I was readying a piece about Qasem Soleimani when I got the news:
President Trump ordered a game-changing U.S. military attack that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, among other military officials at Baghdad International Airport early Friday, the Pentagon confirmed.
Soleimani is the military mastermind whom Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had deemed equally as dangerous as Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In October, Baghdadi killed himself during a U.S. raid on a compound in northwest Syria, seven months after the so-called ISIS “caliphate” crumbled as the terrorist group lost its final swath of Syrian territory in March.
Justice has been served. Iran is outraged:
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted after the attack “The US’ act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani—THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al—is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation.”
I couldn’t give a damn.
The UN is outraged
The U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial killing on Friday said the President Trump-approved drone strike against Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general, violated international human rights law.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Agnès Callamard said that “outside the context of active hostilities, the use of drones or other means for targeted killing is almost never likely to be legal,” adding that the U.S. would need to prove the person targeted constituted an imminent threat to others.
She also took issue with the justification for using drones in another country on the basis of self-defense.
I couldn’t give a damn. barack obama killed four Americans – including a 16 year old- and the world shrugged it off. He too is probably outraged, as he loses someone he admired.
I couldn’t give a damn.
democrats are outraged that this evil monster is dead:
Several Democrats vying for the White House in 2020 condemned Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani before taking aim at President Trump for ordering the deadly airstrike that will escalate tensions in the region and was done so without Congress’ approval.
Former Vice President Joe Biden claimed that by ordering the airstrike Trump “just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.”
In a lengthy statement, Biden said Trump “owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep our troops and embassy personnel, our people and our interests, both here at home and abroad, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.
I couldn’t care less. They’re idiots.
There’s a reason I have looking forward to this day for a long, long time. This action is on a level with the elimination of Osama Bin Laden. Soleimani was responsible for the deaths and maiming of thousands of Americans:
The Pentagon confirmed Thursday evening that Trump had ordered the attack that killed Soleimani and other military officials at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. Iran’s top “shadow commander” was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more, the State Department said.
I cannot begin to express how pleased I am at this and here’s why.
“Soleimani is the guy that sent the copper-tipped IEDs into Iraq,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, referring to powerful improvised explosive devices, which Marine Corps Commandant General Joseph Dunford testified last week were responsible for the deaths of 500 soldiers and Marines.
Soleimani supplied IED’s to Iraq and Afghanistan which resulted thousands of dead and wounded American soldiers.
As part of his Iran deal, obama gave Soleimani sanctions relief.
That Soleimani—who runs Iran’s elite paramilitary and covert operations group, the Quds Force—was even on the list appeared to catch some U.S. officials by surprise. A senior administration official briefing reporters on Tuesday morning didn’t have a ready response when asked when and why Soleimani was added. Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly denied that the 58-year-old general was on the list to be freed from the sanctions yoke. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, agreed, saying Soleimani—whom the U.S. accused in 2011 of plotting to launch a terrorist attack in the United States—had been confused with someone else with a similar name.
They were all wrong—or maybe didn’t want to be right. Soleimani is, in fact, on the list, a Treasury Department official later confirmed to The Daily Beast. And his presence definitely surprised some powerful lawmakers, who are already sharpening their knives for a filleting of the Iran deal.
Obama likely financed the attack on the US Embassy in Iraq.
Pompeo got it right
“We didn’t send pallets of cash to the Iranians. We didn’t pay for hostages. We didn’t create a deal which would have given them a clear pathway to a nuclear weapon. We have taken a very different approach. We believe it’s the one that will ultimately lead to success and stability in the Middle East,”
Iran is, of course, shaking its fist at the US.
We should not give a damn. Iran is learning that the US will no longer bend over and take it up the wazoo as it did under obama.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 40 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 45 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter who is in the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
@Deplorable Me: Did you say we want a war with Iran? Nobody said we want a war with Iran, who has been waging a war with America somehow they missed that part.
