Dear friends,
I just got home and saw the news that General Qasem Soleimani has been murdered along with another 5-8 people by what was initially reported as a MRL strike (Russian sources say it was a drone attack). This was bad enough. Then this:
The Telegram channel of RIA News reports that the US has claimed that it was responsible for that attack.
So far, PressTV has NOT confirmed the death of Soleimani but other media outlets have.
IF he is really dead, then the likely scenario is the following one:
BEGIN 100% SPECULATION
Trump threatened Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that there is nothing the US could do, and just to prove him wrong, the US murdered Soleimani. Of course, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meant that there is nothing *effective* which the US could do. He clearly did not have a cowardly assassination in mind. As for Uncle Shmuel, he now can see that he “showed the Ayatollahs” how invincible the Empire is. And to hell with the consequences (already started).
END 100% SPECULATION.
Now back to the attack itself.
Frankly, I was hoping that Trump and/or Netanyahu had enough brains NOT to claim the attack, whether they did it or not. And, sure enough, it now appears that the US did make that claim.
Now there is only one question left: can the Iranians let this murder go unpunished?
Maybe. But I can’t imagine that they will.
Next, no matter HOW the Iranians retaliate, the US will use that as a pretext to attack Iran.
Right now, it is 01:46 GMT and it is much too early to call this as many of the key facts are missing.
Still, considering the little we know I see no other option that the warn you all that we might have a war in the Middle-East literally any minute now.
I will try to scout the news for any info.
If you see anything interesting please post the info in the comments section (including the source). I ESPECIALLY need to see if the US OFFICIALLY confirms that it is behind the attack.
General Qasem Soleimani was a true hero, and he was my “Saker Man of the Year” in 2015. This is truly a major loss for all freedom loving people. May God rest his soul!
I will be back later tonight.
The Saker
UPDATE1: this is all PressTV is reporting now: https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/01/03/615224/Hashd-Sha%E2%80%99abi-public-relations-director-killed-in-rocket-attack-on-Baghdad-airport
UPDATE2: Iraqi TV confirms the death https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/01/03/iraq-rockets-fired-at-baghdad-airport-7-people-killed/
UPDATE3: PressTV live confirms the death of the general https://www.presstv.com/Live
UPDATE4: The Donald just posted this on Twitter: it’s as good as any confirmation
UPDATE5: so now it is confirmed, see for yourself: https://www.rt.com/news/477354-pentagon-confirms-soleimani-killing/ (if these cretins really believe that they can “deter” Iran, they are even dumber than I thought)
UPDATE6: according to this source, this is an email from the Pentagon “At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the Department of Defense said in an emailed statement.“
UPDATE7: seems like the US is now trying to scare the personnel of the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, see here: https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/01/02/615194/Iraq-United-States-helicopter-Iran-Embassy-Baghdad
TEMPORARY CONCLUSION:
Okay, we now know that Soleimani has indeed been murdered and that the US did it. So the key facts are all in. Now all we can do is to way for the political fallout from this assassination (both inside and outside the USA and both inside and outside Iran).
Let me state here that I do NOT believe that Russia will be involved in any way. Neither will China. Why? Because now everything hinges on the Iranian reaction. I will try to produce an analysis in the course of the day tomorrow.
If you have any relevant/interesting info, please post it in the comments section below. I will read it before I write my analysis. Right now, I would say that war is about 80% certain, with 20% left for two reasons: first, the Iranians are extremely sophisticated actors who will do nothing without first making an in-depth analysis of the situation and, second, because we still don’t have all the facts (we only have the core, key, facts).
At this point it makes not sense for me to remain on standby. I better get some sleep before tomorrow’s analysis.
Until then, I wish you all a good night/morning/day or evening.
Crucially – don’t lose hope!! I will explain tomorrow why we should not over-react to this tragic and evil event.
Can I still say “hugs and cheers”?
I will stick to “hugs” only.
Singing off
The Saker
I just read this in the Serbian liberal media. The people are stupidly commenting along the lines of might is right, and that Iran will respond the same as Russia always does – by issuing a harsh statement.
I don’t know, I hope Iran does answer this come what may. I hope uncle schmuel pays dearly. I hope Russia and China stand firm. I hope shit hits the fan and all hell breaks loose. The hegemon will never understand anything but force. He needs a bloody nose.
I’m thinking of going to the Iranian embassy and asking if there is any part that I can play.
This is just terrible.
Don’t listen to these people. Reading to their articles is a vomit-inducing experience and you know in advance what they will say. Not worth our time or effort. Titoist commissars and apparatchiks can only behave within the framework of the toxic ideology in which they have been raised: delusions, hate of the common man, total denial of reality, self-hate and self-denial. The only thing that changed is the external source of their power, three decades ago it was the CPY, today it is Washington and Brussels. These people are deeply authoritarian and respect only power (like you emphasized). When the Empire falls they will try to find a new host and we must be clever enough to end their terror once and for all when that happens.
The last year of Empire as “unchallenged world ruler” has just begun. In reality we have already moved to multipolar world. So why did 800 pounds Dollar Gorilla act like this? Just because that illusion of “American mighty power” would keep on living its wild life in your mindset. People generally are living in their past and have serious issues to see the current reality and even more serious issues seeing the future.
Trump got the war he wants and the US doesn’t need. How would the Iranians react? My prediction is that they will react in such a way as to draw the US deep into a quagmire hell in a battlefield (Iraq, Syria and Iran itself) that is to Iran’s advantage – that’s the type of war he US couldn’t fight.
And US losses? It will be unimaginable.
The initiative is now and will remain in Iranian hands if the US is drawn into a protracted war.
Thoughts and prayers for Soleimani and his family, for the Iranian people, to whom he was a hero, and for the Iranian leadership that they be granted wisdom at this hour.
