'War criminal Netanyahu': 'Squad' members erupt over Israel's 'reckless' strike on Iran
Far-left House Democrats are hammering Israel for its Thursday night strikes on Iran.
Members of the House's progressive "Squad," already critical of Israel's war on Gaza, are denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a "war criminal" after his government launched attacks on Tehran and surrounding areas.
"Israel has once again bombed Iran, a dangerous & reckless escalation. The war criminal Netanyahu wants to ignite an endless regional war & drag the US into it," Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., wrote on X. "Any politician who tries to help him betrays us all. The American people do not want this."
Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., claimed Israel would drag the U.S. into war in the Middle East.
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"The Israeli government bombing Iran is a dangerous escalation that could lead to regional war. War Criminal Netanyahu will do anything to maintain his grip on power," Tlaib wrote.
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"We cannot let him drag our country into a war with Iran. Our government must stop funding and supporting this rogue genocidal regime."
Omar said, "Regardless of what [President Donald Trump] thinks, Israel knows America will do whatever they want and feels confident about their ability to get into war and have the American government back them up. Israel also knows they can always rely on getting America to protect and serve its needs."
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"Everyone in America should prepare themselves to either see their tax dollars being spent on weapon supplies to Israel or be dragged into war with Iran if this escalates," Omar said.
Washington and Tehran have been engaged in talks about a new Iran nuclear deal aimed at reining in the Islamic republic's uranium enrichment.
Trump posted on Truth Social Friday morning that Iran now had a "second chance" to come to the table after Israel's strikes.
Democrats, meanwhile, were more concerned.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he thought Israel's strikes, which it called preemptive, were a bid to scuttle those talks.
"It appears as if this was an attempt by Israel to scuttle Donald Trump's negotiations with Iran. Of course, our preferred pathway here to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is diplomacy," Murphy said.
U.S. officials have been warning Iran not to respond to what Israel has said will be a multi-strike operation.Original article source: 'War criminal Netanyahu': 'Squad' members erupt over Israel's 'reckless' strike on Iran

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The Hill
33 minutes ago
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USA Today
37 minutes ago
- USA Today
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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
How Iran could retaliate after the U.S. strikes on its nuclear program
DUBAI — Iran has spent decades building multi-tiered military capabilities at home and across the region that were at least partly aimed at deterring the United States from attacking it. By entering Israel's war, the U.S. may have removed the last rationale for holding them in reserve. That could mean a wave of attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East, an attempt to close a key bottleneck for global oil supplies, or a dash to develop a nuclear weapon with what remains of Iran's disputed program after American strikes on three key sites. A decision to retaliate against the U.S. and its regional allies would give Iran a far larger target bank and one that is much closer than Israel, allowing it to potentially use its missiles and drones to greater effect. The U.S. and Israel have far superior capabilities, but those haven't always proved decisive in America's recent history of military interventions in the region. 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Both have drone and missile capabilities that would allow them to target the United States and its allies. Iran could also seek to respond through militant attacks farther afield, as it is widely accused of doing in the 1990s with an attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina that was blamed on Tehran and Hezbollah. It could be days or weeks before the full impact of the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites is known. But experts have long warned that even joint U.S. and Israeli strikes would only delay Iran's ability to develop a weapon, not eliminate it. That's because Iran has dispersed its program across the country to several sites, including hardened, underground facilities. Iran would probably struggle to repair or reconstitute its nuclear program while Israeli and U.S. warplanes are circling overhead. But it could still decide to fully end its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and abandon the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. North Korea announced its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003 and tested a nuclear weapon three years later, but it had the freedom to develop its program without punishing airstrikes. Iran contends that its program is peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA assess Iran hasn't had an organized military nuclear program since 2003. Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but does not acknowledge having such weapons. Krauss and Gambrell write for the Associated Press.