Otherwise, text us at 202 748 8003. And on twitter cspanwj facebook. Com cspan. Yesterday, florida, President Trump appeared to discuss the airstrike operation and what it means for the u. S. Towe took action last night stop a war. We did not take action to start a war. I have deep respect for the iranian people. They are a remarkable people with an incredible heritage and unlimited potential. We do not seek regime change, however the regimes aggression in the region including the use of proxy fighters to destabilize neighbors must end now. The future belongs to the people of iran, those who seek peaceful coexistence and cooperation, not the terrorists, warlords who plunder their nation to finance bloodshed abroad. The u. S. Has the best military by far anywhere in the world. We have the best intelligence in the world. If americans anywhere are threatened, we have all those targets already fully identified and i am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. That, in particular, refers to iran. Host that was from yesterday. We will show you more reaction, particularly members of congress. Call and let us know your thoughts, if you support or oppose. 202 7488000 if you support. 202 7488001 if you oppose. Iraq war veteran, 202 748 8002. Of a second reported airstrike, usa today saying, the airstrike hit cars carrying iran backed militia. Iraqi official saying cars were hit north of baghdad, one day after the attack on the general. Five members of militia were killed. The identity of those killed were not immediately known. He spoke on condition of anonymity. This prompted a reaction from military. This is from the spokesman. Saying the coalition did not conduct air sites strikes. The reaction of the airstrike that killed the iranian general, we go to your calls. Dean, louisville, kentucky, opposed. Caller good morning. I am republican, vietnam veteran. I feel like we are getting into too many wars. Work, american soldiers got killed in iraq [indiscernible] the hurt veterans feel [indiscernible] fight for their country and come back, worried about, committing suicide. Host the operation specifically he hung up. Alan in eastlake, ohio, supported. Caller i supported the effort. It is a good thing. Iran has been on our backs for a while. Americaho says death to is going to find out we give out the death. Host jacksonville, florida, we have set aside a line for veterans of the iraq war. Caller yes. Host you are on. Caller thank you. I served both wars, iraq, afghanistan. Unfortunately, what we see, people want to go to war. Believe,populace, i less than 1 that served in the military, if i am not mistaken and people want to go to war. They want to pound their chests. Bring back the draft. Host where did you serve in iraq . Caller what did you say . Host where did you serve . Caller i was in the navy. Ctr. Host tell me about the specific operation that took place. Did you support or oppose it . Caller i salute. Just because you may not support it, i still believe, you know, you are given orders, you salute, you serve. You know, i signed up. I volunteered. I signed up. I put my right hand up and said, i will go. Clarify, you did not support it . Caller personally. You know, just because i personally did not believe in what we were doing there, doesnt mean i put my right hand up. Into the military. It is a voluntary thing. I signed up. When i was given orders, i went and supported. Host ok. Veterans for their perspective on the operation that took place and reaction from it. Facebook, you can participate in asking if youoll, support or oppose the action. Some of the reaction. Arthur kelly off of facebook saying it could have been done in so many other ways. Stronglyinois, supports any time a preemptive strike can save american lives, i am in favor of it. The world is laughing at President Trump. Qasem soleimani was on no ones list. He was a lackey. Bill on twitter saying the attacks were a way of distracting from the impeachment inquiry. That is how far we have fallen. A couple ways you can reach us on social media, twitter, facebook, text from your phone, 202 7488003. All we ask is you include your name, city and state. From the opinion pages. New york times. Part of reaction. Host if you go to the wall street journal. Host that is the take from the editors of the wall street journal. Curtis, chicago, illinois, opposed the effort. Caller good morning, america and cspan. You cannot trust the trump administration. They said they would never agree with any until. Entail. Now it is so imminent they trust it. They didnt trust it against the saudi prince. Backnow, the saudis, they the sunnis. They killed plenty americans. This is something going on, putin, his weapons done killed plenty americans. People,un, all these americas messing with, all these people have done bad things. There are bad actions all over the world. Are we more safe now . I dont think so. Believe what comes out of this administration, they got to be a idiot. Ohio, iraqcolumbus, veteran. Caller i absolutely support the preemptive strike. You know, it is very necessary in this world today. It is a very very harsh world we live in. Some of these men need to be taken out. However, with that in mind, there are lots of other issues involved, such as you know in the beginning, some dictators in power, such as gaddafi, saddam hussein, some of them probably should have been left in for some time only because they kept their countries under control. As bad as they are, they kept their people in check. Some of these people over there, if anyone has ever been over there, they are not the most educated in the world. Unfortunately, they are good people at heart but they need help. Sometimes, they need to be androlled and restrained possibly we should never have taken out some of these leaders. There was some semblance of peace at that time. Host what was your role in iraq . Caller i was a crew chief in the air force. Host giving the perspective of someone serving in iraq, looking at the events of the last couple days. He mentioned some of the