Virginia State Senator Richard Black in a letter has urged US President Donald Trump to prevent White House National Security Adviser (NSA) John Bolton from igniting a war with Iran.
“John Bolton has usurped your [Trump’s] authority as Commander-in-Chief [CINC]. He countermanded your order for an immediate withdrawal from Syria, and now he has alarmed our allies by agitating for war against Iran. It was reported that you hope to avoid war with Iran. But the CINC does not ‘hope’. He commands. He does not delegate war-making to his staff”, Black said in a letter on Friday.
In moves largely driven by Bolton, the United States over the past few weeks has deployed battleships, warplanes, carrier strike groups and Patriot missile systems to the Persian Gulf to threaten Iran for allegedly troubling activities. However, the United States has failed to provide any evidence to substantiate the allegations.
The state senator said Trump had campaigned on ending wars but now Bolton and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are orchestrating a new conflict that could easily kill a million Iranians.