McConnell says Kentucky soldier killed in Iran war ‘fell pursuing a noble cause’
Sen. Mitch McConnell honored Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, a Kentuckian who was killed in action during the U.S. military’s conflict with Iran in the Middle East, on the Senate floor Thursday.
McConnell also offered a warning to American diplomats: don’t trust what Russia, a strategic ally of Iran, has to say about the conflict. Be wary of China’s interests, too, Kentucky’s senior senator said.
McConnell, 84, is not running for reelection this year. Three prominent Kentucky Republicans — U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris — are vying for the GOP nomination in the May primary.
In his words about Pennington, McConnell said his loss, and that of six other American service members, was “not in vain.”
“There’s no amount of praise for Sgt. Pennington’s character, commitment or bravery that can fill the hole left by his loss. The knowledge that he fell pursuing a noble cause is actually small comfort, but it cannot obscure the empty seat at the dinner table, and so my deepest sympathies are with the Pennington family today and in the difficult days that lie ahead,” McConnell said.
The senator said that the U.S. military has “delivered a small measure of justice” as it has eroded Iran’s military capacity.
McConnell’s comments in support of the U.S.’s war in Iran came in contrast to Kentucky’s other senator, Rand Paul. Paul is a libertarian-leaning Republican who preaches non-intervention in most contexts — Iran as well as U.S. support for Ukraine as it continues to fend off a Russian invasion.
Paul warned in a Thursday interview that continued war in Iran would be bad for the president and the Republican Party, as Trump campaigned on “no new wars.”
“It’s not good for America. I think what’s going to happen is it’s going to turn the public also against the president and against the Republican Party,” Paul said.
McConnell’s speech offered something of a response to Paul’s line of thought. He poked at those who would characterize the war in Ukraine as “someone else’s concern,” given that it’s the largest land war in Europe since World War II and Ukraine has aided U.S. allies in the Middle East.
McConnell praised the U.S. military’s action, and added some advice in his speech, highlighting Iran’s ties with Russia and China, which relies on Iranian oil. He mentioned specifically the use of Iranian drones in Russian hands.
“Russia’s war of conquest in Ukraine would look quite different without the steady supply of Iranian attack drones,” McConnell said.
The senator also offered some criticism of U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, a longtime golf partner of Trump’s who’s taken lead on many high-stakes foreign relations missions.
“Now, public reporting also indicates Russia may be providing intelligence for Iran’s attacks across the Gulf. The President’s all-purpose emissary, Steve Witkoff, has downplayed these reports and relayed Russia’s strenuous denial of any such intelligence sharing. And for the sake of U.S. service members, I certainly hope that’s true. But unlike Mr. Witkoff, I am not at all inclined to, ‘take the Russians at their word,’” McConnell said.
Long a hawk when it comes to military defense spending — government contracts fuel the country’s military-industrial complex — McConnell also urged his colleagues to continue funding the war effort. The Pentagon recently told Congress the first week of the war cost $11.3 billion.
“So if the Senate receives a request for supplemental appropriations, I hope our colleagues who oppose the president’s use of force against Iran will still see an overdue opportunity to invest in urgent and strategic defense priorities. Weakness invites challenge, but our adversaries have sought to weaken and undermine America regardless of who the commander in chief is,”
