Chris Smith: “According to ABC News, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said that the ``Dec. 27 attack on the Iraqi…”

“According to ABC News, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said that the ``Dec. 27 attack on the Iraqi base near Kirkuk that killed a U.S. civilian contractor and wounded several U.S. and Iraqi forces . . . was designed and intended to kill, and [Soleimani] approved it. I know that 100 percent.'' General Milley said that the trigger for the drone strike that killed Soleimani was ``clear, unambiguous intelligence indicating a significant campaign of violence against the United States in the days, weeks, and months,'' and that the administration would have been ``culpably negligent'' if it didn't act. Former Obama Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on NBC's Meet the Press that ``whether Soleimani 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.'' Mr. Speaker, Soleimani is responsible for killing over 600 Americans and disabling thousands more. He is directly responsible for massive death and injury of innocent civilians in the region. In the last two months alone, he orchestrated 11 attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq-- killing an American contractor and wounding four soldiers--and for the attack on our embassy in Baghdad. After yesterday's classified briefing by America's top diplomatic, military and intelligence leaders, I came away convinced that the action by President Trump was justified, proportionate and above all necessary to protect American lives.…”