things that might stem from this. Wall street journal highlights thefact, when it comes to guard, it talks about the influence they have in the region, including the Islamic Resistance in syria, highlighting that it funded more than 100,000 shiite fighters, he zbollah with upgraded missiles and drones, the umbrella organizations from malicious providing armored personal carriers. Mines, Ballistic MissilesRadar Systems and drones. You can look at that map on the wall street journal and other areas of influence. In the u. S. , as the senate got back in session yesterday after the holiday break, they took to the floor to talk about the attack and what goes forward from here. The Senate Majority leader, Mitch Mcconnell spoke first on the airstrike operation. Longr too long, for too this evil man operated without constraint and countless innocents have suffered for it. Now his terrorist leadership has been ended. Now, predictably enough in this political environment, the operation that led to Qasem Soleimanis death may prove controversial or divisive. Although, i anticipate and welcome a debate about americas interest in Foreign Policy in the middle east, i recommend 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, 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 u. S. Military is taking to defend american personnel and interest from a growing iranian threat. I speak for the senate when i say my prayers are with all american diplomats, personnel and brief Service Members serving in iraq and the middle east. I am grateful for their Courageous Service to protect our country. Host reaction from the democratic minority leader in a few moments. Supporterborn, ohio, of the operation. Caller i am a democrat. I support trump. On this, he has been the bravest president i have seen in years, since roosevelt. He dont take no stuff, misty eyed. Troops killedr and crippled right now. You ought to look at some of them. I have seen some of them, that guy,i, solomon that solomon, that they have done to them. They went in and shouldnt of done that that guy right there [indiscernible] when people picks on you, they aint gonna stop we have tried to buy them, we have fiddled with them for how many years . I am 50. I have seen it go on. That is it. Host ok. Fran, fond du lac, wisconsin, opposed. Caller i oppose it. I think it is nothing but a little too convenient given trumps reputation and his history of doing things for his convenience, his benefit. It doesnt make any difference how many lives are put at risk or if the country is put at risk. If i would believe this was something really, a brave thing trump did, i would be one of his fools. Thank you. Host iraq veteran, willie, newman, georgia. Caller i served three tours in iraq. Iranians have been doing this stuff in iraq for a long time. This is not new. It is really about time somebody stepped up and announced it and told the world what iran has been doing in other countries. Host you probably heard talk about repercussions from iran. As a person who served and understands the region on that level, what do you think . Dider do you see what we to Qasem Soleimani when he was driving in a car . You really believe they are capable of doing those things in the u. S. . That is the level we are at compared to their military forces. We dont really have anything to be worried about. Host ok. Anding service, ray, elizabeth sitting, North Carolina u. S. Navy vet, indian ocean, 1980, i support the action because they have threatened us, attacked our troops and are planning more tax. This has putsee a target on the backs of americans everywhere, given radical terrorists even more reason to hate us. We can expect to pay a terrible price for this blunder in the unchecked tyrant in the white house. 03. T asset 202 74880 the folks who have sent us text, put your name, city and state, we would appreciate that. Lets hear from chuck schumer. [video clip] the administration did not consult in this case. I fear those serious questions have not been answered and may not be fully considered. Among those questions, what was the legal basis for conducting this operation . How far does that legal basis extend . Dangerousany surrogates in the region and a range of possible responses. Which responses do we expect . Which are most likely . Plans to counter all possible responses . How effective will our counters be . What does this action mean for the longterm stability of iraq and the trillions of dollars and thousands of american lives sacrificed there . Planoes the administration to manage escalation of hostilities . How does the Administration Plan to avoid larger and potentially endless conflagration in the middle east . These are questions that must be answered. President iew that the does not have the authority for a war with iran. If he plans a large increase in troops, potential hostility over a longer time, the administration will require congressional approval and the approval of the American People. The president s decision may add to an already dangerous and difficult situation in the middle east. The risk of a much longer military engagement in the middle east is acute and immediate. This action may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war, exactly the kind of endless war the president promised he would not drag us into. Host headline from the new york times. Mitch mcconnell saying a briefing on the actions that took place is scheduled for the senate next week. For apelosi also asking similar briefing on capitol hill. Bedford, virginia, support line, joseph. Caller 100 support what he did. I wish they would do it more often. Socialists are crying about it, well, they are sticking up and he didnt Tell Congress because he knows they would have just worn him so he could just go run and hide. These democrats act like this is some good guy, when he has killed and committed terrorist acts against us and our allies but they stick up for that bum. If it was up to me, i would carpet bombed the whole region. They would commit terrorist acts against us whether we ignore