What might the us do next, if expected retaliation is not forthcoming ….. assassinate trump ? and blame Iran ?
https://news.antiwar.com/2020/01/02/report-us-troops-capture-top-iraqi-mp-militia-leaders/
Trump and his neocons seem determined to express the most total contempt for Iraki sovereignty possible at the same moment they work hard to provoke full scale war with Iran. They seem deliberately to want to generate as much hatred against them in both Irak and Iran as possible. They must already be figuring there’s no way to use Irak as a staging ground other than to escalate to full-scale brutal occupation there.
Best Scenario: Iran urges PMUs to destroy US embassy in baghdad, attack US forces and kill as many as possible in eastern Syria. US retaliates , possibly by destroying Iranian Oil installations, Iran retaliates detsroys Gulf Emirates oil installations and simultaneously wipes Israel off the face of the earth with Nukes it had stockpiled since 2000’s. Game Over for US and Israel in ME
Iran doesn’t have nukes.
2000-2010: Early phase of destabilization of Middle East by Washington and allies.
2010 – 2019: Peak chaos, Arab spring, rise of terrorist franchises around the world world, ISIS, Nusra, Boko Haram etc
2020-2029: Destruction of all terrorist groups and sponsors. Peace in ME.
2020: The united states of evil pulverized, decimated, annihilated — never to rise again. Nevermore! Peace in MENA, Peace all over the world. Hurrah!
All I can say is that this was a despicable and cowardly thing to do – and Trump is as disgusting a coward as I ever thought he was. As for those behind it all, like the repulsive Nitwityahoo – I have no words.
I am just so sorry for Qaseem Suleimani’s family.
I remember other great generals of Iran being murdered in the cowardly way of such people as Nitwityahoo.
I am just feeling sick, and sick of it all – the sordid goings on of our “leaders” in the West.
I am afraid that the awful Boris will be just as disgusting as the rest of them. So will the little man, Macron.
Dear God, please help us all.
Just a few old tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and the US is on its knees without a shot being fired in anger. Why can’t the idiots in the Pentagon at least think that far ahead?
As an American , after years of shame, would find total annihilation from nuclear war with Russia a more honored death than living under Zionist , Children of Satan , Let’s get on with it , the Ameriklan mendacity is torture
“…. no matter HOW the Iranians retaliate, the US will use that as a pretext to attack Iran.”
If they want to attack Iran, they don’t need any Iranian action as a pretext.
Any old false flag will do.
It was only a matter of time until stupid trump would do something this stupid. Was he encouraged by his stupid daughter? Or perhaps his arrogant SIL Kushner. Perhaps it was the desperate pig netanyawhore. Maybe it was just the devil on his shoulder. No matter what influenced his decision, this is the dumbest thing he could have done. Somebody please slap him.
The vile animals killed the guy who saved Iraq and Syria from their creation;isis. Trump is blameless though, because he’s just a window dressing.
Bullshit , he is the swamp , wake up , poor poor pitiful Tronald Dump , Zionist always cry , it wasn’t me
Only confirms that Soleimani was being spyed on..tracked …betrayed….targeted for some while….by whom and how…..who is next? Where is next…what is next….all Iranian troops persons so claimed in Syria? Greenlight for IDF to attack wthin Syria ?
Professor Mohammed Marandi of University of Tehran says on al-Jazeera that the killing of Solemani is an act of war. He is urging all ordinary Americans in Gulf Arab nations to get out now before a hot war begins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLARRLypGFs&feature=youtu.be
These kinds of generals are almost always overrated.
I have talked to many Iranians, and surprisingly they think this general was no big deal, some of them even called him a “total fool”. He maybe had great fame, but many other Iranian generals are smarter and more effective than this religious zealot that he was. Iranians will probably end up taking out an important American military officer in Iraq or Syria or Lebanon and the score will be even. Nowdays no one goes to war over the killing of one person. This is not 1914.
Saker Here is what i am reading (doesn’t mean its true, take it with a grain of salt)………..What led to the US Attacks on Iraqi Military Hundreds of Miles from the “Incident” at K1 base? It was that a US Oil Company Contractor was killed while stealing Iraqi Crude. The attack Trump claims to be retaliating against was against an Iraqi base, not an American base, an attack by ISIS where an American oil worker was killed on an Exxon oil facility. This is confusing, was the K1 base or an Exxon oil facility struck? The fact that US military personnel were injured to me says it was an Exxon oil facility near the K1 base.
By the term “contractor,” the US is careful not to identify who he actually worked for and there is absolutely no reason for any Americans to be in Kirkuk. The base which was attacked housed not just Iraqi regulars but PMU units, who were also attacked, the same units Trump says staged the attack….on themselves. The attack was using a Romanian built 122mm rocket, that were supplied to ISIS by the US.
The BBC admits that the K1 base housed PMU militias who were there to protect K1 from the Kurds…and ISIS. It is also more than possible that, if ISIS and Kurdish forces attacked K1, they were aided by Israeli commandos who are now training Kurdish troops and who have largely replaced the US as the force backing the Erbil government.
I am convinced that this attack is in fact the result of a mutiny of the Deep State. I believe that Sec. of State Pompeo has gone rogue, and that this attack was executed on his personal order, to corner Trump and force him to finally declare the war on Iran, for which Pompeo and the Deep State were itching since Pompeo took office, because shortly before the strike, Trump twittered that he DIDN’T want war with Iran.
Just to remind everybody:
Who controls the money supply controls the foreign policy of USA. Point.
The reason for the attack:
‘US President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike at Baghdad International Airport that killed Qasem Soleimani, a key Iranian military commander, in a “decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad’
Just hours later the US state department urges all US citizens to leave Iraq due to the increased risk of a attacks.
A clear confirmation of the fact that there is not one iota of neither intelligence nor honesty in the american leadership.
