There might be some Republicans who think Congress should have an increased role to play when there is escalation with any other nation, Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., said Thursday, but he thinks when it comes to the current debate on the actions President Donald Trump can take with Iran, they "won't want anything to do with it."
"Without any teeth, it is a press release," Zeldin told Fox News' "Outnumbered Overtime." "They are just trying to punch the president in the face with this resolution, and that's why I think a lot of Republicans who would normally be inclined to support an effort like this don't want anything to do with it. We'll see what happens with the debate in the floor vote."
Zeldin said he had no complaints about the briefing the Trump administration gave to House members Wednesday about the decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, even though some Republicans, like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, complained the briefing they heard was insufficient.
He also said he backs Trump's decision to order the airstrike that killed Soleimani.
"My opinion is if you are going to kill 6,000 U.S. troops and wound thousands of others and commit all of the acts and have the planning for attacks going forward, I have no problem with you resting in pieces, because you just got blown up by our government for the best of reasons," Zeldin said.
He also said he wonders what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meant when she called the airstrike disproportionate.
"At what point is it proportionate?" he said. "How many troops have to die and how many have to get wounded?"
Meanwhile, Zeldin, an Army reservist who has served inside Iraq, said people there have a difficult choice when it comes to having to deal with Iran while responding to Trump's call for Iraq's military to protect bases where Americans are housed.
"You have Iraqi soldiers with U.S. troops," Zeldin said. "You have, as you know, different types of people who are in the Iraqi government, some who strongly oppose Iran. You have others, who have evolved into Iranian proxies themselves. They are beholden to Iran."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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