Biden questions decision to kill Soleimani: 'I pray that Trump listened to his commanders'

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Biden: Soleimani was the architect behind the slaughter of countless lives

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reacts to U.S. airstrikes that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday ripped President Trump’s decision to authorize an airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani -- the commander of Iran's secretive Quds Force and one of the country's most powerful figures -- asking if the administration is prepared for what could come next amid retaliatory threats.

Biden questioned Trump’s decision in front of a crowd of more than 200 people at a community event in Dubuque, Iowa, one month out from the Feb. 3 caucuses. The airstrike followed thousands of protesters storming the compound of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad this week.

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Using a teleprompter to deliver his speech, Biden called the move “an enormous escalation” and asked the crowd if the administration had a plan for what comes next.

“Nothing we’ve seen from this administration over the past three years suggests they are equipped to deal with the very real risk we now confront,” he said.

Biden said Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign has failed on multiple counts and that the latest action puts the U.S. “on the brink of a major new conflict in the Middle East."

He said the threat that the Obama administration had “put on the back burner” is now “back on the table” and warned of a renewed potential for “multiple Iranian attacks by multiple means on multiple targets”.

“Does Donald Trump and his administration have a strategy for what comes next?” the former vice president asked, saying the Middle East was already “on the edge of another major war… and the risk has been made much worse by President Trump’s policies."

He also faulted Trump for a “string of dubious actions that have increased the risk of war with Iran and danger to Americans."

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“The prospect of direct conflict with Iran is greater than it’s ever been... So without passing judgment, I pray that Trump listened to his commanders,” Biden said.

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The Democratic front-runner used the opportunity to tout his own foreign policy experience and accomplishments throughout his career, saying he has “spent many days and weeks and months in the region." The former Delaware senator chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and sat on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security.

“The next president is going to inherit a nation that is divided and a world in disarray…This is not a time for on-the-job training,” he said. “It’s critical to have someone who can command the attention of world leaders on day one.”

TRUMP SAYS SOLEIMANI SHOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED ‘YEARS AGO,’ WAS ‘HATED’ WITHIN IRAN

After the event, Biden was asked by reporters his reaction to news that the Pentagon will deploy 3,500 additional troops to the Middle East after Iran vowed to exact “severe revenge” on the U.S. and the role Congress should play in decisions of this magnitude.

“I’m told that the assertion is that it was necessary to prevent another imminent threat. Well, let’s see if that’s true or not. If it’s not, there was a requirement, I think, to warn the Congress, to ask for congressional authority,” he responded.

Biden added: “I don’t think this is covered under the Use of Force Act... I just hope they have thought through the ramifications... The last thing we need is to get us into an unnecessary war with a nation of 44 million people.”

TRUMP ORDERS ATTACK THAT KILLS IRANIAN GEN. QASSEM SOLEIMANI

Biden has said previously that war against Iran without congressional authorization would be unconstitutional.

Shortly before the morning event began, Biden’s campaign tweeted out a new video ad playing up Biden’s past work on the world stage and blasting Trump for ordering the attack.

“We live in the most dangerous moment in a generation. Our world set on edge by an erratic, unstable president…This is a moment that requires strong, steady, stable leadership. We need someone tested and trusted around the world. This is a moment for Joe Biden, a president with the experience to lead on day one,” the ad said.

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In a statement released by his campaign shortly after the news of the airstrike broke Thursday night, Biden said President Trump “just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.”

Biden is also using the attack to fundraise: his campaign sent an email to supporters Friday morning asking for donations.

“I am ready to defeat Trump, and I will be ready to lead on day one of my administration. And when I’m in the White House, I will lead not only with the example of our power but the power of our example,” the email said.