Germany’s “Der Spiegel” quotes Joe Biden, Trump having thrown dynamite into a barrel of explosives, https://www.spiegel.de/politik/. Same in “FAZ”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/reaktionen-auf-toetung-von-qassem-suleimani-16563393.html
US Embassy in Baghdad has ordered all Americans to leave Iraq immediately.
So the americans are leaving Iraq with their tails between their legs. run !
Probably because the US Embassy has not much function left anymore in terms of diplomacy and trust building.
It was only a matter of time that something like this happens. I don’t find this shocking or surprising at all.
The Israeli Zionists want this war, and their Zionist American handlers will do their best to obey. Iran is next on the list and if they can’t bring the war to Iran itself, they will make sure that they will do as much damage to where Iran has any influence.
The ultimate goal is NOT Iran, the goal is the complete subjugation of the entire region to Israeli Hegemony.
And the Saker is right. If Iran directly responds than the US will absolutely use it as a pretext to attack.
The game isn’t fair, this a fact. And as long as Iran is not backed up by nukes (their own or guarantees through alliances) they will probably have to take on these punches for the long haul game. Besides, this is the risk of wars by proxy, to in-cure loses, especially when proxy battling the US-Zionists. Iranians know these risks.
Bernard at https://www.moonofalabama.org has produced a report with some useful info. He usually files his stories in the afternoon Eastern Time but with the importance of this story he seems to have started early.
Brian_J
Another important update: https://www.rt.com/news/477361-iraq-pm-condemnts-assassination/
US killing of Iranian commander on Iraqi soil violates terms of US stationing troops in the country – Iraqi PM
Quote:
In a statement on Friday, the caretaker leader of Iraq’s protest-challenged government, Adil Abdul Mahdi, said the US assassination operation was a “flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty” and an insult to the dignity of his country.
He stressed that the US had violated the terms under which American troops are allowed to stay in Iraq with the purpose of training Iraqi troops and fighting the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS). He added that the killing may trigger a major escalation of violence and result in “a devastating war in Iraq” that will spill out into the region.
The Iraqi government has called on the parliament to hold an emergency session to discuss an appropriate response, Mahdi said.
This really means ANY American anywhere in the world may be “street droned”, a simple bullet in the back of the head. Very stupid of trump to start such an escalation.
Ayatollah Khamenei has stated that Iran will pursue 3 days of national mourning – then revenge. So by early next week we should know what Iran will do.
If Donald Trump and other American regime leaders like Pompeo, Esper, or Haspel were on the business end of a drone strike, I suspect that many people outside the American Empire or its crime partner nations would be celebrating.
America may have to learn the hard way that if you live by the drone, you die by the drone.
RIP Major General. You will not be forgotten.
Moon of Alabama writes:
“During last summer there were several large explosions on bases held by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF/PMU/Hashed) in Iraq. These were either caused by extreme summer heat or by Israeli air attacks launched from U.S. bases in Iraq or Syria. Most PMF leaders believe that the second is the case.
There were also drone attacks on positions held by PMF at the Syrian Iraqi border at Abu Kamal/Al-Qa’im. These were likewise attributed to Israel which allegedly flew the drones from U.S. bases in northeast Syria.
The alleged aim of these operations was to disrupt the land round for material coming from Iran and going to Syria. Several dozens PMF members were wounded during the incidents.
It was after these attacks that a small campaign of revenge attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq began. These were mostly wild mortar or small missile shots which created little damage. In total some 17 such attacks happened. The U.S. alleged, without giving any evidence, that the missiles used were smuggled in from Iran and used by Iran supported forces against the U.S. No evidence was ever produced to support those allegation.
The PMF/PMU are Iraqi troops and part of the Iraqi military establishment. They are under command of the Iraqi prime minister. The Iraqi state pays their salaries. They have their own munition supplies and do not depend on Iran. It is quite possible that some of the PMU members took shots at U.S. bases in revenge for the explosions in their bases without any order or support from Iran.
On December 12 the Carnegie Middle East Center asked several ‘experts’ how the U.S. should react to the attacks which it alleges come from Iran.
Michael Knights, a ‘senior fellow’ at the Washington Institute which is part of the Israel lobby, responded:
As mobile launch platforms may relocate or be collocated with civilians, the United States needs to maintain updated sets of pre-vetted “response option” targets that can be struck at a time and place of its choosing. The United States should wait, if need be, for militia headquarters to re-fill, not just strike empty buildings as quickly as possible. Any target in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, or elsewhere should be considered fair game.
When on December 29 several missiles hit a U.S. base in Iraq and killed one U.S. contractor the Trump administration did exactly that. It bombed five sides at the Iraqi Syrian border hundreds of kilometers away from the original attack. Some 32 people died of which only nine were members of the of the Kata’ib Hezbollah group of the PMF. The others killed were Iraqi border policy men and regular Iraqi soldiers.
We immediately predicted that the incident was likely to end the presence of U.S. military in Iraq.
After the official mourning family members and comrades of the deceased soldiers stormed the perimeter of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. They left yesterday after the prime minister guaranteed them that the Iraqi parliament would soon vote on a law that would evict all U.S. forces.
The U.S. has reinforced its embassy guards. It has airlifted an airborne infantry battalion to Kuwait and put another 4,000 troops on standby.
The Trump administration did not apologize for its attack on the Iraqi troops. Instead it appealed to Iraqi sovereignty, which it had broken when it attacked the PMF, when it demanded better protection for its embassy. Even today, with no demonstrators anywhere nearby, the U.S. was flying helicopters patrols over Baghdad. The Iraqis see that as a further insult.”
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/01/what-will-the-trump-administration-do-when-iraq-asks-us-troops-to-leave.html#more
Iran needs time to mourn and somewhat heal the wound from this vicious act.
