(Photos provided)

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik has been quick to call Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. air strike on Jan. 2, a terrorist. Her Democratic challenger Tedra Cobb says he was a terrorist, too, but she refrained from using that word — at least publicly — until Jan 16.

When President Donald Trump authorized the drone strike at a Baghdad airport, Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, was quick to support the strike, calling it “decisive.”

The next day Cobb, D-Canton, said Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of thousands of American and Iranian citizens. She did not use the word “terrorist” in this statement. Stefanik said Cobb was joining the “liberal meltdown refusing to call Soleimani a terrorist.”

Cobb said she was concerned by the escalation of U.S.-Iran tension caused by the killing, saying she anticipated retaliation.

Iran did retaliate, with missile strikes on the al-Asad U.S. base in Iraq on Jan. 8.

Though there were no casualties reported initially, and Trump tweeted that “All is well!” that evening, it was later reported that 11 soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries or concussions.

That day Cobb tweeted, “My thoughts this morning are with our brave service men and women in Iraq and around the world.” Stefanik asked people to join her in praying for the soldiers.

Stefanik said she was glad no one died, and that the limiting of the strike to injuries shows the effectiveness of American military.

–

The video

–

The topic of the “terrorist” title for Soleimani came up again last week, when someone attending a Cobb campaign event hosted by Democracy for the Greater Glens Falls Area on Jan. 15 asked why she hadn’t called him a terrorist.

“I don’t think there’s any debate about who Soleimani is or what he has done,” Cobb said.

She again said he had killed Americans and civilians.

Some attendees, not satisfied with that answer, continued asking why she didn’t say the word “terrorist.” Others spoke up that assassinating a government official is against the law.

“The question here is why wouldn’t I call him a terrorist … and OK,” Cobb said, stopping short.

“You do call him a terrorist,” Democracy for the Greater Glens Falls Area coordinator Larry Dudley said.

Cobb nodded but then shook her head and said, “He’s not … yeah.”

“He was a terrorist,” Dudley said and continued on to the next question.

Stefanik posted this video on her Twitter feed and criticized Cobb for her answer.

“I think it is shameful that anyone running for the United States Congress would hesitate to designate him as a terrorist,” Stefanik said in an interview with the Enterprise Jan. 17. She called the video “the most disgusting video I have seen of any candidate for Congress.”

Cobb later responded to Stefanik’s tweets, saying, “Of course Soleimani is a terrorist. This isn’t up for debate.”

In an email to the Enterprise she wrote, “Elise Stefanik is lying about what I have said in order to distract from her abysmal record of voting against the people of this district.”

Cobb’s campaign said the video was taken by a “tracker” hired by Stefanik. The Enterprise was not able to verify this claim. The video was posted to YouTube the same day as Stefanik tweeted it, by an account under the name of Larry Johnson. It is the only video on that account.

Stefanik spokeswoman Madison Anderson said she did not know who that is and said the video was not taken by anyone associated with the Stefanik campaign.

–

Stefanik supports strike

–

Asked why she refers to Soleimani as a terrorist and not a general in an opposing army, Stefanik said the U.S. Department of State has designated him as such. President George W. Bush originally designated him as a terrorist, and President Barack Obama continued the designation.

“What makes him different from a general in the military, as you wrongly define him as, is he has slaughtered tens of thousands of citizens in the Middle East,” Stefanik said. “He has targeted and killed hundreds of American soldiers — in particular, a significant number of 10th Mountain Division’s soldiers.”

More than 200 soldiers, to be specific. On the podcast Banter, Stefanik said Soleimani had the blood of more than 200 soldiers from Fort Drum on his hands.

Stefanik said the strike was warranted because Soleimani intended to attack U.S. embassies. This claim, which has been made by Trump and several others, is publicly unverified by the military.

Asked how killing one general stops those attack plans, Stefanik said the attack has led to “discord in Iran” and questioned the Enterprise’s loyalties.

“If your paper or your questions want to side with Soleimani, that’s your decision,” Stefanik said.

Enterprise Publisher Cathy Moore said the question asked of Stefanik was worth asking.

“We’re not here to take sides. We’re unbiased,” Moore said. “That’s our job, to ask the questions. … We’re just asking the people who are supposed to handle the problems what the answers are.”

–

Authorization

–

The Washington Post recently published the “Afghanistan Papers,” a series of documents revealing that Americans were lied to by U.S. officials about the military progress — or lack of it — in an 18-year war in Afghanistan. This report was an echo of the “Pentagon Papers,” a New York Times report that revealed a similar truth about the Vietnam War.

With this in mind, Stefanik was asked what makes her believe the reports that attacks on U.S. embassies were imminent are true. She said the papers revealed that the U.S. was “not as straight-forward and accurate as it should be” when it came to Afghanistan.

“I think we should have oversight hearings … and ask tough questions of our military leaders,” Stefanik said.

On the other hand, she said she’s been briefed on “exquisite, specific, very real-time intel” through her position on the House Intelligence Committee.

While other members of Congress have decried Trump’s authorizing the strike without notifying Congress, Stefanik said she was fine with it.

She said Trump had authorization through the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force for a counter-terrorist strike in an operational theater of conflict, adding that Soleimani broke United Nations rules by intervening in Iraq.

Asked how the U.S. can avoid war or further escalation with Iran, Stefanik said that deescalation has already happened.

“Look where we are today,” Stefanik said. “This was an effective strike of strategic deterrence. Because of the president’s strike, Iran has retreated.”

She said Iran may still work through proxies to target Israel and allies, but that with protests of citizens “rising up against the regime … Iran has turned inward.”