Barry should have listened to the Beatles, Cant buy me love no, everybody told him so.
They were in verified compliance with Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal, and hostilities between our nations were deescalating for the first time in decades. Trump couldn’t tolerate it, and has methodically sabotaged the improving situation. Step by step, he brought us here, and if he’s not stopped we’ll be sucked into another catastrophic war. That’s the situation.
That said, it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference who provoked who. Such a war will be a catastrophe for America either way. Of course, it won’t be Trump or any of his sycophants coming home in a flag covered casket. They’ll try to work angles to personally profit from the disaster, both monetarily and politically.
I doubt if China will loan us billions to fund our new war this time around. We’re running a million-million-dollar-per-year deficit already. Have you given any thought to how we’ll fund Trump’s coming military extravaganza? Maybe he’s stupid enough to think he can resolve things on the cheap with a few well-placed nukes. He is that kind of stupid.
@Greg: Only an absolute insane liberal would ever even think of a nuclear strike. Go take your meds and try to calm down. The President took out the guy running militias that just want no peace, ever.
@Greg: Complying with that deal, which they made sure accommodated their desires to develop a nuclear weapon, was the easiest thing in the world. Hell, they even got to inspect themselves. However, they were caught cheating from the beginning, inspectors finding areas where nuclear material had been stored without the IAEA knowing about it. Plus, against UN resolution, they have been developing weapons delivery systems.
And Obama paid them handsomely for that.
If it doesn’t make any difference who provokes who, why do you keep crying about it? Fact is, though, it makes quite a bit of difference because we are not going to provoke a war but Iran may very well do so. If they want to continue to send their military people out to carry out terrorist attacks, they might want to get used to seeing them killed. But, like you Democrats, they feel they can violate every rule, law, norm and ethic without penalty and accuse everyone else of violating laws and requiring punishment… usually for what they themselves are doing. They might also realize that Obama the Idiot is not President anymore.
He allowed them access to frozen Iranian assets. It was their money already. In return, we got verified compliance with a nuclear agreement that kept them from creating a nuclear bomb they were less than a year away from creating. Trump blew all of that off, in return for nothing but a resumption of escalating hostilities.
@Greg: What ever…Mockingbird whatever.
Achmed is dead.
@Greg: Money they have used to promote MORE terrorism. Plus, they were obligated to pay damages to the hostages… they didn’t and, now, never will. A stupid, stupid, stupid move.
Verification? By expecting THEM to inspect THEMSELVES? Compliance? Warehouses where nuclear material was illegally stored has been found. They aren’t complying with anything.
Only fools and people who WANT to be ignorant believe that failure of Obama’s was anything but a total disaster.
Sure. Just like Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction were found. That all happened in the right’s alternate reality.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitored Iran’s nuclear activities, found them to still be in compliance as of April, 2019. Iran announced, however, that they would cease to be bound by the provisions of the agreement if Trump didn’t removed newly imposed economic sanctions that were in violation of our part of the agreement. Instead, the dumb bastard slapped on more, doubled down on the threats, started beating his chest like an ageing and seriously overweight gorilla, and then ordered the assassination of a prominent Iraqi general. So, earlier today, Iran announced that they are abandoning compliance, and would resume high-level uranium enrichment.
So, after 4 years of monitored compliance we’ve now got that, thanks to the Very Stable Genius who needs a war to distract from an impeachment, and to win an election. By the way, his negotiating prowess with North Korea has also proved to be nothing more than the empty words of a two-bit hustler who should be hawking miracle no-stick skillets on late night cable.
The skillets are bogus, as were the balanced budget and health care plan promises, but the war he may soon blunder into will be entirely real.
@Greg: Now you are pretending to be on Saturday Night Live! Please stop telling the jokes, please. I can not stop laughing.
This is not a joke. It’s deadly serious. Any flag-draped coffins that result from Trump’s irresponsible decisions will be evidence of the fact. There’s nothing for America to gain from a war with Iran, but hundreds or thousands of American lives and trillions of dollars to lose. No one who loves America should be encouraging this. Better we should abandon the Middle East entirely.
