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OhBummer! saved Soleimani's @$$, giving him 4 more years to kill American, Syrians, Iranians, etc.. Same stupid mistake, same bloody consequences.
I'm sorry to see Rand Paul and Ilhan Omar on the same side of this issue.
Trump’s Ground Game Against IranThe assassination of Qassim Suleimani is a seismic event in the Middle East.By Michael DoranMr. Doran is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and served in the departments of State and Defense, and on the National Security Council. Jan. 3, 2020More than any other American military operation since the invasion of Iraq, the assassination yesterday of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the head of Iran’s Qods Force of its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, is a seismic event. The killings of Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leaders of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, were certainly meaningful, but they were also largely symbolic, because their organizations had been mostly destroyed. Taking out the architect of the Islamic Republic’s decades-long active campaign of violence against the United States and its allies, especially Israel, represents a tectonic shift in Middle Eastern politics.To see just how significant Mr. Suleimani’s death truly is, it helps to understand the geopolitical game he’d devoted his life to playing. In Lebanon, Mr. Suleimani built Lebanese Hezbollah into the powerful state within a state that we know today. A terrorist organization receiving its funds, arms and marching orders from Tehran, Hezbollah has a missile arsenal larger than that of most countries in the region. The group’s success has been astounding, helping to cement Iran’s influence not just in Lebanon but farther around the Arab world.Building up on this successful experience, Mr. Suleimani spent the last decade replicating the Hezbollah model in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, propping up local militias with precision weapons and tactical know-how. In Syria, his forces have allied with Russia to prop up the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a project that, in practice, has meant driving over 10 million people from their homes and killing well over half a million. In Iraq, as we have seen in recent days, Mr. Suleimani’s militias ride roughshod over the legitimate state institutions. They rose to power, of course, after participating in an insurgency, of which he was the architect, against American and coalition forces. Hundreds of American soldiers lost their lives to the weapons that the Qods Force provided to its Iraqi proxies.More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/opinion/trump-iran-suleimani-assassination-baghdad.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytopinion
More Mike Doran, former National Security Advisor Assistant under Bush 43, also Turkey defender which I'm not too found of him being: It's January 3rd and it's already, much of a "story of the year".
Was it rocky road?
Qods Force commander Soleimani’s carelessness put him in the U.S. military’s crosshairsBy Bill Roggio | January 3, 2020 | admin@longwarjournal.org | @billroggio The US military’s ability to kill Qassem Soliemani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force, was the result of his complacency and carelessness while traveling to and from Iraq.That’s because Soleimani became a public figure inside Iraq and acted as if he did not fear US action, US military officials familiar with his routine told FDD’s Long War Journal.Soleimani was killed along with Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the leader of the Hezbollah Brigades and deputy leader of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and five others in a US military airstrike while traveling in a convoy from Baghdad International Airport last night. The Pentagon said that Soleimani “approved the attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad†and was plotting further strikes against American interests in Iraq.More: https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/01/qods-force-commander-soleimanis-carelessness-put-him-in-the-u-s-militarys-crosshairs.php
World's most feared drone: CIA's MQ-9 Reaper killed Soleimanihttps://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/worlds-most-feared-drone-cias-mq-9-reaper-killed-soleimani
Former CIA director predicts 'high cost' for Soleimani strike: There will be 'dead civilian Americans'https://www.foxnews.com/media/cia-morell-iran-soleimani-american-deaths
I saw this. The answer is we had a chance to get bin Laden under Bill Clinton, we didn't, 911 happened. So, yes, this can work both ways. I'm thinking, we are going to have to be careful of Hezbollah the way, Israel has had to deal with terrorism.
"Washington’s step is fraught with grave consequences for regional peace and stability,†the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We are guided by the premise that such actions are not conducive to finding solutions to the complex problems that have piled up in the Middle East. On the contrary, they lead to a new round of escalation of tensions in the region."
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Well, thank you very much. And good afternoon.As President, my highest and most solemn duty is the defense of our nation and its citizens.Last night, at my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani.Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him.Under my leadership, America’s policy is unambiguous: To terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American, we will find you; we will eliminate you. We will always protect our diplomats, service members, all Americans, and our allies.For years, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its ruthless Quds Force — under Soleimani’s leadership — has targeted, injured, and murdered hundreds of American civilians and servicemen.The recent attacks on U.S. targets in Iraq, including rocket strikes that killed an American and injured four American servicemen very badly, as well as a violent assault on our embassy in Baghdad, were carried out at the direction of Soleimani.Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far away as New Delhi and London.Today we remember and honor the victims of Soleimani’s many atrocities, and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over.Soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the Middle East for the last 20 years. What the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago. A lot of lives would have been saved.Just recently, Soleimani led the brutal repression of protestors in Iran, where more than a thousand innocent civilians were tortured and killed by their own government.We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.I have deep respect for the Iranian people. They are a remarkable people, with an incredible heritage and unlimited potential. We do not seek regime change. However, the Iranian regime’s aggression in the region, including the use of proxy fighters to destabilize its neighbors, must end, and it must end now.The future belongs to the people of Iran — those who seek peaceful coexistence and cooperation — not the terrorist warlords who plunder their nation to finance bloodshed abroad.The United States has the best military by far, anywhere in the world. We have best intelligence in the world. If Americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets already fully identified, and I am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. And that, in particular, refers to Iran.Under my leadership, we have destroyed the ISIS territorial caliphate, and recently, American Special Operations Forces killed the terrorist leader known as al-Baghdadi. The world is a safer place without these monsters.America will always pursue the interests of good people, great people, great souls, while seeking peace, harmony, and friendship with all of the nations of the world.Thank you. God bless you. God bless our great military. And God bless the United States of America. Thank you very much. Thank you.
