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| Iraq | |
| Iraqi TV: Iran's Gen. Soleimani killed in Baghdad strike | |
| 2020-01-03 | |
| [TheRepublic] The United States killed Iran’s top general and the architect of Tehran’s proxy wars in the Middle East in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport Friday, an attack that threatens to dramatically ratchet up tensions in the region. The targeted killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, could draw forceful Iranian retaliation against American interests in the region and spiral into a far larger conflict between the U.S. and Iran, endangering U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria and beyond. The Defense Department said it killed Soleimani because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.” It also accused Soleimani of approving the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.
The airport strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, and five others, including the PMF’s airport protocol officer, Mohammed Reda, Iraqi officials said. Soleimani was the target of Friday’s U.S. attack, which was conducted by an armed American drone, according to a U.S. official. His vehicle was struck on an access road near the Baghdad airport. A senior Iraqi security official said the airstrike took place near the cargo area after Soleimani left his plane to be greeted by al-Muhandis and others. The official said the plane had arrived from either Lebanon or Syria. Two officials from the PMF said Suleimani’s body was torn to pieces in the attack, while they did not find the body of al-Muhandis. A senior politician said Soleimani’s body was identified by the ring he wore. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject and because they were not authorized to give official statements. It’s unclear what legal authority the U.S. relied on to carry out the attack. American presidents claim broad authority to act without congressional approval when U.S. personnel or interests are facing an imminent threat. The Pentagon did not provide evidence to back up its assertion that Soleimani was planning new attacks against Americans. | |
| Posted by:Bright Pebbles |
| #3 I don't remember Baraq consulting Congress about Libya either. And, of course, if Congress was consulted, it would have leaked. I'm thinking the Quds general in Baghdad is a clear and present danger to U.S. interests that demanded an immediate response. He was certainly not there for peace talks. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-01-03 10:35 |
| #2 We were in fact waging a proxy war with Iran, except the attacks were all one-sided: them on us. All this is doing us bringing the fight out into the open -- and unleashing our hugely superior firepower and technology on a foe that relied on his wickedness and willingness to create havoc and slaughter innocents in every country he touches. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-03 02:30 |
| #1 authority to act without congressional approval 1. I don't recall the approval given Bush had an expiration date. 2. I thought Congress did not need to be consulted, just notified within a short period, as long as it was not an ongoing event. That said, this is going to escalate, probably a lot and in unexpected ways. I hope we had enough intel to know we needed to do this (though, like Germany in the 1930's, it was coming sooner or later, and sooner is probably less bad than later.) |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2020-01-03 02:20 |