@Greg: I am laughing at you and your total lack of knowledge and awareness of reality in the world and Middle East. Because of you and your lefty friends dealing illegally with countries like China and Iran and telling them to wait until after the 2020 elections, you are emboldening them to act against anything Trump would do. They will continue to think the US Left like Kerry and Clinton know what they are doing until Trump finally is forced to show China and Iran how serious he really is. You are part of the problem as well as all of your lefty friends. You are the joke because you have no understanding as to what is happening in the world. If there are US deaths, it is on you and the left anti-trumpers. Japan thought the same about Roosevelt when they bombed Pearl Harbor. Those in the know said that “I fear we have just awakened a sleeping giant:” That is exactly what happened.
@Greg: Trump has “abandoned” the Middle East more than any President, including Obama.
Saying Trump is starting a war rather than stopping one is partisan rhetoric.
@Greg:
You mean like those four flag-draped coffins that returned from Benghazi due to Obama’s decision to not take action to protect our people there?
We just proved that we can do selective strikes that took out a major terrorist without deploying so much as one soldier to do it. What do you think our military abilities can do to the Iranian oil fields and their clandestine missile sites?
Not only do you seem to have absolutely no faith in our military capabilities, you sound like you want the U.S. to roll over for Iran.
Odd how all the protests here today were organized by ANSWER Coalition, a front group for the Maxist-Leninist World Worker’s Party. Did you have fun there, Comrade Greggie?
@retire05: I do not think that greggie had time to return from his appearance on SNL.
@Randy: Remember desert Storm Iraq was ranked #4 in the world,(Sept to April) Iran is currently #14, Just under Brazil. Piss pants is afraid of them declaring war. No we dont want to kick the yapping teacup chihuahua.
I hope they dont target Greg him being our top military expert. 😉
January 5, 2020 – Donald Trump threatens Iraq with sanctions, says US won’t leave unless ‘they pay us back’ for air base
The man is ranting. He’s a disaster looking for a place to happen.
@Greg:
Do you, or your employer, actually think your disinformation does anything in the world?
What Trump is doing is rational, and much more cogent than Soros-Obama.
You, your party, and your ideologies have been defeated. Move on.
@Greg: It looks like everyone else is ranting. Look at your posts and those of the left greggie!
@Nathan Blue: Isnt it a refreshing change of pace our tax dollars used to kill a terrorist not fund and train them?
@kitt:
Apparently making logical sense is “ranting” to Leftists.
@Nathan Blue: The left has moved so far left, they are in danger of drowning. Now that would be worth talking about!
@Greg:
Except that was the intelligence we had. You know… the intelligence from the IC you believe should ALWAYS be believed EXPLICITLY and without question.
Oh, and as you very well know (it’s been reported here and discussed) WMD’s WERE found… by the thousands. Further, ALL your favorite Democrats supported, not seeking WMD’s, but REGIME CHANGE in Iraq. So, why don’t you be so kind as to shove your ignorant hypocrisy up your ignorant, hypocritical ass? Thank you.
Here are some fine examples of Iran’s “compliance”, courtesy of Dr. John:
https://www.vox.com/2019/7/1/20677093/iran-uranium-nuclear-deal-trump-war
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14910/iran-nuclear-deal-violations
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/iran-breached-the-nuclear_b_9977768
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/05/20/is-iran-already-violating-the-nuclear-deal-by-illegally-testing-ballistic-missiles/
https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2019-07-01/iran-violates-2015-nuclear-deal-following-through-on-threat
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/355949-iran-is-violating-the-deal
Iran lied and it didn’t take much to trick the idiot Obama, who always wanted to reward Muslims more than protect US or Israeli citizens. Obama paid Iran for the privilege of bowing to their every demand. That’s how smart he and Kerry were.