them like the democrats to or enable them do like obama and clinton did by giving them a boatload of money. So, we need to take them all out. Host do you think those attacks would now happen because of what specifically the killing of Qasem Soleimani . Caller no, because they commit terrorist acts against us anyway whether we are nice to them or not. I say we should hit them first. That is common sense. If you know someone is going to attack and kill our soldiers, we should attack and hit theres first. Preemptive strike, you know . Dont sit here like an ostrich with our head in the sand like the democrats do. Host mary, florida, those who oppose. Disagree withy what trump did. I believe it is totally because of his impeachment going on plus he does this all the time. Everything he does is against everything obama did, he has tried to change. Now he has this on his record, that he killed a big guy over there, makes him big, more powerful. I am tired of hearing people saying that we gave iran all the money. It was there damn money to begin with. At least they werent going back in and trying to do this nuclear deal again, which he is let them be able to do now. Host from our support line, elizabeth city, North Carolina, ray. Caller thank you. Reiterate what i said in my text. Nation because of the regime. Forpport the freedom iranian people. 1980. In the indian ocean, iran,ied what went on in the socalled revolution. We need to be strong. They have threatened us. They have killed our troops. I support this action. I totally support what trump is doing. He is protecting us. We need to be strong. Host if it escalates, what convinces you we are prepared . Caller we need to keep our powder dry. Prepared, keep a strong military, our intelligence, we need to trust our intelligence and the military. Keep doing that. We cannot let our guard down. Sand. H in the stick your head in the sand, you leave a tempting target for people to do you wrong. Host mary, fort washington, maryland. Caller good morning. Lets start with, i totally agree with the lady that called in. Anyhow, this is a lie. I do not believe what is coming across the news media. If you want us to know the truth, pedro, please put on democracy now. This is deja vu. The same people in action now, he put in action again. John bolton . Really . Progressive do not believe this. It is only important if americans are killed . All life is important all over the world. He has killed everybody. No one did anything all this im. Both barack obama and bush, looked at it. He was not important to get. We need peace. We need to have that nuclear iran deal. That bozo had no business pulling out of this. This is no rationalizing. If you want the people to know the truth, please put on amy goodman. Host some democrats have talked about the actions of Qasem Soleimani, some describing it in evil terms. Caller they are wrong also. Host youre saying progressives and democrats are wrong . Caller yes. Host why . Caller show proof. If they show proof or the other wars they just want to have wars why does trump want to get the oil of iran . Why does john bolton want war . Ask them why and they need to tell the truth. Host john bolton is not an advisor currently. Caller yes. The president knew something. John bolton knew something also. Mitch mcconnell know something. They are lying to the American People just to justify an unnecessary war. We need that bozo, no business to walk away from the host we understand. Benjamin, massachusetts, support. Caller good morning, sir. I unequivocably support my president. I am a korean war veteran. I will give you a quick example if i may. Ii and through world war what the japanese did and what nationruman did to a with far more integrity than. His man trump put down we all dont have enough information to begin with. We dont have it at our disposal. We cannot make that quick decision. Anyways, i support my president. Host let me ask you, why do you have such support even though you say there is not enough information to make that decision . Caller because he has directly ofindirectly been a part many americans, and that is recorded. Host to the previous callers point, she said the bush and obama administrations didnt take these similar actions why do you think it is appropriate for this administration to do so . Caller like i said, we will never have enough info. I am not trying to dodge. What im saying is, the little i know is that he was indirectly or directly part of American People dying, troops. I will proudly stand, like i did in the korean war, i will stand for my president. Thank you. Host ok. For a halfhour we have been taking your calls, when it comes to this airstrike, whether you support or oppose the action. Give us a call, 202 7488000 if you support it. It. 7488002 if you oppose if you are an iraq war veteran, give us your perspective at 202 7488001. If you oppose it, 202 748 8001. New york times saying as late as thursday officials were still waiting other options. Weighing other options. Host you can find more background in the new york times. Also from the times, leading up to it, the influence Qasem Soleimani had in the region, there is a story profiling him. Host that is some of the background of the sphere of influence Qasem Soleimani had before his death in iran and the region. We are asking you about this operation. Iraq war veteran, steve, california, good morning. Caller good morning. As far as the character goes, Nothing Better to do i guess. President the bombing, when the second term is looming on the horizon, they seem to want to do that. True for the last five, including this one. We are involved in conflicts in this world, all over the world. This is the modern age, beginning 1865. We are still talking the same language. It will be understood tomorrow. Host jennifer, vernon, new jersey, opposed. Caller hi. I definitely oppose. I believe we are going backwards. We had our foot in the door diplomatically. This pushed us backwards. Facebook saying we did the right thing. That does not mean there will not be