Editor’s note: Brandon is one of those writers who people either love or hate. I don’t always agree with his conclusions but I can never fault his research. I know him to be a good and ethical person.
However, he writes without republican or democrat bias and sometimes the US government doesn’t come up smelling like roses in his analyses. That is offensive to many people. I always welcome civil discussion in the comments. Your argument will hold far more weight if you come armed with facts, not emotions or ad hominem attacks. ~ Daisy
by Brandon Turbeville
Yesterday morning, the world was alight with news that Qassim Soleimani was assassinated by a US drone outside the Baghdad airport. Here’s some information on the background of this conflict, what happened, and what we can expect.
Here’s what happened.
This assassination was, according to Trump administration officials and hints by the President himself, approved and ordered by Donald Trump. In addition to Soleimani, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis (aka Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi) was also killed alongside six other people.
Soleimani was the Iranian commander of the Quds Force while Muhandis was the commander of Ketaib Hezbollah, a militia belonging to the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU).
Republicans have categorically supported the move and Democrats, despite the requisite criticism of Trump’s “reckless mishandling” of the situation, also supported the move.
Although not the first time an American President has ordered an assassination, this is the first publicly acknowledged successful assassination of a high-level official. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper stated that the Pentagon had taken “decisive defensive action” against Soleimani and stated that the attack was made on the orders of the President. “The game has changed,” Esper said.
Iran has promised retaliation.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed revenge as have a number of Iranian generals and politicians, leaving many to wonder just how, when, and where the Iranian response will take place.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi condemned the assassination and added that the murder was a breach of the conditions under which the US military operates in Iraq and that Iraq would now have to re-evaluate its relationship with the United States. This essentially means that the Iraqi Parliament may vote to oust US troops from Iraq entirely.
So, as the world awaits further military conflict and responses from Iran, it is important to understand how this all started.
The origins of the conflict
We do not have time in this article for a long history of American intervention in Iraq (invading twice) and Syria (funding terrorists, arming and directing them before eventually invading) resulting in the Iranian entrance into both countries (at the host countries’ request). I will give the readers credit for being knowledgeable on those factors and, for those who are not, I would recommend accessing my books and articles on the topic (BrandonTurbeville.com) as well as books and articles by researchers and journalists in this list.
This most recent chain of events, however, began when the United States claimed that Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for the death of an American contractor and injuring US troops in an attack at a US military in Kirkuk. Neither President nor anyone in his administration offered any evidence that this attack actually took place or that Kataib Hezbollah was responsible for it if it did.
In response, the US ordered airstrikes on 5 facilities in Iraq and Syria that the Pentagon claims were tied to the Kataib Hezbollah. Secretary Esper stated that Trump ordered those attacks. The strikes killed around 24 people.
Two days later, Iraqi protesters of all ethnic and religious varieties took to the streets to demonstrate against the attacks on the militia. Eventually, they broke into the US Embassy compound in Baghdad where they lit fires, threw stones, and sprayed anti-American graffiti on the walls. The embassy itself was not breached but there was fire damage to the walls.
President Trump then ordered over 100 Marines to secure the embassy in Baghdad which they promptly did on New Year’s Eve.
On the morning of January 3, 2020, Americans and the rest of the world awoke to reports that the United States had conducted a drone strike outside the Baghdad airport that killed Iranian General Soleimani and militia commander Muhandis.
This will be considered an act of war.
The strikes against Soleimani are an act of war. They are a violation of international law and yet another expression of American imperialism and the neo-con/neo-liberal doctrine of destroying all nations that do not bow to the Anglo-financier world order. The United States has just assassinated one of the most effective fighters against ISIS in the region.
Israel benefits from this strike. International banks and corporations benefit from this strike. The Syrian, Iraqi, Iranian, and American people do not.
Kataib Hezbollah is a Shi’ite militia tied to Iran and one that is largely Iranian backed. However, KH is part of the Iraqi PMU, an umbrella organization that controlled and directed by the Iraqi state and which contains around 40 different militias, Sunni, Shi’ite, Christian, and others. The PMU has been one of the prime forces mobilized to defeat ISIS in Iraq, particularly around the Syrian/Iraqi border areas.
Soleimani the famous commander of the Iranian Quds forces that operate outside of Iran. As Moon of Alabama describes him,
Soleiman was responsible for all relations between Iran and political and militant movements outside of Iran. Hajji Qassim advised the Lebanese Hisbullah during the 2006 war against Israel. His support for Iraqi groups enabled them to kick the U.S. invaders out of Iraq. He was the man responsible for, and successful in, defeating the Islamic State in iraq and Syria. In 2015 Soleimani traveled to Moscow and convinced Russia to intervene in Syria. His support for the Houthi in Yemen enabled them to withstand the Saudi attackers.
