Michigan Sen. Gary Peters Says War With Iran Would Be “Colossal and Catastrophic Mistake”

Last week, President Trump ordered a strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds military force.

The death has sparked a long-simmering debate about the U.S. role in that region of the world. 

“This action will lead us on a very, very dangerous course.” – Sen. Gary Peters

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) was one Democrat who was not quick to criticize the strike shortly after news media reported Soleimani’s death. He tweeted on Thursday, “Tonight’s strike took a notorious terrorist off of the battlefield. What comes next is critical for the region and the world. I am focused on ensuring that there is a strategy to protect our citizens, service members, and diplomats, and that advances our national security.”

On Monday, however, Peters took a more critical tone on Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson.

“This action will lead us, I’m afraid, potentially, on a very, very dangerous course,” says Peters. 

Click on the player above to hear Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) discuss the escalating tensions with Iran on Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson.

He says he’s not making a judgement as to whether the killing was an assassination, something that is illegal under both U.S. and international law, until he hears all the facts and the justification for the strike.

“We need to get the information. And once that information is provided I think we’ll have a clearer picture as to why this decision was made and how, if there even exists a strategy, how this decision fits into a strategy to ultimately bring greater stability to the Middle East. But I think what we’re seeing, this is not creating greater stability in the Middle East. It it creating more and more chaos, which is pretty consistent with what we’ve seen from this administration.

Peters says he is firmly against any war with Iran, something he says “would be a colossal and catastrophic mistake to do.”