Since the United States carried out an airstrike last week that killed Iranian terrorist Qasem Soleimani, Democrats have repeatedly taken issue with the fact that the Trump administration didn't ask for Congressional approval. President Barack Obama's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson completely debunked that notion during a Sunday morning interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press."
"If you believe everything our government is saying about General Soleimani, he was a lawful military objective and the president, under his Constitutional authority as commander-in-chief, had ample domestic legal authority to take him out without additional Congressional authorization," Johnson explained. "Whether he was a terrorist or a general in a military force that was engaged in armed attacks against our people, he was a lawful military objective."
According to a document prepared by the Peterson Air Force Base's Legal Office, "Military objectives are defined as any object which by its nature, location, purpose, or use makes an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture, or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage."
In this case, "destroying" Soleimani provided the United States a strong military advantage. After all, Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of United States military personnel. And that's not even taking into account the fact that he also killed civilians.
This morning, Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson debunked Democrats' claim that Congress needed to approve Soleimani strike
— Zach Parkinson (@AZachParkinson) January 5, 2020
Johnson: Soleimani was a "lawful military objective" & the President had "ample domestic legal authority to take him out" pic.twitter.com/1LUqYAwm9j