Then will Iran proceed. Iranian people have very long memories so I suspect there will be no obvious immediate act. Iran will seek wise counsel from allies before proceeding as Iran knows that the US and ‘friends’ will expect an immediate response. My estimate is Iran now has time, more than the US has or ever will.
Iran does not seek or ever has, in my humble opinion, to push into a WWIII. They have only wished to be allowed to live and go on with their lives without undue influence from others. I may be wrong but that has been my experience with People with whom I had interacted over time.
Some very exciting news (from Sputnik): https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001031077925104-us-behind-baghdad-airport-attack-that-killed-iranian-quds-commander-pmf-deputy-leader—report/#article_item_1077926745
13:13
Irqai MPs Urge to Adopt Law to Expel Foreign Troops From the Country After US Kills Iranian General
13:12
Iraqi Militia Commander al-Amiri Urges ‘All National Forces’ to Expel Foreign Troops From the Country
Looks like Washington f***ed up again, big time!
Something not quite right here. Accepting the US “Brass Neck” this I should say is a step that I doubt Pr. Trump would take. There are other possibilities here: Other actors in the region that would profit from such heinous action. Other actors indeed that the US would probably take the blame for in order to protect. This situation may well evolve in a differen direction.
Just reposting this so that we all know that we have formal confirmation.
“Statement by the Department of Defense
Jan. 2, 2020
At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.
This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.”
https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2049534/statement-by-the-department-of-defense/
It is clear who did this. We don’t have to build theories. The flag that Mr Trump posted on his twitter last night was the equivalent of Hellary saying: “We came, we saw, he died”, cackle cackle cackle.
Iran is not losing any time here. Yes, they will mourn but Soleimani’s deputy has already been appointed into his position. They are not taking any chances for power vacuums here.
https://www.rt.com/news/477371-irans-khamenei-appoints-soleimanis-deputy/
The US congress and the president are now totally delusional, a danger to world peace. Intelligence decisions in the CIA were to be based on social media distributions. Simultaneously the social media distributions were being developed to enforce censorship and deployment of algorithms to support the intelligence that the intelligence community and agencies of the government including their corporate media puts out, so that it is multiplied and mass-targeted to all users and becomes the official US government policies fed back into the already informed US congress and president.
Therefore all decisions and actions of USA are based on the known zionist organised government control in the western powers, where the hegemon USA are run by secret societies. Policies are not based on reality but on mass produced delusions. All the so called results of delusions are of course invalid. The US attacks in Iraq were blind attacks in order to escalate its military presence in the region to counter the PMU’s success in fighting the US proxies formerly made up of IS as US are pumping in their replacements.
The killing of iranian general Qasem Soleimani is not based on reality but clearly delusional. PMU’s are iraqi military forces that has defeated IS in Iraq were the first to be targeted by attack on their main forces of Kat’aib Hezbollah. They are not commanded by iranian military, they are of course iraqi military popular mobilisation forces (PMU) the main defence force established to protect shia communities and shrines against IS and kurdish militia (which is a US/Israeli (zionist) proxy occupation) while US took control of strategic oil installations.
Conclusion: the only guilty part is US who also uses Israel as a pretext for a legitimate presence in the Middle East. The original pretext was the creation of the mandates led by Britain following the military occupation of the Middle East during WW1 in which the Ottoman Empire was defeated and where Britain set the terms by dictate and installation of an arab royalty in the Middle East, the vassals as they were established dictatorships and granted the zionist empire of the west rights to 100 years of total exploitation. These 100 years are up by the way. And they were not successful in Iran, and Syria managed to escape their control as well. Iraq had also led the way to a new occupation from where they have expanded. The occupation of Syria by new proxy forces of IS and other western led forces under the disguise of being sunni muslim and operates under the banner of jihad, which were all daesh (false) cover, they did not succeed in taking Syria. That is were USA is right now. Defeated.
Taking desperate actions.
The attacks in Iraq, were planned well ahead.
They are based on false realities to cover their defeat and keep the public and the subjugated politicians in the dark. Fox news are now spreading massive fake news and fake assessments.
The US are already failing at this very moment since everything from there is false.
The iraq government will stand up against this, the opposite of the objective of the US actions.
US people and personel will be endangered, the opposite of the claimed objective of the US actions.
Iran will not change its presence in Syria and Iraq they are all legal parties to the governments of those countries and will remain to be so. They will be strengthened, the opposite of the claimed objective of the US actions.
US is the illegitimate force in both Syria where they seek to dominate territories through proxies and by their base in al-Tanf blockading the land route between Iraq and Syria and defending their proxy force of IS and other re-branded militia fresh from the training camp al-Tanf (al Qaeda means the camp as well, repeat of history). US is now alienating themselves also in Iraq, having broken the conditions set for their presence by the Iraqi government, they are in reality an illegitimate force in Iraq. This has been said by the Iraqi prime minister.
As all is false and bred out of falsity, nothing will grow from it, on the contrary it is a defeat.
Some more updates and latest reactions:
Iran’s Khamenei appoints Soleimani’s deputy as head of Quds Forces:
https://www.rt.com/news/477371-irans-khamenei-appoints-soleimanis-deputy/
US killing of Iranian commander on Iraqi soil violates terms of US stationing troops in the country – Iraqi PM:
https://www.rt.com/news/477361-iraq-pm-condemnts-assassination/
‘Act of international terrorism’: Iran vows ‘vigorous revenge’ on US after Quds Force chief killed in US airstrike:
https://www.rt.com/news/477355-iran-international-terrorism-us-strike/
Soleimani assassination by US ‘an adventurous move’ that will flare up tensions in Middle East – Moscow:
https://www.rt.com/news/477367-quds-assassination-russia-reaction/
Killing of Quds commander is another sign of US frustration and weakness in the region – Iran’s Rouhani:
https://www.rt.com/news/477357-rouhani-asassination-us-weakness/
‘Trump just threw a dynamite stick into a tinderbox’: US Democrats savage US strike that killed Iranian Quds chief Soleimani:
https://www.rt.com/news/477358-democrats-us-airstrike-reaction/
Constant live updates at Sputnik News:
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202001031077925104-us-behind-baghdad-airport-attack-that-killed-iranian-quds-commander-pmf-deputy-leader—report/
This puts recent events into perspective. I think spies inside Iran got wind of Soleimanis schedule and saw an opportunity to hit him in Iraq, so they orchestrated the entire embassy episode to blame Iran and have a pretext for the murder.