Rumors and justifications
To be clear, there is no evidence that either KH or Iran had anything to do with the attacks on the US military base. After seventeen years of vicious and horrific occupation, the United States has made many enemies in Iraq, to say the least. To date, the US has offered no evidence or proof of an attack even happening, much less who was responsible. Regardless, it cannot be forgotten that the US military is an occupying force and thus will be met with resistance from time to time; resistance that is undeniably justified. Claiming “defense” in a country you invaded and now occupy is an oxymoron. You cannot “defend yourself” if you are the party who initiated the force to begin with.
Rumors, of course, have been spread that Solemeini was both behind the attacks on the US base as well as on the US Embassy and that he was plotting yet more attacks in the near future. These rumors have their roots in the US State Department, Mossad, and the MSM that they control. One such rumor had Solemeini about to depose the Prime Minister of Iraq, Abdul Mahdi, in a coup. However, the Prime Minister had already resigned as a result of American-backed anti-Iranian protests that have rocked Iraq for several months. The protests were directed against Iranian influence in Iraq and were designed to weaken that influence. They were wholly unlike the protests in Lebanon where the demands were against all foreign influence and domestic corruption. Indeed, Mahdi himself has close ties with Iran so why would Iran be interested in a coup?
Another rumor was that Soleimeini was killed trying to escape Iran after the US embassy attack. However, the truth is that Soleimeini had just arrived.
It must be said, however, that Trump’s decision to secure the embassy was justified if America and Iraq intend on keeping an embassy in operation in Baghdad. Trump should not be expected to allow another Benghazi-like tragedy on his watch. But the embassy was safeguarded and the issue closed. Anyone who views the storming of an embassy by protesters as an act of war and worthy of assassinations does not understand diplomacy or the point of embassies to begin with.
Here’s where the official story doesn’t hold up.
While it is in the realm of possibility that Soleimeini was aware that protesters were going to storm the embassy, it is highly unlikely that he ordered it to happen, not only because of his status as a field commander but also because he has proven himself to be an amazing strategist time and time again. He would then know a brazen and merely symbolic gesture would have little gain and so much risk.
In the aftermath of the assassination, even some Lebanese generals took to Twitter to contradict Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s claims that Soleimeni was planning an attack on American occupying forces.
Interestingly enough, Lindsey Graham seems to have admitted that Soleimeini was not behind the storming of the embassy when he tweeted that the assassination was not “an act of revenge for what he had done in the past” but “a pre-emptive defensive strike designed to take out the organizer of attacks yet to come.” Again, only neo-cons like Graham could ever argue that America is defending itself in Iraq or Syria.
It is thus important to point out that the original accusation against Soleimeini was that he had killed Americans. Quickly, when no dead Americans could be produced that could be attributed to Soleimeini, the story becomes “he was planning to kill Americans.”
It cannot go without mentioning that the assassination was not an entirely American affair. Israel provided the US with the coordinates and whereabouts of Soleimeini in order to conduct the strikes. Israel, of course, hid behind the US, letting the US do the dirty work, take the risk, and absorb all the responses from Iran and the world community while Israel reaps all the benefits of one of its most effective nemeses being buried six feet under.
It is best never to anger Israel. It will fight with the best hardware America has to offer and to the very last drop of American blood.
So what happens now?
No one can really answer this question. However, plans are being made for reprisals on the Iranian side and plans are being made for war on the American side. Indeed, plans for war against Iran are not new and have been written about long ago.
The plan for a Western or a Western/Israeli attack on Iran, along with the theatre of alleged US-Israeli tensions leading up to a strike and outright war, has been in the works for some time. For instance, in 2009, the Brookings Institution, a major banking, corporate, and military-industrial firm, released a report entitled “Which Path To Persia? Options For A New American Strategy For Iran,” in which the authors mapped out a plan which leaves no doubt as to the ultimate desire from the Western financier, corporate, and governing classes.
The plan involves the description of a number of ways the Western oligarchy would be able to destroy Iran including outright military invasion and occupation. However, the report attempts to outline a number of methods that might possibly be implemented before direct military invasion would be necessary. The plan included attempting to foment destabilization inside Iran via the color revolution apparatus, violent unrest, proxy terrorism, and “limited airstrikes” conducted by the US, Israel or both.
Interestingly enough, the report states that any action taken against Iran must be done after the idea that Iran has rejected a fair and generous offer by the West has been disseminated throughout the general public. The report reads,
…any military operation against Iran will likely be very unpopular around the world and require the proper international context— both to ensure the logistical support the operation would require and to minimize the blowback from it. The best way to minimize international opprobrium and maximize support (however, grudging or covert) is to strike only when there is a widespread conviction that the Iranians were given but then rejected a superb offer—one so good that only a regime determined to acquire nuclear weapons and acquire them for the wrong reasons would turn it down. Under those circumstances, the United States (or Israel) could portray its operations as taken in sorrow, not anger,
and at least some in the international community would conclude that the Iranians “brought it on themselves” by refusing a very good deal. (source)
Ironically, it is admitted by the authors of the report that the Iranians are not governed by lunatics intent on nuking the world but by entirely rational players. Still, they move forward with a number of options for attacking Iran. It should thus be obvious to anyone reading this report that the US, NATO, and Israel are uninterested in peace with
Iran and are entirely focused on war and Iranian destruction.
