The Hill – Kinzinger says Trump’s ‘biggest mistake’ in Iran war is ‘not preparing the American people for it’
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Sunday that President Trump did not adequately prepare the American public for war with Iran, calling that his “biggest mistake” in the lead-up to the conflict.
“I would say the biggest mistake is just not preparing the American people for it,” Kinzinger said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The former GOP congressman turned sharp critic of Trump later said that the president is “panicking” due to financial markets trending down and a majority of Americans disapproving of the war and has subsequently declared victory prematurely.
“I just think he needs to level with people and say what the truth is,” added Kinzinger, a former Air Force and Air National Guard officer. “‘Hey, we may be done tomorrow. This may go on for a few more weeks. The Strait of Hormuz is going to matter.’”
The war, which surpassed the three-week mark over the weekend, has resulted in the deaths of seven U.S. service members from Iranian retaliation. Six service members on board a refueling aircraft that crashed in Iraq last Thursday also died, with U.S. Central Command ruling out enemy or friendly fire for the cause of the crash.
Meanwhile, at least 1,298 Iranian civilians — including at least 205 children — and at least 1,151 Iranian military and armed forces personnel have been killed as of Friday since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began Feb. 28, according to the Iran-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The president on Friday told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on the latter’s podcast “The Brian Kilmeade Show” that the military operation will end “when I feel it in my bones.” He said two days after strikes began that the military projected the operation would take “four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.”
Prior to the conflict, Trump — who campaigned on avoiding U.S. entanglements in the Middle East dating back to his first run for president — vowed that he would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, after authorizing strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
“We wiped it out and they want to start it all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” the president said during his State of the Union address on Feb. 24. “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”
“My preference, my preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,” he continued. “But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen.”
Two days later, U.S. mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met for indirect talks, mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, with Iranian officials in Geneva, Switzerland, on the country’s nuclear program and ballistic missile development.
But after Trump said he was ‘not thrilled’ with the result of those talks, the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran less than 24 hours later.