CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) Is Interviewed About The Iran Crisis

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

BLITZER: Tonight, amid a deepening stand off with Iran, there is confusion about what's happening with U.S. forces in Iraq. Joining us now, Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia. She is a key member of the Foreign Affairs Committee as well as a former CIA case officer.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. I quickly want to start with this very confusing letter saying U.S. troops are repositioning in Iraq to prepare for "onward movement." It also says, "We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure."

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs now says the letter was poorly worded and released publicly by mistake and released to the Iraqi government by mistake.

[17:25:04]

What do you read between the lines? REP. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-VA): Well, I think there is a lot to be

viewed here, a lot of confusion, frankly. There is confusion within the American government. There is confusion about what this means.

I think that we can be certain that there is confusion within the Iraqi government as to what their partners, the United States, means by this letter. I think it speaks to a bit of chaos and freneticism.

And forward looking, I think we must be very concerned about what strategy exists to move our country forward, protect our national security interests and ensure that our U.S. personnel overseas are operating on an order and on a strategic plan that will keep them safe, and meet the U.S. objectives.

BLITZER: Do you believe the strike on Soleimani has jeopardized the overall U.S. mission in Iraq?

SPANBERGER: Well, I think certainly when you see the Iraqi parliament assessing that U.S. soldiers should leave the country when our mission on the ground has been to fight ISIS, fight transnational terror organization meant to do harm to the west, to our country and to Iraq, itself, I think that it is hard to see that we are any better off.

And I think looking forward into what the next steps are going to be, we have to ensure that we are strengthening the relationship that we have with the Iraqis. We have to ensure that the mission that has been the primary focus of thousands of soldiers, U.S. personnel in Iraq, to fight ISIS, to keep our country safe is one that isn't being jeopardized.

BLITZER: You dealt with Iran when you were a CIA case officer. Based on what you've heard from the administration at least so far, how likely is it that this strike thwarted what the administration says, the president says was an imminent attack from Soleimani?

SPANBERGER: So, I was a CIA case officer. I worked Iranian issues. I worked counterterrorism issues. And, you know, I think it's clear when we look at the 20 years that General Soleimani had leading -- going up the ranks and leading the Quds force.

Redefining what asymmetric warfare looks like for the Iranians, planning and in many cases, executing attacks in the Middle East and Africa and South America and planning attacks here even in the United States, it is clear that he was at the helm of this organization.

The Quds force that meant to do harm constantly and consistently to America and its allies. I think that the challenge though is I don't think anyone is under any illusion that he was the one who was going to be leading a militia to attack an American base or that he would be the one driving a truck bomb.

Those individuals are still out there. The persons who might be committing an attack against U.S. forces or U.S. interests are still out there, and he spent many years upon years building this infrastructure. So I think as we are looking to what our next steps are, we need to know that while removing him from the battlefield, removing him as a threat is one potential step.

The hundreds if not thousands of people he trained remain there and that threat and that challenges is clear and it's one that requires a firm, concise strategy for how to deal with the threat that comes from the Iranian regime.

BLITZER: Yes, it certainly does. Representative Spanberger, thank you so much for joining us.

SPANBERGER: Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: Coming up, we'll have more on U.S. troop deployments including the expected movement of B-52 bombers closer and closer to Iran.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source