GOP/IRAN/LIZ CHENEY/MILITARY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump’s decision to pull back on a planned military strike against Iran has divided Republicans, pitting hawks who criticized his midoperation retreat against a noninterventionist wing that sided with most Democrats to praise it. The rift highlights a longstanding debate in the Republican Party over national security that has played out inside Mr. Trump’s White House and in the halls of Congress, and has resurfaced as Iran’s bellicose actions have rekindled questions over lawmakers’ roles in matters of war and peace. It has also pointed up profound concerns among some Republicans, who are normally loath to criticize the president over such issues. Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House Republican, said on Friday that she was concerned about Mr. Trump’s restraint in response to the downing of an American drone, comparing it with President Barack Obama’s unfulfilled threat to strike Syria if it crossed a ‘red line’ by using chemical weapons.”
–Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Trump’s Iran Response Underlines Republican Rift Over National Security,” The New York Times online, June 21, 2019