The U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani has made Americans "walking prime targets" for retaliation, former national security council adviser Samantha Vinograd said Friday.
“I had a former State Department official text me a few hours ago saying, ‘I would not want to be in a secretary of State’s motorcade in any country going forward,'” Vinograd said on CNN, where she is now a national security analyst.
“In other words, that U.S. officials need to be concerned that they could be targeted," she added.
“It’s not just service members,” Vinograd said. “All American citizens are now walking prime targets for Iranian retaliation.”
A U.S. airstrike at Baghdad International Airport killed Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraqi militia group Popular Mobilization Forces, which is supported by Iran.
Vinograd said Friday that Americans around the world should take notice, saying that the Quds Force “has demonstrated its willingness and intent to strike American citizens, to strike American diplomats who are afforded protections under international law. So in addition to the force protection measures needed for American service members, I am equally as focused on the American diplomatic corps, as well as all of the contractors that work for the U.S. government, and other American citizens not just in the Middle East but around the world."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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