Former democratic US senator Joe Lieberman criticized US President Donald Trump's pulling out of the Iran strike last Friday, in an interview he gave Army Radio on the sidelines of Israel Cyber Week Monday.
Lieberman said he was “troubled” by Trump’s decision to back down from the military strike against Iran, after the operation was already in motion on Friday and that he hoped that Trump will “resume to be what he was, strong on Iran.”He further expressed his conviction that the US must “strike targets that are visible and public” and not restrain itself to cyber attacks against the Islamic Republic.
Lieberman defended the social media habits of Trump, who is famous for tweeting his views even when they are not conventional, and said that Trump “does more than just tweeting” when it comes to Iran.
He didn't agree with Trump's reasoning for his last-minute decision to halt the strike, namely the risk of killing up to 150 people, as he was informed by his advisors shortly before the strike. Trump voiced on Friday that, in his view, it isn't proportional to risk killing people on the ground in response to an unmanned drone being shot down.
Lieberman said that “in war” as sad as that may be, “unfortunately people are killed, that’s just the way of the world.” Lieberman is in Israel to take part in the Tel Aviv University Cyber Week which opened on Sunday and will take place until Friday.