I heard the US ambassador was ordered to leave the country before it all went down. Further proving a false flag event.
I am very much looking forward to tomorrows appraisal. A little hope is much needed now.
In the short term, the US government and its Israeli owners are ecstatic. Netanyahu now has something for his people to focus on instead of him and he has of course for the longest time been extremely keen for the US to spend American lives in pursuit of Israels psychopathic plans. He is more than happy today. I wonder how long though before the costs of last nights outrage start to mount?
There has to be a reckoning and a painful one at that. Trump and his fellow swamp dwellers have now ensured no other outcome and I expect the Iranians will not give the US what it clearly wants, that they will take their time, plan carefully and make any further crimes such as what has just taken place an expensive and unwelcome proposition in future. So much for cleaning up Washington, draining the swamp and putting a stop to endless wars. He might just have started WWIII but I hope that more sensible heads than his will prevail.
RIP to these latest victims of the never ending American crime spree.
I have not read all the comments here, so please forgive me if I am repeating a previous comment. Is it possibly a temper tantrum response to the Chinese, Russian, Iranian naval exercise? If they were to do the same to China or Russia they would be f’ed to the max. Any thoughts?
By sheer definition this criminal strike is a terrorist action.
In fact this is a demonstration of a kind of weakness, like every terrorist crime.
From now on a retaliation should be expected. How, where,…? These questions will generate a high stress among the US military and in Israel.
So the Iranians have now the time to design their retaliations…
And the anti US feeling in Iraq is bound to reach a newly high level.
The Russians will be neural, but this not impede them to provide military equipment to Iraq.
I am very sorry that this foolish action might mark the beginning of a very bad year
I hope if Iran does consider war, they have a good plan for the people of their cities – Israel will lash out and nuke something in order to win, and it’s not gonna be fields.
Wow.!
Found this in a comments thread at
Conservative treehouse:—
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/01/02/soleimani-dead-sketchy-details-emerging-airstrikes-at-baghdad-airport-cargo-area/
“Mere hours BEFORE this strike, the NYT published the following: “Moreover, hypersonics are a weaponized moral hazard for states with a taste for intervention, because they erase barriers to picking fights. Is an adversary building something that might be a weapons factory? Is there an individual in an unfriendly country who cannot be apprehended? What if the former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, visits Baghdad for a meeting and you know the address? The temptations to use hypersonic missiles will be many.” http://archive.is/iXItp
"If that’s not an attempted tip-off, I don’t know what is. The corporate media is a greater enemy of America than Iran is. "
Another comment:
WSB on January 3, 2020 at 3:45 am
Here is the name of the author…NSC? “Steven Simon is an analyst at the Quincy Institute, professor of the practice of international relations at Colby College and a co-author of “Our Separate Ways: The Struggle for the Future of the U.S.-Israel Alliance,” was senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council from 2011 to 2012 and for counterterrorism from 1995 to 1999.”
Pompeo posting a video of ‘Iraqis dancing in the streets’ after the assassination of Soleimani.
No doubt we will find out soon that this video is a false representation of something else. You can be sure that a mass of the Axis of Resistance is seeking the source of this video already.
https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1212955403077767168
Everyone calls this terrorism. I do not know the correct legal term, but I would call this criminal political assassination.
Pompeo is now talking about the US is committed to de-escalation.
This is a series of tweets and the link is to the first one in the list:
https://twitter.com/SecPompeo/status/1213069501052440584
Secretary Pompeo
Verified account @SecPompeo
16m16 minutes ago
Spoke with @HeikoMaas about @realDonaldTrump’s decision to take defensive action to eliminate Qassem Soleimani. Germany is also concerned over the Iranian regime’s continued military provocations. The U.S. remains committed to de-escalation.
Secretary Pompeo
Verified account @SecPompeo
35m35 minutes ago
Discussed with @DominicRaab the recent decision to take defensive action to eliminate Qassem Soleimani. Thankful that our allies recognize the continuing aggressive threats posed by the Iranian Quds Force. The U.S. remains committed to de-escalation.
Secretary Pompeo
Verified account @SecPompeo
44m44 minutes ago
I spoke today with Chinese Politburo Member Yang Jiechi to discuss @realDonaldTrump’s decision to eliminate Soleimani in response to imminent threats to American lives. I reiterated our commitment to de-escalation.
———————–
Seems they want to declare victory and run away as is the usual process. This is full-on damage control mode.
We can argue the relative merits of the two U.S. political parties till the end of the internet. But IMO history proves one truth : Vote Republican and Enjoy losing your new war.
With this murder and likely war with Iran, Trump is likely to escape impeachment and get re-elected for a second term as President.
Now his Democrat opponents lips are greatly limited to avoid being accused by Trump of disloyalty to the country in that they did not support the President in time of crisis/war with a foreign country.
Mr. Chow, you are correct. I would take it a step further and say this is Trump’s “get out of jail free” card. The impeachment is the threat they dangle over Donald’s head, and the message is clear: “Play ball, or we will replace you with someone who will.” Trump has shown some hesitancy in the past regarding bloodletting; Pence on the other hand is unencumbered with any conscience or moral restraint.
