Article snippet: MORE spent a substantial part of his remarks at a campaign rally in Ohio on Thursday making the case for a U.S. strike against a top Iranian general in Iraq, describing it as part of an effort by his administration to achieve “peace through strength.” At his rally in Toledo, Ohio, Trump described Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani as a “sadistic mass murderer” who was to blame for recent Iran-backed protests on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. He also said that the deceased general was actively planning attacks on American facilities. “Last week, the United States once again took the bold and decisive action to save American lives and deliver American justice," Trump said, “Soleimani was actively planning new attacks and he was looking very seriously at our embassies and not just the embassy in Baghdad. We stopped him and we stopped him quickly and we stopped him cold." The president also indicated he was ready to take military action against Iran after it retaliated for Soleimani’s death with missile attacks on Iraqi bases holding U.S. troops late Tuesday, saying he held off only when learning there were no American casualties. “We were ready to go,” Trump told the crowd. “We didn’t do anything. We were ready — not that I wanted to — but we were ready.” Trump ripped Democrats over their criticism of last Thursday’s strike, after lawmakers alleged the action was taken without proper notification or approval from Congress; the president’s remarks came roughly an hour ... Link to the full article to read more