic — potential escalation is clearly still on the radar of Trump’s intelligence community.
Meanwhile, Iran has been struck hard by the coronavirus pandemic: the country’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpour reported 138 coronavirus fatalities in the past 24 hours.
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