WHAT impeachment? Pelosi’s impeachment farce is so weak and partisan that she is afraid and embarrassed to turn it over to the Senate, per the Constitution. There’s been no impeachment.
It is to laugh. Not only has Trump taken out over a dozen dangerous terrorists in two days, but he exposed every Democrat candidate for President, as well as most Democrats, as sniveling cowards that would be happy for a terrorist to continue killing innocent people as long as Trump is not the person that stops him. The entire world has been shown how treacherous and disloyal Democrats are.
Democrats welcome into our country through their open-border illegal immigrant support dangerous criminals, terrorists and drunk drivers that kill thousands of US citizens. As if that isn’t bad enough, THEN your liberal leaders in cities and states provide SANCUTARY for known illegal immigrants, even protecting those convicted or accused of heinous crimes. What the F**K do you or any other liberal care about the safety of US citizens?
Liberals are U.S. citizens, Sherlock.
@Greg: Go ahead and fly your Iranian flag at 1/2 mast and have a good cry let it all out man…
@kitt, #124:
My concern is to keep our own flag at the top of the staff. America has nothing to gain from a war with Iran. A military victory would most likely win us nothing in the long run, and we cannot even take military victory for granted.
A wise leader considers all possible outcomes and carefully weighs any benefits to the nation against the risks. Our intelligence community warned our leaders what could happen before we went to war with Iraq in 2003, but the warnings were ignored. That’s how we got where we are now.
What would follow if we defeated Iran and created another power vacuum where extremists groups like ISIS are always waiting for their chance? Iran has had much to do with holding them in check. Are we going to police the entire Middle East at taxpayer expense for decades?
And that’s assuming all went well. It might not. We assumed our technological superiority and determination would prevail in Vietnam. It didn’t. Not understanding the situation cost us over 58 thousand American lives.
DONALD TRUMP’s America could easily be defeated by Iran in any future military conflict, according to the outcome of a US military simulation carried out in 2002.
The perils of asymmetric warfare for a superior force are entirely real. You can’t assume that you’ll win, particularly when you’re fighting determined, indigenous opponents on their own ground. If you don’t have something clear, specific, and substantial to be gained by doing so, the only rational decision is not to engage.
@Greg: What the hell do you think we have been doing? You have lost your frigging mind?
Iranians have been chanting Death to America since 79. We have been waging a war in the ME since 2001 do you remember a little reported news story about 911?
WTF is wrong with you? Turn off the left wing rewriting of reality that you have sucked up and internalized.
We voted for getting out of the ME mire but the left screams about giving it to Russia, power vacuums, abandoning our allies.
WTF do you want? (anything but what Trump does)
Listen up, we are going to try what ever plan this President tries, it couldnt be any worse than the last guy.
Did Barry call home? Our newest casualties are in Kenya.
War with Iran would most definitely be worse.
@Greg:
You, however, are most likely not.
@Greg:
Good thing our President said we’re not going to war, and we’re not seeking regime change.
Gotta pretend this is the Iraqi invasion, though, for political rhetoric purposes. Cheering Iran is only making your party look even worse.
@Greg:
We havent declared war with them, remember…..reality, deal with the here and now….not imaginary Russians in the closet or wars only 1 side have been fighting since 1979.
What if Iran declares war formally and we say Thanks but ….No.
@Nathan Blue, #129:
When someone lies constantly, the only rational response is to ignore their words and judge them entirely by their actions. To do otherwise is foolish.
Trump’s actions have been steps toward war with Iran.
@Greg: AAnd these are war against taste and fashion https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/06/the-worst-looks-of-the-2020-golden-globes/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=90bb981f42-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_Transom&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-90bb981f42-84050067
@Greg: They sure do not act like US Citizens!
@Greg:
Are they? Are they, really? They how about ACTING like US citizens instead of Soros puppets? How about rallying around the President against foreign enemies killing our soldiers? How about stopping doing anything and everything you can to weaken this President, which does NOTHING but embolden our enemies? Liberals show themselves to be traitors.
