20 days into Iran war, Alex Vindman blasts Donald Trump, Ashley Moody for ‘costly,’ ‘open-ended’ conflict

It has been 20 days since the U.S. conducted massive strikes on Iran. U.S. Senate candidate Alex Vindman says little good has come from it.

The Florida Democrat unleashed a rhetorical barrage on President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody over the conflict.

“Twenty days into the Iran war it is clear that the Trump administration has stumbled into a costly war completely misaligned with the priorities of the American people,” Vindman said in a statement provided first to Florida Politics. “We have already lost 13 U.S. service members and spent over $12 billion of taxpayer money. Those numbers will climb as there’s no end in sight for this war.”

Vindman served in Trump’s White House in his first term with the National Security Council, but ultimately became a whistleblower regarding foreign interactions with a different nation. His testimony about a call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy led directly to Trump’s first impeachment.

Now, he said the President has again led the nation into a predictably confused situation on the world stage.

“This was all too foreseeable for any competent leader,” Vindman said. “This war will not simply play out with bomb and missile strikes on an evil regime’s targets, it will play-out in the cities of friends and allies in the Middle East and in the lives of every American facing surging costs.”

Iran has already attacked several neighboring countries in the wake of the U.S. military action, including attacks on oil refineries in the region.

Vindman in January launched a campaign against Moody, a Republican appointed to her Senate seat last year who stands for election in November. Vindman said she and the GOP-controlled Senate have failed to provide appropriate oversight on the administration.

“Prices are surging at the pump, groceries are getting more expensive, and Floridians are struggling to make ends meet. The appointed Senator from Florida, Ashley Moody, has signed on for all of it,” Vindman said. “In fact, she is proudly defending this war instead of demanding answers from Washington on when this war will end.”

Moody, for her part, has supported action against Iran, both militarily and economically.

“For decades, this evil Iranian regime has called for the death of America, the destruction of the West, terrorized its own people and others, and caused fear and instability in the region,” she said immediately after the strikes 20 days ago. “When someone says they want to destroy you, you should listen, and we have a President that did just that. Today, all Americans should be praying for the success and the safety of our servicemen and women.”

Before that, she encouraged sanctions by allies in Europe against Iran until the nation proved it had dismantled its nuclear program.

But Vindman said Moody and Congress should be doing more to reign in the foreign policy failures unfolding in Iran now. And he said the protracted conflict shows the consequence to that lack of oversight.

“Ashley Moody is failing the grieving families whose lives are forever changed. And Ashley Moody is failing the People of Florida struggling with an affordability crisis, wondering how they will get to work with sky-high fuel prices or put groceries on the table as costs soar,” Vindman said.

“We were told this was going to be a quick ‘operation.’ That was a lie. Instead, we’re watching another open-ended conflict continue to spiral. Americans and Floridians deserve better; they deserve leaders who will focus on their priorities, not an endless agenda of chaos, corruption, and rising costs.”