U.S. Defense Secretary walks back contradiction of Trump’s justification for Soleimani assassination

This appeared in The Millennial Source

On Sunday, United States Secretary of Defense Mike Esper contradicted U.S. President Donald Trump on the motivation for assassinating Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani before walking it back.

The justifications for the assassination remain unclear.

Trump has justified Soleimani’s assassination by saying he posed an imminent threat to Americans and the nation’s embassies. However, Esper denied knowing of any specific threats to American embassies.

Additionally, a classified intelligence briefing held last week intended to provide justification for the killing was publicly criticized by members of Trump’s party.

There is now bipartisan support for limiting Trump’s ability to order military action abroad.

Warnings of an imminent threat

Immediately following the Jan. 4 assassination of Soleimani, Trump and national security members claimed that the Iranian general was planning “imminent” attacks on American personnel in the Middle East, according to USA TODAY.