'World Better Place Now That He's Dead': Local Lawmakers Reacting After US Drone Strike Kills Top Iranian General
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Local lawmakers are reacting after a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general at Baghdad's International Airport. Iran is promising "crushing revenge" after Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, was killed.
Democratic New Jersey Congressman Andy Kim said Soleimani "richly deserved" to be targeted, but he still has some concerns.
"I'm very worried about the thousands of Americans that are in Iraq, throughout the Middle East and what it is that we can do for them. That's where my concern is and I worry that the administration hasn't taken those considerations seriously enough," Kim said.
Kim said he and other colleagues are discussing whether Congress should have been notified before the strike.
On the other side of the aisle, Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey praised the strike.
"The Trump administration was right to restore deterrence against Iran," Toomey said in a statement. "The world is a better place now that he's dead."
President Donald Trump says the targeted killing of the Iranian general was ordered because he was "plotting to kill" many Americans.
The U.S. blames Soleimani for planning a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base last month that killed an American contractor and for approving the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad this week.
