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Iran Loses Its Indispensable Man (Soleimani)
theatlantic.com ^ | 2 January 2020

Posted on 01/02/2020 8:42:45 PM PST by Helicondelta

Today the United States killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force. The United States is now in a hot war with Iran after having waged war via proxies for the past several decades.

This doesn’t mean war, it will not lead to war, and it doesn’t risk war. None of that. It is war.

I do not know of a single Iranian who was more indispensable to his government’s ambitions in the Middle East. From 2015 to 2017, when we were in the heat of the fighting against the Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq, I would watch Soleimani shuttle back and forth between Syria and Iraq. When the war to prop up Bashar al-Assad was going poorly, Soleimani would leave Iraq for Syria. And when Iranian-backed militias in Iraq began to struggle against the Islamic State, Soleimani would leave Syria for Iraq.

Qassem Soleimani was the adult supervision. He was spread thin over the past decade, but he was nonetheless a serious if nefarious adversary of the United States and its partners in the region. And Iran and its partners will now feel his loss greatly.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2015; 20200102; benghazi; cafemilano; cafemilanoplot; iran; iraniangeneral; iraq; irgc; qasemsoleimani; qassem; qassemsoleimani; quds; qudsforce; soleimani; syria
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1 posted on 01/02/2020 8:42:45 PM PST by Helicondelta
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To: Helicondelta
Earlier.
2 posted on 01/02/2020 8:43:56 PM PST by Steely Tom ([Seth Rich] == [the Democrats' John Dean])
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To: Helicondelta

Posted 20 minutes ago.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3805161/posts


3 posted on 01/02/2020 8:44:05 PM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: Helicondelta

I loathe Iran, but if this turns into a REAL war, I’m not sure if it’s going to help Trump win re-election.

The Mullahs are sh*t but I wish our CIA would simply EARN a little of their budget and OVERTHROW the mullahs from within, already.

What is the USA going to GAIN by a real war with Iran..?

Answer if your child is in the US military in a combat arms specialty.


4 posted on 01/02/2020 8:46:14 PM PST by gaijin
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To: Helicondelta

Sounds like we should have smoked his a** a few years ago.


5 posted on 01/02/2020 8:46:23 PM PST by ruiner
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To: Steely Tom

I don’t mean to sound overconfident but besides terrorist activities, what are they going to do that won’t result in Horrific losses for them.

Gives us a reason to knock out the nuke sites.


6 posted on 01/02/2020 8:46:38 PM PST by dp0622 (Radicals, racists Don't point fingers at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to make ends meet)
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To: Helicondelta
That sounds like a eulogy from the treasonous MSM.


7 posted on 01/02/2020 8:48:38 PM PST by Bon mots
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To: dp0622
I have not the slightest doubt that our next move has been thought out very carefully, and the move after that, and the one after that too.

I also would imagine that our intelligence is very good, and that we're coordinating with others in the region.

Watch for unannounced rocket launches from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg AFB over the next days.

8 posted on 01/02/2020 8:50:14 PM PST by Steely Tom ([Seth Rich] == [the Democrats' John Dean])
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To: Helicondelta

“What difference, at this point, does it make?” /s


9 posted on 01/02/2020 8:50:34 PM PST by Fresh Wind (The Electoral College is the firewall protecting us from massive blue state vote fraud.)
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To: gaijin

Trump is wise enough not to do what Bush did. Can’t see us going down the permanent occupation, national-building road.


10 posted on 01/02/2020 8:52:21 PM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: Helicondelta

Super! Wonderful! Thank you pdjt for figuring out how to get rid of this dangerous rabid scum!


11 posted on 01/02/2020 8:52:24 PM PST by faithhopecharity ( “Politicians are not born; they are excreted.” Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: Helicondelta
He could have tried that One Weird Trick -

"Staying in Iran, and out of Iraq"

12 posted on 01/02/2020 8:55:34 PM PST by kiryandil (Chris Wallace: Because someone has to drive the Clown Car)
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To: Helicondelta

the pukes at WP reported it this way:

Breaking news: Airstrike at Baghdad airport kills Iran’s most revered military leader, Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi state television reports https://t.co/NbZW4DaWvD
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2020


13 posted on 01/02/2020 8:55:58 PM PST by Bob434
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To: gaijin
As Margaret Thatcher told Bush 41 years ago - this is not the time to go wobbly.

If President Trump does this correctly by giving a nationally televised speech explaining that by attacking an embassy, it is the same as attacking the nation, he will get the support of the citizens. If he asks Congress to declare war, Congress will fold because the American citizens will want action against a nation that has been a thorn in our side since 1978. Sink all their shipping, blockade their ports, freeze their accounts, drone their leaders, and at the end send in troops to mop up.

14 posted on 01/02/2020 8:57:39 PM PST by 7thson (I've got a seat at the big conference table! I'm gonna paint my logo on it!)
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To: gaijin

[[I loathe Iran, but if this turns into a REAL war, I’m not sure if it’s going to help Trump win re-election.]]

This won’t turn into full war- Iran is nuts, but not stupid- They know the stakes- - This act shows the world this president isn’t gonna take ANY crap from them- when Reagan took office, The iranians IMMEDIATELY handed over the hostages knowing full well he wasn’t gonna take crap from them like Carter did


15 posted on 01/02/2020 8:58:22 PM PST by Bob434
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To: gaijin

John Paul Jones?!?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYRCTHj7k8Y

In the new vocabulary, if you kill our diplomats in Iraq, we will kill your “diplomats” in Iraq.

I’m sad to say that we have a highly likelihood of war in the middle east now than we did this morning, but this morning I laid out my case that if we got trolled into striking back against Iran inside Iran, then we geopolitically escalate. But this move is effectively commensurate with Iran’s decision to bomb and kill a diplomat, inside a foreign country.


16 posted on 01/02/2020 8:58:36 PM PST by z3n
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To: Helicondelta

This quasi supportive opinion from Obie’s U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy.

There are some concerns about escalation, but Soleimani was apparently THE MAN and Iran is crippled with his elimination.

Surprising. MSM says we’re all gonna’ die.


17 posted on 01/02/2020 9:01:54 PM PST by chiller (As Davey Crockett once said: Be sure you're right. Then go ahead. I'm goin' ahead.)
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To: Steely Tom

“Unannounced”?

Rocket launches don’t happen on a few days’ notice.

If you have some use in mind, they’re already in orbit.

(And no, not “Rods of God”. I did the math on those. We’d know.)


18 posted on 01/02/2020 9:02:35 PM PST by ctdonath2 (Democrats oppose democracy.)
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To: Mr. Mojo

Bush’s problem was that he/they didn’t anticipate Gulf War 3.

Gulf War 1 drove Iraq back into Iraq.
Gulf War 2 decapitated Iraq.

Those were resounding successes.

Except for the enormous sucking sound of the subsequent power vacuum.
Which led to Gulf War 3, which we didn’t plan for.


19 posted on 01/02/2020 9:04:33 PM PST by ctdonath2 (Democrats oppose democracy.)
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To: ctdonath2
Ann Coulter did: "We should invade those countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity."

She's the same one who predicted Donald Trump would win the Presidency.

Be interesting to hear her take on this strike, given how she's soured on The Donald on other grounds.

20 posted on 01/02/2020 9:09:51 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change with out notice.)
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