Despite Trump administration claims the threat of an attack by Qassem Soleimani's forces was "imminent," there remains skepticism that it was merely an excuse used to escalate a response to Iranian aggression, CNN reported.
"My staff was briefed by a number of people representing a variety of agencies in the United States government and they came away with no feeling that there was evidence of an imminent attack," Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., told CNN.
Udall shares the belief calling Soleimani's threat "imminent" is an excuse to remove him, per CNN.
Also, a Democratic source briefed by the administration told CNN the evidence of imminency was "absolutely unconvincing."
"It all depends on what you call imminent," a U.S. defense official told CNN. "But we believe he was in the final stages," whether it was days or weeks.
The killing of an American a week ago was a significant signal of imminency, according to another senior official to CNN.
The fact President Donald Trump called the strike an attempt to "avoid a war," showed it was an escalation to de-escalate by targeting Soleimani in lieu to Iranian assets, hoping it would cause Iranians to change their behavior, the source told CNN.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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