I need to say I do not think this is a provocation for war. It is part of the 2020 campaign. Trump wants votes, not war. He wants to appear strong to his brain dead sycophants, Comment at Quora on the US attack: https://www.quora.com/Is-Iran-a-serious-military-threat-to-the-United-States/answer/Vince-Dhimos
Trump tweeting early morning:
Donald J. Trump
Verified account @realDonaldTrump
Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!
4:44 AM – 3 Jan 2020
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?lang=en
We can now see the level of thinking of empire. And there are no more excuses for Mr Trump. He has the US flag pinned as top tweet – the flag that he posted just a short time after the assassination of Soleimani as the first indicator that the US is responsible.
And the UN Security Council is now holding a closed door meeting.
https://www.rt.com/usa/477384-trump-iran-war-negotiation/
Trump is calling the victims to restraining and negotiation.
My guess, is this was an act of a 3rd actor that had some interest in a Full on conflict in the region.
The way I see it there are two direct action ways the iranians could respond:
1) The fast way – attacking US assets, like that carrier group in the persian gulf, their bases in Iraq and Syria. This could easily lead to an uncontrolled escallation, inevitably dragging Russia and China into play. I really hope the iranians won’t go this way because this is precisely what the neocons in Fashington want.
2) The smart way – attacking supply chains of the americans in the middle east, hit-and-run tactics against their bases and convoys, assasinating HVTs, when opportunity allows (i.e. give the americans some of their own medicine). Furthermore, a few years ago iranians managed to capture one of those stealthy RQ-170 drones. They claim that they’ve reverse-engineered it succesfully. I wonder if it would be possible to use it to assasinate some american general, or a politician, while visiting Middle East. You know – the eye-for-an-eye way.
The assassination of Suleimani is a grave and dangerous development, without much thought given to the consequences. Sadly, through the growing instability and chaos globally the pattern of history follows its logical path to nuclear holocaust.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
It didn’t take long for the beast to throw a lit match into the barn full of hay, did it?
Let me recap this and I can be corrected if I have misunderstood anything. The U.S. claims their embassy compound was attacked in Iraq and an American contractor was killed. I would understand this to mean, not a carpenter, electrician or plumber but a military contractor, aka a murderer for hire who was killed, they say. Whether this really happened matters not because the beast, the destroyer of nations needs no proof and rarely offer any. They manufacture evidence to support their agenda. This is very clear.
So, the beast, in turn, attacks a military unit who has been fighting ISIS, those mercenary murderers who have been slaughtering civilians and Christians and everyone who is not them. But of course, they would attack them because they are killing the proxy forces supported by the empire, the beast.
And still, there are those who think agent orange is delivering on his promises and is playing multilevel chess to get them out of the middle east. Let me make this clear: He has delivered on nothing of his promises. He has removed environmental protections, is telling the nation that everyone must accept forced vaccinations, has ballooned the U.S. debt far beyond his predecessors, gave a huge tax break to the multinational corporations which has done zero to help the average citizen. The wars and the number of countries under attack by this monster have increased and gotten more virulent, not less. And let’s not forget the precious firearms of Americans. It was agent orange who told the democrats “I’ll show you how to get the guns”.
To be honest, I don’t want to hear this man’s name anymore. Everywhere he enters, he lumbers in like some boss of a crime gang, expecting everyone to bow down. I have some ideas of where this is going if they are not stopped. It is a very dark place indeed.
Immense chapter of this madness. We’re waiting for your assertive analysis.
Iran should shows weakness it may embolden the Evil axis to attack then Iran can legally defend and attack plus easier get support from Russia and China
It seems like the ‘Whitehouse’ is attempting to force, or push Iran into war with the United States, which would have terrible consequences for Iran, as the war would be fought in and around Iran, with the Iranians unable to retaliate directly against the US mainland. The US military in the region are another matter.
The long economic seige has severely weakened Iran, but a large US attack on Iran’s infrastructure would cripple the country as well as causing massive loss of life. Do the Iranians really want to provide the United States with the ‘excuse’ they need to virtually wipe Iran off the map, whilst the US homeland remains untouched? The price for the Iranians of defending their interests and confronting the United States, seems like a colossal one.
Don’t the Iranians have to do the opposite of what the Americans want them to do?The Iranians. surely, can’t simply walk into a trap. Do they have other options? Do they have the means and the will to exact a high price for this latest American outage?
The only way the US intelligence services had to know where Soleimani was in Iraq was through the Iraqis themselves. There had to be a betrayal. Iran must measure its response very well, as the provocation is intended to start a Western war against Iran.
Donald J. Trump – once a t.v. host for the series The Apprentice.
Now a murderer hitman. Paid by his Zionists handlers.
How likely will it be for Iraq to break diplomatic relations with the US and expell all US troops in Iraq asap? What would the consequences be in the ME if Iraq does just that?
The Iranian government learned long ago that the best strategy would be to say only that they will extract revenge for the US’s egregious, illegal act, knowing full well that “revenge is a meal best served cold”.
Therefore, I expect Iran will wait to observe how many forces the US sends to “the middle east” and just exactly where that, and perhaps a new overall ME strategy, “levels off”. The irony is that the more forces the US sends to that region, the more targets for retribution there will be.
At what the Iranians determine to be a politically ideal moment in the US election cycle, they will almost certainly act. Of course this attack, after an interim period of “peace”, will be said by the US to be a Pearl-Harbor-like “surprise” attack, etc.
As an American, I am nauseated, heartsick and ashamed.
Very saddened to hear of the death of General Qasem Soleimani at the hand of the US.
The Saker could be right but I do not think the probability of war is high. Iran has in its supreme leader a man of insight that will not over react (which is probably the hope of the US). Iran doesn’t need a war to defeat the US which is doing all it can to defeat itself.
they will definitely regret this.
