After militiamen in Iraq tried to besiege the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, Donald Trump took extreme measures. The fallout is expected to be swift and deadly.
Iranian Military Leader Qasem Soleimani Assassinated On Trump's Orders
Credit: Ali Khamenei, Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
January 2, 2020

Earlier Thursday, Iranian militia members ended their two-day siege at the U.S. embassy. Earlier in the week, they threw molotov cocktails, stormed the reception area, and camped out. In response, Donald Trump tweeted out a threat that promised retaliation.

Tonight he is crowing about his retaliatory measures. Washington Post:

Pentagon launched airstrike that killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, Defense Sec. Mark Esper says.

Esper said Thursday night that Soleimani was "actively developing plans" to attack US troops and diplomats.The killing of a senior figure linked to Tehran’s support for foreign proxy groups is certain to heighten tensions between the United States and Iran. This breaking story will be updated.

An airstrike near the Baghdad airport has killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and another senior Iranian-linked figure in Baghdad, Iraqi state television reported Thursday.

That's right. The impeached man-baby in the White House ordered a drone strike that killed the second highest-profile leader in Iran. Thus begins Trump's War of Distraction. To be sure, Soleimani was a danger and a threat, but he was a regional threat. Now Iran will present a global threat.

Fox News dialed up Karl Rove, Ollie North and Ari Fleischer to reassure their viewers, while the sane folks try to balance the claim that this was done to protect diplomatic and military personnel with the fact that said personnel were not withdrawn from the region or otherwise protected from what will surely be an escalation. We will review that video for later.

Here's one theory about why Trump did this:

Seems legit.

Lindsey Graham is ecstatic:

There's a whole thread there to read, but this tweet accurately depicts his joy.

The rest of us look on in horror, because ordering the assassination of Iranian officials after pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement and isolating the United States from our allies just seems like a bad idea. A bad, impulsive, self-centered idea.

Here are some reactions:

Yeah, that dog is being wagged hard.

Here's the hard question:

And the bottom line:

Trump just martyred Soleimani and Iran will certainly play that card for everything it's worth. If only we had a well-functioning national security apparatus with a calm leader at the helm right now. We don't, so hang on for the ride.

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