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| Iraq |
| Killing Soleimani Was The Right Move, And Shows Precisely Why It's Time To Leave Iraq |
| 2020-01-06 |
| [The Federalist] President Donald Trump’s order to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad was the right call. At the same time, that he had to make this call, how he had to make it, and the mortal danger to American assets it presents, illustrate exactly why U.S. forces should not spend a day longer in Iraq than necessary to end our long-dwindling interests. Iran needed to learn a hard, swift lesson. For four decades, it has ratcheted global temperatures up and down with a close eye on America’s reaction. Kidnapping, terror, extortion, sabotage, and blockades have all been used since the Islamic Republic’s inception in 1979. On Thursday, the U.S. president made Iran understand what should have always been understood: Orchestrating an attack on a U.S. embassy is a line no country shall cross. For more than 30 years, from 1988 until Jan. 3, 2020, Soleimani had been the Michael Jordan of Iranian black-ops, leading his elite al-Quds fighting force to wage and plot unconventional warfare from neighboring countries to Washington, D.C., killing at least 500 U.S. servicemen along his merry way. He seemingly moved about the Middle East with impunity, even making time for a jaunt to Moscow shortly after President Barack Obama granted him run of the region with the ill-fated Iran Deal. The ticket to his final destination took him from Lebanon, where he coordinated his pet Hizbollah, to Baghdad International Airport, where, roughly 15 miles from the U.S. embassy he’d ordered besieged that week, his trip came to an abrupt end. Some say as illustrious career as his ought to end with a gold watch or silver plate; instead, it ended a smear on the road. His dead friends, including the leader of the Shia militia whose killing of an American contractor had launched this whole fracas, had driven out to meet his plane. No doubt they felt safer from U.S. retaliation close to their Iranian overlord. In the meantime, Soleimani’s family will have to take heart he was with those friends‐ that, and the low priority Islam places on an open casket. Oh, SNAP! When the Romans ruled the world, it was called Pax Romana ‐ Roman Peace ‐ and it held. Two thousand years ago, when St. Paul was ordered scourged, he asked a Roman centurion, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?" The soldiers "immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #19 It would be Ironic if the result of their trip was that Kerry and Obama were taken hostage by Iran. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2020-01-06 16:12 |
| #18 I will find it and send it to you TW. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2020-01-06 14:07 |
| #17 The Rosenberg were nobodies. Relative to a Secretary of State, even Alger Hiss was a nobody. What we're seeing in front of our nose w Kerry and Zero's entourage via-a-via Iran is truly extraordinary. The Iranian Fifth Column's breathtaking heights and extent -- comprising a POTUS, SecState, top WH officials including NSC officials and presidential advisors -- is without precedent in US history. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-06 12:50 |
| #16 Yes knew that, just wondering why anyone needs to apologize to them/their memory. (Btw Sidney Lumet's 1980-era film "Daniel" about the Rosenbergs w Timothy Hutton, Mandy Patinkin and Amanda Nutcase-Plummer is a classic.) |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-06 12:46 |
| #15 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were USCITS convicted of spying for the Former Soviet Union and executed in 1953. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-06 12:42 |
| #14 we have caught over 300 Iranian of military age crossing our Arizona border over the last 10 years. Do you have a link for that, 49 Pan, or is this just common knowledge? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-01-06 11:54 |
| #13 "apologies"? Pls explain, b |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-06 11:41 |
| #12 Rosenbergs....duh. A nice Rodenberger would also be good. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-06 11:39 |
| #11 Ref #10: With the appropriate apologies to the Rodenbergs, I recommend we begin immediately. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-06 11:37 |
