Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) defended her support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel while denouncing the sanctions against Iran when asked by Townhall as she was leaving an anti-war protest outside the Capitol building on Thursday.
President Trump announced on Wednesday the U.S. will impose new sanctions on Iran after they launched ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq where U.S. troops are stationed. The attack was in retaliation for the U.S. military airstrike that killed General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Quds Force, and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes.
Soleimani was responsible for over 600 U.S. military deaths and thousands of civilians deaths in the Middle East.
The Pentagon defended the strike and maintained Soleimani was in the country to carry out more attacks against Americans in the region. Iranian-backed militias were under Soleimani's orders to attack the American Embassy in Baghdad on New Year's Eve.
Omar criticized Trump for the sanctions because sanctions "are economic warfare," adding, "You cannot claim to want deescalation and then announce new sanctions with no clear goal. This is not a measured response!"
This makes no sense. Sanctions are economic warfare.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 8, 2020
They have already caused medical shortages and countless deaths in Iran.
You cannot claim to want deescalation and then announce new sanctions with no clear goal. This is not a measured response! https://t.co/sGWtwXuNDT
Omar in turn has been criticized for being hypocritical since the "S" in "BDS" stands for sanctions.
"The BDS movement is a movement that is driven by the people," Omar told Townhall. "The sanctions on Iran, are sanctions that are being placed to create maximum pressure by a government. That's very different."