Judge Jeanine: Killing Soleimani 'needed to happen' and Trump 'was the man to do it'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In her opening statement on “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on Saturday night, host Jeanine Pirro reacted to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force the day before, saying it “needed to happen and President Donald Trump was the man to do it.”
The Pentagon confirmed the game-changing U.S. military attack that killed Soleimani and other military officials at Baghdad International Airport on Friday. On Saturday, Pirro thanked the president for carrying out the airstrike that killed Soleimani.
“Everyone knew the blood of Americans was on his hands responsible for the murder of more than 600 American service members and thousands of others whose blood and limbs were spilled and left on the sands of the Middle East,” Pirro said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“He implemented the explosive devices capable of piercing through our American armor. His ruthless reign of terror was celebrated and legendary against Americans, our allies and Muslims would have continued had this monster not been stopped.”
Soleimani was the long-running leader of the elite intelligence wing called Quds Force – which itself has been a designated terror group since 2007, and is estimated to be 20,000 strong.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The president did not risk a single life in his effort to eliminate this sadistic beast who, according to all reports as well as his history, was a clear and present danger to America,” Pirro said in her opening statement on Saturday.
She added that Trump “is not interested in war.”
“He is interested in America and protecting it and in so doing, he will take swift, decisive and strategic action and take no prisoners along the way.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Whether they’ll admit it or not, all Americans should be thankful. Our allies should be thankful. Indeed, the world should be thankful for the removal of the world’s most dangerous terrorist,” She continued.
On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on “Fox & Friends” that by ordering the airstrike that killed Soleimani, Trump has demonstrated to Iran's leaders that he will take "swift, decisive" action to protect Americans.
Pompeo stressed that the Trump administration has shown military "restraint" in the face of dozens of attacks directed by Iran and its proxies against American interests, culminating in the death of an American contractor in Iraq last week.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}POMPEO ON QASSEM SOLEIMANI STRIKE: IRAN NOW UNDERSTANDS TRUMP WILL TAKE 'DECISIVE' ACTION
Pirro agreed with Pompeo on Saturday saying Trump is a president “who negotiates from strength, not from weakness. A man who has exhibited tremendous restraint, while constantly being provoked by Iran. His red line was the killing of an American and true to his word, it was only then that he responded.”
“He had tried everything and economic sanctions were imposed. Themselves recognized as appropriate and responsible action in the spectrum of diplomacy and yet, they continued to poke the eye of the tiger,” She continued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The president even tweeted Iran will pay a very big price for any damage or loss of life. ‘This is not a warning, it’s a threat,’” she noted.
Pirro added, “It’s not an act of war. It’s not unauthorized force when the commander in chief is defending Americans from imminent deadly harm. “
She then responded to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Friday comment: “This action may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war. Exactly the kind of endless war [the] president promised he would not drag us into.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“So for Chuck and all you snowflakes who say, ‘This means war,’ I’ve got news for you, we’ve already been in a shadow war with Iran for decades,” Pirro said. “They haven’t confronted us with conventional military action because they’re weak and we have superpower capabilities thanks to President Donald J. Trump.”
She concluded by saying, “By taking out Soleimani, we have put the Iranians on notice that its use of proxies will no longer protect those who plan or give orders for attacks against us. They personally will be held responsible.”
Pirro then acknowledged that “no one can predict where this will lead.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The Iranians have multiple military and economic interests in America, which they can target. However, they now know their use of proxies will not insulate them personally from retaliation and preemptive action,” she said.
“The president’s thinking on this has not been shoot from the hip. It was set strategically in motion this past April when Iran’s revolutionary guard and its commanders were labeled terrorists, that was the game changer my friends. It served notice to Iran’s leaders, particularly those in the Iran Revolutionary Guard, that they themselves, not their subordinates, will pay the price.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“And if they go to bed planning an attack on America, they make wake up on the receiving end of an American plan to preempt them,” she continued.
Fox News’ Frank Miles and David Montanaro contributed to this report.