War in Iran would be ‘big mistake,’ Sen. Kaine says

After days of delays, members of Congress were briefed on ongoing tensions with Iran in a closed-door meeting. Both Virginia Senators are unhappy with how long it took to receive information on the U.S. strikes on an Iranian nuclear site and said they found out about the strikes when everyone else did, on the news.

“What are the next steps? Are we sure now that Iran is not going to strike back against our 40,000 troops in the region?” Sen. Mark Warner said.

Warner is the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“It is our responsibility to provide that oversight of our intelligence community and also make sure that we’re informed as policymakers,” Warner said.

Fellow Democrat and Senator Tim Kaine said his stance is simple.

“In this case there was no authorization. There was no consultation. And with Democrats, there was no notification,” Kaine said. “We shouldn’t be at war with Iran unless Congress votes for us to be at war with Iran.”

Kaine said if that vote were to happen today, he would vote no.

“I do not believe that we should be in another war in the Middle East,” Kaine said. “I think that would be a big mistake.”

Warner is hoping to gather more information on how successful the initial strike was.

“I think Iran shouldn’t ever have a nuclear weapon. But the idea that responsible members of Congress shouldn’t ask questions that would be totally, totally irresponsible,” Warner said.

This little information even to intel insiders on Capitol Hill, Warner said, is unprecedented.

“It is the responsibility of the intelligence oversight like me, to make sure that the intelligence product is not being manipulated to call it out when it is and to make sure that the intelligence community can speak truth to power,” Warner said.