Trump says he aborted strike against Iran because it wouldn’t have been ‘proportionate’

President says U.S. forces were ‘cocked & loaded’ to hit targets but he called off operation 10 minutes before strike

President Donald Trump on Friday defended his decision to abort strikes on three Iranian targets involved in shooting down a U.S. military drone, saying U.S. forces were “cocked & loaded,” but the expected 150 deaths would not have been a “proportionate” response.

The New York Times first reported that Trump ordered strikes on Iranian targets but then canceled the mission with U.S. aircraft en route to take out Iranian missile and radar sites.

“We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not……..proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.”

View the complete June 21 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.