Considering Russia is next on USA list of terrorist countries with malign influence….and USA can see Russia almost pleading for continuing or restarting talks to do with START and others and blatenently ignoring this urgent need and in fact blaming Russia with yet ever increasing sanctions increasing the ginormous military budget to start a military space force…will Russia stand in solidarity with Iran by say sending home all american personnel….shut down the intra agency and military and intelligence channels channels….create no fly zone in Syria …defend further the SAA against any USA and Nato including Turkish militant actions….remove invitation for DT to attend next year anti fascist celebrations…
or continue to offer dialogue with “colleagues” and “partners”…and if so what would Iran feel about that?
https://www.stalkerzone.org/the-globalists-plan-for-ukraine-up-to-2024/
The above link from stalkerzone may seem at first glance to be unrelated to the events of the last few days. It isn’t! All of these events are part of the ONE agenda. Given that this reveals what their plans are for the world, it is very important to ponder all of this and try to decide what actions to take if any.
I believe this plan is what they would arrogantly refer to as the ‘end of history’. After a short period of intense death and destruction, it will indeed be the end of history. Just not in the way they had planned. I pray it is so.
Zionists controlling US are anything but dumb, they know what they are doing – it was a deliberate provocation. They want war. But they need to provoke Iran first – in order to not look like an aggressor. They know what will probably follow:
NYT
NYT
Insufficient blurb for link and Pope-slap off topic. (s)
—————-
Seems Suleimani was there leaving a funeral. To read more:
http://82.221.129.208/.vu5.html
two things will happen. Iraq will force ALL usa military out of country-with exception of those under cover of ‘attache’ at usa embassy. The Green Zone is numbered in days and could be attacked by a mob and/or drones etc. 2ndly Syria, with Iranian military, will do something to illegal american troops in Syria- maybe even take them as prisoners of war (they would have every right under UN rules of engagement). The usa and Iran are now at war. american fascism knows no shame just listen to pompeo talk today in cnn interview. any which way Iran will respond and respond harshly, nothing is less a certainty.
The question is, what happens next and whether the Iranians respond and how. There can be no doubt that the US strike in which general Soleymani was treacherously murdered was a trap the Neocons set for Iran.
Iran is being baited by the Neocon criminals: if they retaliate, it gives the US criminals the casus belli they want to launch some kind of an attack against Iran; in case the Iranians decide not to respond in any meaningful way, they lose face and send a negative signal to all Iranian allies in the region. The message that: ‘the Americans can kill whoever they want and we can do nothing about it at all’ In such a scenario, Iranian allies would have a logical reason to wonder whether there is a reason to resist the Empire of Evil when even Iran can do nothing to protect itself against aggression. What then would be next? More Iranians killed in Empire’s strikes?
We are seeing typical US modus operandi. Place the enemy in an impossible situation, in which they can choose between humiliation (not react at all) and war (major suffering for their people) while in the end they still may have war regardless of what they choose.
In my mind, the thing to do is refuse to play by the rules set by your enemy. The Iranians absolutely must respond, without a doubt, but it must be an asymmetrical response. The Russians have indeed developed masterful methods of asymmetrical warfare and I suspect the Iranians have learned a lot from the Russian experience. A rash response would be tantamount to suicide. Iran must do the opposite, analyze the data carefully then take time to come up with an asymmetrical response. Hurt the Empire where it’s most vulnerable, but at the time and place of Tehran’s choosing. You must not let the enemy force your hand, because in that case, you seize to be the master of your destiny and become an object in the enemy’s hands.
We who oppose the Empire of evil can afford to be hot-headed in our analysis and even propose radical solutions: we don’t have responsibility for other people. Tehran doesn’t have this luxury.
I hope we will see a response from Iran and an asymmetrical one. What I also hope is that Russia will help Tehran in this regard. Their experiences in asymmetrical warfare are invaluable.
Let us pray we find a way to outsmart the Beast and give it time and space to consume itself in its evil.
Amateur hour at the las vegas hebrew school and pimp academy. This is what happens when you have a tribe of kissing cousins – a race to the bottom.
The real story is the complete and utter defeat of the zionazis colonial plans in the ME and beyond. The slow but steady push back of hapless – last hope of the empire – merc fodder forces and their vassal cash bosses.
American goyim and their mossad masters have demonstrated themselves as complete incompetents with the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani. Unable to gain any strategic goals the zionazis pull the usual trick and ramp up murder inc. – as if that would change their fortunes in the battles for Idlib or somehow neutralize the missile forces of Iran.
Both the US and the entity have been on a steady decline since the Vietnam war – true that the transnationals got even richer – but the corrosive effects on the oligarchy of unchecked power have now delivered a generation of elite idiots.
Yemen – as a microcosm – of globalist power collapse is an even better example than the fiasco in Syria. Yemen has heroic resistance – but what is most telling is the inability and unwillingness of the empire’s own vassals to continue to fight for far off occultist cosmopolitan slumlords.
General Qasem Soleimani assassination is an act of weakness- demonstrating that the empire of chaos cannot even favorably manipulate its own perception management. The western masses may never tune in to reality but they certainly are slowly tuning out to the occultists propaganda.
Martyanov is all over this situation too and focused on this curious statement:
“The stream of utter stupidity from top echelon of Washington’s power ensued and even Yahoo News was forced to point out:
Earlier Friday, Trump tweeted that “Iran never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!” That was not the conclusion of the U.S. Defense Department’s 1,300-page report on the Iraq war, which was released last year. The study found that Iran was the only winner in the decades-long conflict”.
Hmmm, This is from Martyanov’s article today about the assassination. It is pure Trump. He plays hard ball with sanctions and intimidation tactics as a softening up process, and then negotiates (he thinks) from a position of strength. This time he is gambling that the Iranians are going to negotiate too. Hence the odd statement (also incorrect).
