On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” former Obama administration National Security Advisor Susan Rice said it was difficult to believe President Donald Trump on the reasons for Quds Force Supreme Commander Qasem Soleimani assassination.
Rice said, “I am doubtful ultimately it will prove to be the right thing. In the first instance, any of us familiar with Qasem Soleimani and the extraordinary blood on his hands has to be happy to see him off the battlefield. He was a murderer and terrorist of the first order. Having said that, whether we and Americans around the world are safer as a result of his targeted assassination than they would have been had we pursued other means to deal with what was purportedly the imminent threat at hand. I am not sure about that. I am not sure as I look at this, there are other ways to de-escalate this situation.”
Blitzer said, “Do you trust what you’re hearing from the Trump administration right now, the initial information about the intelligence assessments?”
Rice said, “I wish I could. This administration, sadly, tragically, has a record of almost daily misrepresenting the facts, telling falsehoods about issues big and very small. It’s hard to have confidence on the face of their representations. I’d like to see the evidence. I’d like to see the details behind the information that apparently led to this attack. Certainly, what Qasem Soleimani has done and Iran’s record would support what the administration is saying, not the least in the recent context, but one cannot be certain without seeing the facts.”
Blitzer said, “Do you expect administration officials right now are lying?”
Rice said, “I’m not prepared to say that. I hope certainly not. If they were lying about something of this magnitude, I hate to think of the consequences for the United States. But as I said, given their track record, one can’t be certain, as one would hope to be in a context like that the commander-in-chief and his top lieutenant are giving us the whole story.”
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