U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro speaks during an event.
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro speaks during an event. Credit: Facebook / Joaquin Castro

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, ripped President Donald Trump for his “illegal war” in Iran as rescuers continue to search for two crew members of a U.S. aircraft shot down during a mission over the Middle East.

“The president started this war under false pretenses and without congressional authorization,” Castro said in a statement released Friday. “He claimed that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States. It didn’t. They did not have a weapon that could strike the United States, and there was no indication they were going to target us.”

Castro also said that he’s alarmed about rising U.S. casualties and the destruction of critical military equipment.

The loss of the F-15E Strike Eagle marks the first time a U.S. aircraft has been shot down since Trump’s military campaign against Iran began. One crew member of the jet has been rescued, while two others remain missing, according to the Associated Press.

NBC reports that an aircraft searching for the missing crew members was also struck by Iranian fire. The pilot of that aircraft, an A-10 Thunderbolt, made it into Kuwaiti airspace and ejected before the plane crashed.

That pilot is reportedly safe, according to MSNBC.

The latest developments in the Iranian conflict come less than 24 hours after Trump, in a primetime national address, declared the U.S. had “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

The losses of the aircraft also come as Trump asks Congress for a record $1.5 trillion in military funding.

Casto, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he plans on voting no on Trump’s funding request. ​

“Over the last month, President Trump’s disastrous Iran War has turned into one of the biggest national security blunders in the last generation,” Cast said. “Iran has been able to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s oil and significant amounts of fertilizer and other critical products flow through.”

Castro continued: “A vote to fund this illegal war is a vote for this illegal war. I will vote no.”

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...