OBITUARY: Qasem Soleimani 1957-2020
Two days ago, Iran’s Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani was killed by an American drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq.
Reactions to his death have ranged from “Thank God he is dead” to “What are they thinking – do the Americans want yet another war in the Middle East?”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Democratic Party figures have lashed out at Trump for authorising the drone strike that killed him, conveniently forgetting that Obama authorised the execution of Osama bin Laden on foreign soil by a SEAL team in 2011.
Who was Qasem Soleimani
Let’s be absolutely clear: Soleimani was the leader of a state-sponsored terrorist organisation that established sleeper cells in several countries in the Middle East, including Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.
He was not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination. Moreover, the Iranians have been doing a lot of sabre-rattling lately.
This has escalated over the past few years – even when Obama was still President and trying to negotiate a nuclear energy deal.
The level of Iranian belligerence has been causing great concern to all geopolitical players. The final straw was when cells of the Quds Force attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Trump is not Obama Without a Suntan
For a brief moment, it looked like there was going to be another Benghazi, where Sunni Islamists stormed the consulate to rape and murder the consular staff (who were abandoned by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton).
Fortunately for US Embassy staff, the Trump Administration is not willing to let Americans be slaughtered with impunity as they were in Benghazi.
Trump had warned Iran’s theocratic leader Ali Khameini, publicly as well as privately, that his reaction was going to be swift and severe.
This was expected by those who have been watching Trump for several years, but somehow was not expected by those who pathologically detest Trump (i.e. the Democrats, the neocons that were unhappy that he didn’t attack Iran last year and the lamestream media).
Democrats Blame Trump Anyway
Already, there have been hysterical tweets complaining about the seemingly unilateral action by Trump, the fact that the Israelis and the Saudis knew about it before the Congress did, and accusations of Trump starting a war with Iran.
Here’s a news flash for liberal morons: Iran has always considered itself in a state of war against the United States of America, which they call “The Great Satan”.
During the Shia Islamic Revolution of 1979, where the Shah was forced into exile, the US Embassy in Teheran was occupied by forces that would later comprise the Revolutionary Guard (of which Soleimani would become a high-ranking member, by the way).
As you probably remember, the hostages were not released until Reagan was inaugurated as President in 1981.
In the words of another commentator, “Soleimani… organised asymmetrical warfare in Yemen (where Iranian proxies are fighting against Saudi proxies), Lebanon (Hezbollah), Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq (QED).
Soleimani the Master Spy
He set agents up in locations 15 years before they were actually needed; dug them so deep into communities as sleepers that they were never suspected…
To be wiped out by Yankee “Dial A Kill” crap is demeaning to a guy whose techniques will still be taught in military academies a century from now.
What About the Oil?
A friend of mine cynically (but in fairness, not unreasonably) commented that Iran recently found more oil, and thus “they need an increase in freedom”.
Let me put your mind at ease, readers. Trump didn’t “Dial a Kill” to do anything more than wipe out some Shi’ite terrorism enabler.
In fact, he explained this during a press conference where he was being interrogated over his actions; “We took action last night to stop a war,” said Trump, “We do not take action to start a war”
If you’re thinking “that is just a pretext for the Americans to get their grubby mitts on Iran’s oil”, think again. Iran has had millions of barrels of oil for a long time, but even the Americans would think twice about invading a country that is virtually impossible to control.
Even if the Americans did invade, it wouldn’t be for the oil, because while Iran has barrels of oil, it’s refining capacity is woefully inadequate – that’s why they are developing nuclear energy as well as nuclear weapons.
It would take decades for any oil company to return a viable profit after building infrastructure necessary to enhance the refining capacity of Iran (let alone an Iran occupied in part by American forces).
Did Trump Have Approval to Wipe Out Soleimani?
That question is irrelevant. Did people (with the possible exception of some libertarians) question whether Obama had the approval to wipe out Osama bin Laden? Generally not, and as such it is a moot point.
Is This a Pattern of Unilateral Action By President Trump?
Give me a break! Trump acted on the advice of the Department of Defence and Military Intelligence, knowing that the attack on the Embassy in Baghdad was just the first step to destabilising American peacekeeping in the Middle East.
In fact, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted a list of accusations against Soleimani, and most of them were true. The ones that definitely are true are as follows
- Attempting to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in the US
- Training and equipping Shia forces in Iraq to fight and murder US-led coalition troops
- Arming Hezbollah et al
- Coordinating the Hezbollah defence of Southern Lebanon after Hezbollah abducted an Israeli soldier
- Arming the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In short, people whining about Trump killing another terrorist need to shut up.
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