Only liberal cowards keep harping about war with Iran. Apparently, the thing for the US to do is go beg Iran, N. Korea, China and Russia for forgiveness and surrender to them. Killing terrorists that kill our people is a forbidden act, because it will make the people the hate us mad. I guess you have no idea how stupid that concept is, yet there it is; your party’s platform.
We have what we have now because YOUR god and savior squandered a hard-fought victory in Iraq and handed the entire region over to Islamic extremists of various sects. Schumer was saying that it is their duty to protect us from a “bumbling” President, yet it was YOUR President that destabilized the entire region. It was also Democrats who supported and encouraged regime change in Iraq, so the “wisdom” you allude to was not Democrat wisdom.
What would follow if we defeated Iran and created another power vacuum where extremists groups like ISIS are always waiting for their chance?
The world is safer today without the terrorist mastermind that carried out his bloodthirsty plans all over the planet through hundreds of cells.
His chief terror organization – Hezbollah – was not pigeonholed to formal nation-state acts of war; it operates in the deathly shadows where terrorists lurk.
They operate across the Middle East in cities as well as battlefields.
They operate in Europe.
They operate in Asia, South America, Central America, and right here in the United States.
Should have been done long ago.
Qasem Soleimani was not Osama bin Laden. Soleimani was not “a terrorist mastermind”. He was an Iranian general. Apparently he needs to be “a terrorist mastermind” to help us rationalize the fact that Trump had him assassinated. Apparently we’re not entirely comfortable thinking of ourselves as people who condone the assassination of foreign government officials.
@Greg: You Democrats take despicable to new levels in your shameless worship of anyone that hates this country.
Odd you find assassination objectionable; you’ve all been promoting the assassination of Trump since he won his election. Again, you only respect those that hate this country as much as you do.
Soleimani was (WAS) a notorious, bloodthirsty, evil terrorist who now tries to direct his operations from Hell.
@Deplorable Me:
Remember how the left wanted to bestow sainthood on Obama when Navy Seals “assassinated” OBL? OBL who was living in a compound that he never left with only a small court yard to pace around in, who spent his days watching reruns of his glory days recorded on video tapes and who had no real connection to the real world for fear that modern technology would find him?
Yet, Soleimani was an active terrorist, creating havoc in more nations than Iraq, loading up the Iraqi government with his sycophants and guiding terrorist organizations in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and other nations, but he hated the U.S. so he is now all of sudden a martyr to those like Comrade Greggie and AJ/Ward. They do not care how many American died, or could have died due to Soleimani but to hide their real feelings, they will decry how Trump is going to start a war with Iraq. Shows how dumb and indoctrinated they are. Iraq has been at war with us since 1979.
If this was my blog, I would turn those two into the IC.
@retire05: Also recall that bin Laden was killed in another sovereign country, Pakistan. Just like Soleimani being killed in Iraq. Further, though bin Laden was in hiding and not as operationally active as Soleimani, he was revered, yet Republicans did not protest that killing this terrorist might evoke a response. No, only cowards place the possibility of retaliation above avenging US deaths and bringing a despicable terrorist to justice.
And yet, was there hue and cry for Obama to have notified Congress of the operation against bin Laden? Nope. Even worse, Democrats didn’t demand any justification for Obama destabilizing Libya nor restrictions on his actions, even as they went past the 60 days he had authorization for action. We actually need a new word to describe Democrat actions; hypocrisy cannot effectively describe it.
@Greg:
Nice if you knew Farsi you could scream that on Iranian television.
Trump was first to enforce the no fly on this dude.
Soleimani and al-Muhandis coordinated that attack on the US embassy in Baghdad; their plan blew up Via a Reaper drone. US military intelligence got this one right.
So what was Big Joe doing? Joe Biden was Obama’s “point man” on Iraq. His actions enabled Iranian-backed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to take over the Iraqi government in 2010, leading to withdrawal of most US combat power in Iraq, which paved the way for the rise of ISIS. After securing that Barry sent him to the Ukraine to fight corruption, bwahahahhaahaha.
