The commanding general of the Iranian Qods Force, Qassim Soleimani, has been killed in an airstrike at the Baghdad airport. The second in command of the Iraqi Shiite militia group that stormed the US embassy in Baghdad two days ago was also killed according to reports by Iraqi TV and many sources in Baghdad. Some reports say that the airstrike was by the USA while others say the identity of the attackers is unknown. This is truly amazing. Here are some important points to remember about this:
1. Solemani is a war criminal. He has coordinated terrorist attacks for decades. He directed much of the campaign by the Assad regime in Syria that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians across that country for the "crime" of being Sunni Moslem rather than Shiite. That same campaign drove millions of Syrians from their homes.
2. Solemani is also the head of Iran's equivalent of the main group of shock troops under the command of the Ayatollah. If there was anything important of a military nature to be done by Iranian forces, it was the Qods force headed by Soleimani that did it. This is a major blow to Iran and to its leadership.
3. It is amazing that Solemani was traveling in a car in Baghdad with the leadership of the Shiite militias he controlled for Iran. It is testimony to the belief by the Iranian leadership that they were immune to any attack from US or other forces. After eight years of Obama doing nothing to counter Iran and, instead, trying to build up the Iranians, the mullahs simply could not believe that the USA under President Trump was serious when it said that it would not tolerate events like the storming of the embassy.
4. There will likely be a strong reaction from Iran. That could take the form of an attack on Israel by Hezbollah. It could also come as a missile attack directed at shipping in the Persian Gulf. There could be missile attacks on US bases in the region. There could be a repeat of the attack on Saudi oil facilities like the one a few months back. There could be attacks on Jewish community centers or other soft targets around the world. We could see American embassies in other capitals hit. We could even see terrorist attacks in the mainland USA. The Iranians could strike at us in retaliation in many, many different ways.
Of course, the Ayatollah and his regime may take a step back and realize that they had better proceed with care here. Were the Iranians to launch a missile attack on a US navy ship they would have to assume that the response might be an attack by Special Forces directly on the nuclear facilities holding Iran's nuclear weapons program that is so precious to the Iranian leadership. There could also be other moves that would be truly disastrous for the Islamic Republic, moves that the Ayatollah's government could not survive.
5. We may also see China or Russia try to take advantage of the situation by sliding in to form some sort of alliance with Iran, but that seems unlikely.
6. No matter what happens, we will surely see the pundits in the mainstream media who proclaim this to have been a major blunder by President Trump. Two days ago, these pundits were rooting for people in our embassy to be killed so that it could be "Trump's Benghazi". Of course, since, unlike Obama in Benghazi, President Trump actually responded quickly to reinforce the embassy, no one was hurt and the siege ended quickly. The pundits, however, all announced that American diplomats were now just prisoners in their own embassy and that America was just going to have to wait to see what Iran does next. Apparently these pundits must have contractual requirements that they cannot ever make a correct prediction when it comes to Donald Trump.
7. No matter what comes next, the death of Soleimani (if it is real), is a great way to start 2020. It's the end of one of the worst murderers in the world.
1. Solemani is a war criminal. He has coordinated terrorist attacks for decades. He directed much of the campaign by the Assad regime in Syria that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians across that country for the "crime" of being Sunni Moslem rather than Shiite. That same campaign drove millions of Syrians from their homes.
2. Solemani is also the head of Iran's equivalent of the main group of shock troops under the command of the Ayatollah. If there was anything important of a military nature to be done by Iranian forces, it was the Qods force headed by Soleimani that did it. This is a major blow to Iran and to its leadership.
3. It is amazing that Solemani was traveling in a car in Baghdad with the leadership of the Shiite militias he controlled for Iran. It is testimony to the belief by the Iranian leadership that they were immune to any attack from US or other forces. After eight years of Obama doing nothing to counter Iran and, instead, trying to build up the Iranians, the mullahs simply could not believe that the USA under President Trump was serious when it said that it would not tolerate events like the storming of the embassy.
4. There will likely be a strong reaction from Iran. That could take the form of an attack on Israel by Hezbollah. It could also come as a missile attack directed at shipping in the Persian Gulf. There could be missile attacks on US bases in the region. There could be a repeat of the attack on Saudi oil facilities like the one a few months back. There could be attacks on Jewish community centers or other soft targets around the world. We could see American embassies in other capitals hit. We could even see terrorist attacks in the mainland USA. The Iranians could strike at us in retaliation in many, many different ways.
Of course, the Ayatollah and his regime may take a step back and realize that they had better proceed with care here. Were the Iranians to launch a missile attack on a US navy ship they would have to assume that the response might be an attack by Special Forces directly on the nuclear facilities holding Iran's nuclear weapons program that is so precious to the Iranian leadership. There could also be other moves that would be truly disastrous for the Islamic Republic, moves that the Ayatollah's government could not survive.
5. We may also see China or Russia try to take advantage of the situation by sliding in to form some sort of alliance with Iran, but that seems unlikely.
6. No matter what happens, we will surely see the pundits in the mainstream media who proclaim this to have been a major blunder by President Trump. Two days ago, these pundits were rooting for people in our embassy to be killed so that it could be "Trump's Benghazi". Of course, since, unlike Obama in Benghazi, President Trump actually responded quickly to reinforce the embassy, no one was hurt and the siege ended quickly. The pundits, however, all announced that American diplomats were now just prisoners in their own embassy and that America was just going to have to wait to see what Iran does next. Apparently these pundits must have contractual requirements that they cannot ever make a correct prediction when it comes to Donald Trump.
7. No matter what comes next, the death of Soleimani (if it is real), is a great way to start 2020. It's the end of one of the worst murderers in the world.
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