On Monday, the Trump White House appeared to compare the recent drone strikes on Saudi Arabian oil facilities, which did not result in any reported fatalities, to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that left nearly 3,000 dead.
To be sure, the analogy didn’t come from Trump himself, and it wasn’t clear if Hook actually endorsed the comparison.
To liken any attack that didn’t result in any fatalities to 9/11, of course, would be sure to raise eyebrows.
But such an analogy is especially rich coming from Saudi Arabia, where 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11 were citizens.
“You don’t ask Saudi Arabia about how to proceed,” Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, tweeted Sunday.
“You do not have the authority to attack any other country on behalf of Saudi Arabia without getting permission first from Congress,” Gallego added.
Both Hook and Pompeo have also supported increased pressure, including through the possible use of the military, on Tehran. »
