Middle East: Saudis Murder & Dismember Washington Post Contributor

[Newenglanddeac]

How much you want to bet Trump is on a golf course right now? He's at Mar-a-lago for sure.

 

[Deacon923]

I guess he means the millions of Sunnis who used to oppress the majority Shia Iraqis, which Shia Iraqis naturally came to see the giant Shia nation next door as their best ally against an Iraqi political system that has always crapped on them? So he wants another Iraqi civil war?

Not that I expect Donald J. Trump understands anything about Shia/Sunni power dynamics or the history of Iraq and Iran.

 

[MichDeac25]

I guess he means the millions of Sunnis who used to oppress the majority Shia Iraqis, which Shia Iraqis naturally came to see the giant Shia nation next door as their best ally against an Iraqi political system that has always crapped on them? So he wants another Iraqi civil war?

Not that I expect Donald J. Trump understands anything about Shia/Sunni power dynamics or the history of Iraq and Iran.

If a crisis comes, Trump is completely unequipped to handle it. Can you imagine Trump in place of FDR during WWII?

 

[RJKarl]

I guess he means the millions of Sunnis who used to oppress the majority Shia Iraqis, which Shia Iraqis naturally came to see the giant Shia nation next door as their best ally against an Iraqi political system that has always crapped on them? So he wants another Iraqi civil war?

Not that I expect Donald J. Trump understands anything about Shia/Sunni power dynamics or the history of Iraq and Iran.

Along those lines, to Trump Shia is Lebouef and Sunni is Bono (who he doesn't know is dead).

 

[redwing42]

If a crisis comes, Trump is completely unequipped to handle it. Can you imagine Trump in place of FDR during WWII?

Completely. We would have been allied with the Axis powers and Pearl Harbor would have never happened. Trump would have gladly split the world three ways.

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[PhDeac]

And his base will love him for it.

 

[deactherunner]

He's already doing a "NO BENGHAZI" victory lap on Twitter, as is Lindsey Graham. I'm happy the people in the embassy got out, but today was not a positive for America in that region.

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[WakeForestRanger]

Well that should trigger retaliatory terrorist attacks across the region and potentially here as well. The potential for this to spiral out of control to a full blown war with Iran just went up.

 

[Deacon923]

Suleimani was a bad dude, but he's also not just some terrorist in the desert. Hitting him is like someone going after our joint chiefs of staff or the head of the CIA. Very big deal and things could get really bad really fast. Iran may not be able to contain the reaction even if they want to.

 

[WakeForestRanger]

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[Newenglanddeac]

 

[Newenglanddeac]

From 2018:

 

[Newenglanddeac]

Thread by @yashar: 1. There are unconfirmed reports that Qasem Soleimani commander of Qods Force (Iran's external security agency) has been killed in drone str…

1. There are unconfirmed reports that Qasem Soleimani commander of Qods Force (Iran's external security agency) has been killed in drone strikes. If true, this will be a major moment in US-Iran relations & Supreme Leader will undoubtedly see this as a major provocation/act of war
2. I can't understate how major this is. Not just a moment in US-Iran relations, but a major global event. People comparing this to killing Osama Bin Laden don't know what they're talking about. This is way more significant. Equivalent to another country killing US Vice-President

3. Soleimani is extraordinarily close to the Supreme Leader of Iran. Soleimani reports directly to the Supreme Leader, the Qods force is technically part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps which also reports to the Supreme Leader.

He is more powerful than Iran's President

4. If you want to understand how powerful Soleimani is all you have to look to is a text he sent to David Petraeus. This text is an extraordinary (yet unsurprising) display of power. Especially since Iran has an elected president and foreign minister.


5. Qods force & its proxies are responsible for assassinations, terrorism, and unconventional warfare that Iran supports in countries like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

6. Qods Force is also responsible for successful and attempted terrorist acts and assassinations in countries like Argentina, the United States, India, and Germany.

7. Watch this clip of Soleimani speaking to understand what his rhetoric is like. He was/is a hardliners hardliner.
8. As I said in the beginning of this thread, Iran's Supreme Leader is going to see this as a major provocation/act of war. He will respond in a significant manner.

We shouldn't be surprised to see major cyber attacks against the US as an example

9. We shouldn't be surprised to see the Supreme Leader order covert operations all over the globe (including, dare I say, in the US) that involve assassinations & other acts of terrorism

We should expect to see the most significant/aggressive response

10. if what I'm expecting sounds alarmist...it's because this is a major, major event. I'm not interested in getting into whether it was the right or wrong decision but dealing with this plainly, if true, it was a major, major decision.

11. To call Qasem Soleimani just a terrorist is to understate his role significantly and that's where the danger lies in killing him without a plan for the reaction.

He ordered and directed billions of dollars to organizations that engaged in terrorism. He is/was an evil man

12. But killing Soleimani is not like killing the head of a terrorist org. It's like killing the head of a terrorist organization and a head of state. You have to treat it as such and the US has not DIRECTLY engaged in assassinations on that level in decades.

13. CNN's @arwaCNN says it best just now: "we are in uncharted territory."
14. For those who think Iran will respond with just traditional warfare, you're wrong. Solemani is responsible for, at a minimum, hundreds of US Soldiers deaths & much much more

But imagine how US would respond to a sitting VPbeing killed. Iran will respond at a similar level.

 

[WakeForestRanger]

 

[WakeForestRanger]