@kitt: Terrorism or human lives mean nothing to Democrats; only using whatever slimy tactic they can conceive to grasp power is important to these lying scumbags.
@Deplorable Me, #137:
Trump supporters can’t deal with the truth, so they’ve got to demonize anyone who points it out.
Gen. Soleimani commanded Iran’s Quds Force, an elite unit of Revolutionary Guards specializing in unconventional warfare and extraterritorial special operations. That’s the reason they were so effective against ISIS. Do you think we don’t have similar specialized military forces? Do you think they don’t engage in unconventional warfare and extraterritorial special operations?
I know it comes hard, considering the illustrious military history of the man in the White House, but at least give Soleimani his due as a soldier. You can at at least acknowledge that a highly competent professional soldier is what we killed. Had we not been so obsessed with seeing Iran as nothing but our enemy, he might have served our interests against fanatic Islamist factions that are controlled by no state government that can be reasoned with.
@Greg: Does the DNC go to the Babylon Bee for its talking points? Or Duffleblog?
We cant tell the difference between Satire and MSCNN, both damn funny we are laughing at you. Mad magazine had to go out of business due to not being able to keep up with your twisted crap. You need a disclaimer brother.
BAGHDAD — An Iranian tourist was killed by an American airstrike in Baghdad on Thursday night, further inflaming relations between the United States and Iran.
The strike, which occurred at Baghdad International Airport, resulted in the death of Qassim Suleimani, a middle-aged bureaucrat who was on his way to Jerusalem via Baghdad and Damascus, according to his friend Mohsen Chizari.
Indeed, you can’t.
Tucker Carlson claimed tonight on FOX News that more children were born in the U.S. last year to illegal aliens than to American citizens. I kept waiting for the punch line, but it never came. Instead, a banner appeared at the bottom of the screen repeating the claim. This is the sort of stuff that has made the right crazy.
@Greg: Dont worry those numbers come from Congressional Budget Office Who TF believes them?
We might have to do something aboout anchor babies and chain migration.
In 1993, Harry Reid famously said on the Senate floor that “no sane country” would grand birthright citizenship to anchor babies.
Dreamers breed? shocking!
@Greg:
Really. Trump supporters, huh? You know, I disagreed with almost everything Obama did or stood for. He weaponized the IRS, IC, DOJ and FBI, doubled the debt and embarrassed the entire country. But never ONCE did I advocate or suggest he be assassinated. Yet Democrats support assassination of Trump on a daily basis. You people defy definition.
Look at yourself; lionizing a despicable terrorist animal while attacking fellow citizens and you President. Sadly, among Democrats you are not unique.
When you are lobbing unguided rockets into neighborhoods, setting roadside bombs and torturing civilians, it’s nothing but terrorism.
You need to move to Iran where you can be among others that support terrorism against people that simply don’t believe as you do. Maybe you can join your beloved Qods. That suits your mentality now.
@Greg:
Soleimani was a terrorist in a uniform. He was such a nice guy, he was banned from leaving Iran by the UN Security Council in 2007. That ban was reaffirmed again in 2015 by UN Resolution 2231.
So while you sing the praises of a terrorist, I will sign the praises of the Administration that took the bastard out.
Does your hatred for the United States know no bounds, Comrade Greggie. What’s on your flag? The Hammer and Sickle, I suspect.
@retire05: Adolf Hitler was an artist and Josef Stalin was a social worker.
@Deplorable Me:
Soleimani was not supposed to leave Iran per TWO U.N. orders.
Trump sent him back to Iran and he won’t be leaving it again. One could say that Trump enforced U.N. resolutions.
@retire05, #147:
So Trump’s supporters keep saying, though they never mention the terrorist acts he was responsible for, as opposed to acts of war against military targets.
@retire05, #149:
Did the UN resolution include an “assassinate on sight” provision?