The Head Of The Snake Has Been Liquidated

Early this morning President Trump ordered the attack that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite shock troops known as its Quds Force, among other military officials at Baghdad International Airport.

The words “Soleimani is our leader” had been scrawled in spray paint on the windows of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad during the two-day siege conducted by Iranian-backed militiamen and a throng of terrorist sympathizers.

Intel reports indicated Soleimani was planning attacks on American diplomats and soldiers in Iraq.

Over the course of the last few days it became clear to the whole world just how much Iran controlled Iraq and that region’s Shia population. Solemeini not only felt justified in being the mastermind behind the New Year’s Eve attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, he also was comfortable enough to travel to Iraq personally to oversee it. But this time, he got too comfortable.

The attack killed a total of seven people, officials said, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq.

An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that Muhandis had arrived at the airport in a convoy to receive Gen. Soleimani whose plane had arrived from either Lebanon or Syria. The airstrike occurred as soon as he deplaned to be greeted by Muhandis and his companions, killing them all.

A source on the ground said Soleimani's body was identified by the ring he wore.

It is important to note in January 2018 the United States reportedly gave Israel a “green light” to kill Soleimani according to the Kuwaiti paper Al-Jarida. According to Al-Jarida, Israel had sought to assassinate Soleimani three years before in 2014-2015 but the U.S. “warned the Iranian leadership of the plan.” A similar report by Marzieh Kouhi-Essfahani in a book on Iranian policy claimed in 2014 that the Obama Administration pressured Israel not to target Soleimani. (see also https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/tehran-says-it-foiled-israeli-arab-plot-kill-qassem-soleimani)

American presidents claim broad authority to act without congressional approval when U.S. personnel or interests are facing an imminent threat, but that didn’t stop impeachment-crazed Democrats from crawling out of the woodwork.

Soleimani was an enemy of the United States. That’s not a question.

The question is this - as reports suggest, did America just assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most powerful person in Iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war?

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 3, 2020

Soleimani was a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans. But this reckless move escalates the situation with Iran and increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict. Our priority must be to avoid another costly war.

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 3, 2020

Trump's dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars.

Trump promised to end endless wars, but this action puts us on the path to another one.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 3, 2020

The Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress on Sept. 14, 2001, authorizes the President “to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons”— in other words, al Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

On Oct. 11, 2002, Congress passed a second AUMF giving the President authority to “to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to (1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.”

Both the Obama and Trump Administrations have argued that the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs are sufficient to expand the war on terrorism to targets outside Afghanistan and Iraq.

In October 2017, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and then-Secretary of Defense James Mattis made the case that a new AUMF was not necessary. Testifying before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mattis said, “A new [war authorization] is not legally required to address the continuing threat posed by al Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS.”

The guy who has quite literally grown some balls of late said something pithy you’ve got to love:

Wow - the price of killing and injuring Americans has just gone up drastically. Major blow to Iranian regime that has American blood on its hands. Soleimani was one of the most ruthless and vicious members of the Ayatollah's regime. He had American blood on his hands.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 3, 2020