Roy: White House briefing on Soleimani airstrike was lacking, but attack was justified

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — Rep. Chip Roy (R-Hays County) said the White House was justified in moving to kill Qassam Soleimani last week, but was underwhelmed with the briefing he received.

“It was a little short and a little rushed for something as concrete and as important as this is,” Roy told KTSA’s Jack Riccardi Wednesday afternoon.

Despite those concerns, the Republican said the president was right to move forward with the airstrike.

“Very real and very significant concerns with intelligence that they had about what Soleimani was planning and some very concrete things that I can’t get into publicly that gave me further confidence that taking out Soleimani was important for our national security and for the health and well-being of the American people.”

Other members of Congress have expressed concerns with the intelligence behind the order, including Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

However, Roy said the bigger issue is older authorizations the federal government continues to operate under in the Middle East.

“We need to review the 2001 and 2002 authorizations of force that have us with a significant footprint in Iraq and Afghanistan and in 12 countries under an 18-year-old authorization of force,” said Roy.