Ready or not, let’s go. I’m pretty sure we’ve just celebrated the start of 2020. But it’s a little hard to say, with so many American executives and TV experts talking like it’s 2003.
Following Thursday’s US attack on Iranian authorities in Iraq, a strike who killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani– the same psychopathic warmongers who lied to us during the Iraq war happily spat out their old nonsense, with a few minor updates.
Will they welcome us as liberators? Yeah!
I hear Iranian social media networks are going crazy on the occasion of the celebration. The Iranians I know are delighted. Of course they are.
– David Reaboi (@davereaboi) January 3, 2020
An “imminent threat” has canceled the normal channels of action? Yeah!
I spoke today with Yang Jiechi, Chinese Politburo member, to discuss @realDonaldTrumpthe decision to eliminate Soleimani in response to imminent threats to American lives. I reiterated our commitment to de-escalation.
– Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 3, 2020
Someone must be punished and cursed at the consequences: THE VENGEANCE IS OURS! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.
FICTION: Trump ordered the assassination of a foreign “general” and, therefore, put us on the brink of war.
FACT: Soleimani was an active enemy fighter, more dangerous than evil men such as Bin Laden and Baghdadi, and who operated without regard to the law of war
– Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 3, 2020
Cable news producers have even been dust off Karl Rove and other Bush-era prevaricators to fabricate consent to a new generation of American warfare in the Middle East.
And we’re pretty much so close to bring back Freedom Fries.
The hawks keep reminding everyone that Soleimani was “evil”, and suggesting that this just warrants taking him out from above as he arrives in Iraq for a diplomatic visit … and that no one else is. not thrilled with last night’s actions love terrorists or hate Donald Trump too much to appreciate it.
16. The Iranian government has confirmed the death of Qasem Soleimani in Iraq.
Now that it’s confirmed, let me say in plain English… this is one hell of a shit moment.
Again, not just for US-Iranian relations, not just in the Middle East, but a shitty global event
– Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) January 3, 2020
It should go without saying, but it is possible to be against the actions of Soleimani and the forces he led and still believe that the Trump administration is handling this in the wrong way. It’s possible to think that Soleimani deserves a nasty fate while still believing that the United States shouldn’t just assassinate foreign leaders we don’t like. And It’s entirely possible-although apparently not for many empathetic toads in government and the media -to believe that the lives of American troops and others who are now in greater danger are worth more than the fleeting satisfaction of revenge or feel like you ‘I won a news cycle.
The level of reflection on foreign policy in this country is so low. “We killed each other as a villain!” ” https://t.co/EPkWjuEyYJ
– Damon Linker (@DamonLinker) January 3, 2020
The Pentagon said the purpose of the attack was to deter “future Iranian attack plans.” Because if there is one thing that pacifies terrorist cells and prevents acts of aggression against Americans, it is to kill their leaders …
“This strike was intended to deter future plans of attack.” By Pentagon’s own logic, if Iran retaliates, the strike mission has failed to achieve its primary objective. Remember this. https://t.co/A5vDqD0z4k
– Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) January 3, 2020
But the repercussions of this reckless act – and the post-murder smoothing –will probably be to be huge.
Taking out Soleimani as we did is not like a drone hitting terrorists in their secret hiding place or killing the leader of a rogue militia. The Quds force commanded by Soleimani may have been engaged in an unconventional war, but it is also an official part of the Iranian armed forces, not a stateless terrorist cell. And Soleimani was not just an Osama bin Laden-like prophet of death; he was a high-ranking figure in the Iranian government.
Soleimani was an enemy of the United States. It is not a question.
The question is, as the reports suggest, did America just assassinate, without any authorization from Congress, Iran’s second most powerful person, knowingly triggering a potential massive regional war?
– Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 3, 2020
Killing Soleimani in this way is akin to another country killing Vice President Mike Pence or a member of Trump’s cabinet while attending a public event or going to a public office. And the public nature of the attack, magnified by the administration’s senseless boasting about it afterwards, will leave Iran with little politically feasible choice but to retaliate in a public manner.
On Friday morning, the US State Department warned Americans in Iraq to leave immediately.
State Department urges Americans to leave Iraq after Trump’s decision to kill Soleimani pushed the security situation to the brink: “American citizens should leave by air whenever possible, and failing that, to other countries by land. ” https://t.co/9WjZb9i2Hb
– John Hudson (@John_Hudson) January 3, 2020
Some to suggest that because the strike against Soleimani took place in Iraq and the US military is allowed to be in Iraq, everything is legally sound. Even if you accept this, there is a big difference between authorized and should.
“Iran is a state with a significant capacity to stir up trouble in its neighborhood,” and “Soleimani’s death does not want the Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Islamic Republic of Iran disappear ”, points out Daniel Drezner. “A large number of Iranians and other Shiites will want to retaliate. Standard theory of international relations suggests that the beheading of a key leader would not fundamentally affect the ability of that state to act.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised that a “severe retaliation awaits.” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called Soleimani’s murder “an act of state terrorism and a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.”
Many Democrats are now distancing themselves from this mess, but they must answer for the fact that they voted overwhelmingly against a measure to deprive the Trump administration of money for offensive attacks in Iran.
Any member who voted for the NDAA – a blank check – can now express dismay that Trump may have started another war in the Middle East.
My amendment, which was withdrawn, would have cut $$ for any offensive attack on Iran, including against officials like Soleimani / 1
– Representative Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) January 3, 2020
QUICK CUT
The president repeatedly predicted years ago that his predecessor would attack Iran in order to be re-elected. pic.twitter.com/9zGciVOCjy
– Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 3, 2020
- Lauren Krisai, former Reason Foundation staff, now Justice Action Network analyst,rounds the best criminal justice stories of the decade, in what ends in an utterly depressing but utterly impressive list.
- The European Union will not grant patents to robots.
- Bill de Blasio is the worst, part approximately to infinity:
There is no evidence that these attacks have anything to do with bail reform. Yet here is de Blasio stoking fear in an attempt to reverse the reforms.
It’s like watching mass incarceration happen in real time – that’s exactly how it happened. https://t.co/dGfbmXuArO
– David Menschel (@davidminpdx) January 3, 2020
Norwich labor court judge ruled ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and therefore protected by law
– Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) January 3, 2020