One could also state that the USA is not positioned for an all out war with Iran. It simply does not have the troops and materiel at hand there to conduct one. So he assumes (means make an ass out of you and me) that Iran will negotiate.
FWIW,
L.
The US may have come to the conclusion that Russia and China will do their best to not be involved in a war triggered by the US against Iran, therefore the US soil is not exposed. By going to war with Iran, Trump will satisfy Israel which is a plus for its re-election. In addition, as the M.E. will be plunged in chaos, oïl price will increase dramatically helpiln the shale business in the US. Millions of refugees will invade Europe which will be broke and will fall into chaos. The euro will collapse boosting the dollar. As China, India and Japan will be hurt by the oïl price, they will fall into recession helping further the dollar. All these factors are justifying this war.
The exposure is Israel’s reactions to the destruction that this war will induced of their soil. Is Israel going to retaliate with nuclear bombing or not ? Should Israel use its nuclear arsenal, then the conséquences are hard to predict. It would be better for the whole world if the Israelis were flying to the US. If not the world could reach the Apocalypse.
Mask is off, and has been for quite a while.
http://telemarksporten.no/SakerPhotos/Mike_Pompeo_Faces_of_Evil.jpg
Kent
https://twitter.com/RudawEnglish/status/1213178754090053636
#BREAKING: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces intent to designate Iran-backed militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq a terrorist organization, according to a media note from the US state department
sorry if this is old news or posted b4.
The US has wanted Iran and its oil back since the revolution of 1979, 40 years now.
They got their puppet, Saddam Hussein, to attack Iran right after the revolution. A million dead, 10 years of war, but Iran did not fall.
In 2001, General Wesley Clark told us that Iran was on the list of 7 countries for the Pentagon to destroy.
When the US attacked Iraq in 2003, the saying was ”Real men go to Tehran”.
Bush, Cheney, Obama, Bolton and Trump have all been sabre rattling for decades, with sanctions, assassinations, cyber attacks and Color Revolution attempts.
But, yeah, this was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Trump, to avoid impeachment and/or get re-elected. Sure.
It’s all about the US political circus, right? Not Full Spectrum Dominance, or control of the world’s oil.
Oh, and the US only kills brown or black people, because all US war is based on American racism.
Ignore the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, WW1, WW2, the entire Cold War, the destruction of Yugoslavia and the attacks on Ukraine, as well as the provocations on Russia’s borders, because Americans only attack other people and other countries because of racism, no other goals.
Irrespective of what one’s opinion of modern-day Iran might be, or has been before now, the assassination of General Soleimani will be remembered as one of the most catastrophic military blunders in human history.
It is plainly clear that the American intention is to continue, and expand upon, its modus operandi since the 9/11 debacle (false flag????), which has been to simultaneously destabilize the Middle East/Islamic world politically while also attempting to either control or disrupt the region’s vast store of oil and gas.
It is equally clear that there is no end to the lies, turpitude or deception that will be utilized to effect these actions. With the decision to split the Russian/Chinese communist alliance (which in retrospect may be the USA’s eventual own undoing) the subsequent rise of China as a maturing super-power (ignited by duplicitous American corporate greed and the hatred of all things Russian,), we now see some 40+ years later that the Nixon/Kissinger puppet show has finally comeback to bite the US in the ass.
We are today a declining hegemon. There is no other way to frame it. Post WWW II, after world-wide destruction, insular America rose to become the premier nation of the world with nearly 40% of global industrial capacity. At that very moment, it simultaneously claimed the mantel of being historically the “exceptional leadership” of the world, while squandering the opportunity to construct an international community of parity and interdependence. Instead, it chose global empire and military policing.
Today, its relative industrial output has shrunk to somewhere above 15%. A pale shadow of its former might. In order to defend its unique geopolitical position through the petro-dollar system it reserved to itself the right to persuade, bully, force, or destroy any nation or people that will not bow to its specific interests. Hence, it has concluded there is no recourse but to continue to up the ante, essentially daring any and all nations to challenge its position, at the expense of triggering a holocaust of unparalleled proportions.
The tremors produced by this gradual decline are now daily becoming more visibly apparent. America first offers cookies, then if need be, follows with stern warnings, then threats, then financial sanctions, then hires proxies and mercenaries (Daesh), then sends drones, and eventually threatens annihilation. It has no other tools in its management kit. Like the King parading before his peasants the once “exceptional” nation no longer wears any clothes.
Iran/Persia is a polity nearly 4,000 years old. After millennia of changing dynasties, rising and falling empire, ethnic and religious diversity, it nonetheless has maintained an extraordinarily intact cultural heritage. That heritage is a source of pride and solidarity not readily abandoned. The notion that America will “free” the Iranian people from their own history by bombing them into submission is farcical.
So what will be the outcome of this monumental tragedy. It remains to be seen, for sure. But you can bet your bottom dollar that America has now created a no-win certainty for itself, irrespective of the outcome. The entire world waits and watches holding their breath for the next move, and whatever that move might be, the people of the world will never think of America in the same way.
What I hope will happen is this. That the Iranians and Mullahs will reach way back into their collective historical memory and find a path to ponder something other than an immediate retaliation, as much as their passions might dictate they do. They should instead determine to deceive their enemy. Disarming America by not responding. Impose a year-long national prayer of deep spiritual searching, while digging into their mountains and deserts and accelerating to the maximum their ability to develop a satisfactory nuclear capacity in self-defense.
Unfortunately, as weird as this notion may seem, history has shown that the only way to back off a persistent bully is to carry an equal or bigger gun. This has been the Iranians concern for decades, at least ever since the Israelis developed nuclear weaponry some 40 years ago. The future of Iran rests in its ability to avoid this confrontation now, no matter how much pride must be swallowed to do so.