| #10 We really need to expose and destroy our country's Fifth Column. Start with scrutiny of the NSC leakers. Who told the Soros-Koch funded academic that a hypersonic missile strike on Sukeimani was imminent? (See Steven Simon's NYT Op-Ed piece the morning of the attack.) Then focus on Kerry's trip to Iran. Whom did he meet? What was discussed F2F that could not be discussed over the phone? Then scrutinize the actions, memos, emails texts and calls of Zero, Susan Rice, ValJar just prior to their departure in Dec 2016-Jan 2017. Then focus on Zero's mouthpieces and Pajama Boys. What are their Tues to Iran? Are they being funded by Iranian cutouts? Are Soros and Koch funding any Iranian front organizations? |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-06 11:13 |
| #9 I do enjoy the irony of all this. First Iraq and Iran have been mortal enemies for decades. They fought a 7 year war filled with Mustard gas and chlorine. Now their parliament voted to protect Iranian CUDs and kick the US out? Soleimani was, is, and always has been a cancer on Western society. We should have taken him and Acminda-whater out in 1979. And like cancer that's not treated it has spread. They have somewhere around 20 CUS (Special Forces) battalions. These guys are fairly well trained and Obama funded in cash. Do remember we have caught over 300 Iranian of military age crossing our Arizona border over the last 10 years. They are here and they are not the average Muzzie terrorist. They are organized, understand strategic targeting, and America's vulnerabilities. They have a mature IO campaign, just look at how the Dems are supporting Iran over the US right now and trying to strip the president of his war powers act authority. Trump needs to make the threat so real the Tehran proper that they pause. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2020-01-06 10:52 |
| #8 Despite all the blather from the left, one has to have some respect for the ability to precisely and surgically take out a terrorist target with no collateral damage. If such missiles existed around the time of WWII and Adolph Hitler had been taken out by such a missile, it would have spared many lives and saved the world a lot of grief. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2020-01-06 09:16 |
| #7 Put them in northern Iraq. Declare Kurdistan and screw Turkey. Wishful thinking. |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2020-01-06 08:30 |
| #6 Ref #3: Amen and amen. Globalism and nation building belong in the dustbin of history. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-06 08:12 |
| #5 Rule your own Roman empire in strategy title Rise of Rome |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-01-06 07:15 |
| #4 #2 Is this from some computer game - cause it absolute bull. Google "coursum honorum . |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru PB 2020-01-06 05:19 |
| #3 More like Britain's Splendid Isolation. This is definitely the end of an era. End of Globalism and its conceits: the foolishly grandiose, unrestrained, simultaneously reckless and pusillanimous strategic incoherence visited upon us and the world by some of the worst presidents in US history--Billy Jeff Clinton, Bush Fils, Barry "Zero" Soetoro. Good riddance, Globalists. A new and enlightened era is upon us. Give praise and thanks to Trump and Pompeo. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-06 02:46 |
| #2 There was war in the Roman Empire almost all the time. Each Roman legion completely controlled its area, and each legion head aspired to become a Caesar or a Caesar Augustus, which latter was like Emperor, sort of. When there was no external foe they fought with one another, and formed alliances, The key to power was being a military leader, and that's what attracted the most ambitious Romans to become soldiers. They got money for their wars simply by taking it from the sities and towns they controlled. Emperor Julian did not like all that internal fighting and he made a law requiring all town to have local governments who had to approve expenses. As a result the most ambitious locals turned to civilian life in cities and gave up interest in fighting. The arm was then filled up with outsiders. These first wanted to share in the prosperity of Rome, but eventually decided to take over the empire, and so ended the Western Roman Empire. Julian died fighting the Persians and never had much influence in the East, so the Eastern Roman Empire lasted another thousand years or so, but it did so by constantly fighting, very often against the Persians. The emporer Julian wanted to stop |
| Posted by: daniel 2020-01-06 02:33 |
| #1 We don't need any troops in Iraq. Kurdistan, maybe. But we can strike from the air whatever targets need to be hit. If Trump brings Iran to heel and disentangles us from Iraq, he will be the most successful POTUS since Reagan. |
| Posted by: Lex 2020-01-06 01:59 |