The “superb offer” is, of course, the Obama “Iran nuclear deal” that Iran never should have had to agree to in the first place but that Trump erroneously claimed Iran violated and subsequently tore up in favor of a policy of hostility.
The report continues to discuss the citations that could be used for an attack on Iran, clearly stating its intentions to create a plan to goad a non-threatening nation into war. It states,
The truth is that these all would be challenging cases to make. For that reason, it would be far more preferable if the United States could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before
launching them. Clearly, the more outrageous, the more deadly, and the more unprovoked the Iranian action, the better off the United States would be. Of course, it would be very difficult for the United States to goad Iran into such a provocation without the rest of the world recognizing this game, which would then undermine it. (One method that would have some possibility of success would be to ratchet up covert regime change efforts in the hope that Tehran would retaliate overtly, or even semi-overtly, which could then be portrayed as an unprovoked act of Iranian aggression.) (source)
Even now, the United States has moved tens of thousands of troops to the region, with a troop total of around 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers as of September, 2019. Just today, the US deployed 3,000 more troops to the region.
In a brilliant article by Philip Giraldi entitled, “The Soleimani Assassination: The Long-Awaited Beginning of The End of America’s Imperial Ambitions,” Giraldi writes,
The United States is now at war with Iran in a conflict that could easily have been avoided and it will not end well. There will be no declaration of war coming from either side, but the assassination of Iranian Quds Force Commander General Qassem Soleimani and the head of Kata’ib Hezbollah Abu Mehdi Muhandis by virtue of a Reaper drone strike in Baghdad will shift the long-simmering conflict between the two nations into high gear. Iran cannot let the killing of a senior military officer go unanswered
even though it cannot directly confront the United States militarily.But there will be reprisals and Tehran’s suspected use of proxies to stage limited strikes will now be replaced by more damaging actions that can be directly attributed to the Iranian government. As Iran has
significant resources locally, one can expect that the entire Persian Gulf region will be destabilized.And there is also the terrorism card, which will come into play. Iran has an extensive diaspora throughout much of the Middle East and, as it has been threatened by Washington for many years, it has had a long
time to prepare for a war to be fought largely in the shadows. No American diplomat, soldier or even tourists in the region should consider him or herself to be safe, quite the contrary. It will be an “open season” on Americans. The U.S. has already ordered a partial evacuation of the Baghdad Embassy and has advised all American citizens to leave the country immediately.. . . . .
The blood of the Americans, Iranians and Iraqis who will die in the next few weeks is clearly on Donald Trump’s hands as this war was never inevitable and served no U.S. national interest. It will surely turn out
to be a debacle, as well as devastating for all parties involved. And it might well, on top of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, be the long-awaited beginning of the end of America’s imperial ambitions. (source)
Moon of Alabama, in its article “US Will Come To Regret Its Assassination of Qassim Suleimeini,” writes,
Iran will tie its response to the political calender. U.S. President Donald Trump will go into his reelection campaign with U.S. troops under threat everywhere. We can expect incidents like the Beirut barracks bombing to repeat themselves when he is most vulnerable.
Trump will learn that killing the enemy is the easy part of a war. The difficulties come after that happened.
In 2018 Soleimani publicly responded to a tweet in which Trump had threatened Iran:
“Mr. Trump, the gambler! […] You are well aware of our power and capabilities in the region. You know how powerful we are in asymmetrical warfare. Come, we are waiting for you. We are the real men on the scene, as far as you are concerned. You know that a war would mean the loss of all your capabilities. You may start the war, but we will be the ones to determine its end.”Since May 2019 the U.S. deployed at least 14,800 additional soldiers to the Middle East. Over the last three days airborne elements and special forces followed. The U.S.has clearly planned for an escalation.
Soleimani will be replaced by Brigadier General Ismail Ghani, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who has for decades been active in the Quds Force and has fought against ISIS in Syria. He is an officer of equal stature and capability.
Iran’s policies and support for foreign groups will intensify. The U.S. has won nothing with its attack but will feel the consequences for decades to come. From now on its position in the Middle East will be severely constrained. Others will move in to take its place. (source)
What should we expect?
Quickly, on the issue of terrorism, one can only wonder if the threat of terrorist attacks would not be a prime opportunity for intelligence agencies and Deep State operatives to engage in false flag attacks here in the United States or elsewhere in the world to be blamed on Iran, thus justifying even more loss of liberties and foreign intervention.
Perhaps false flag assassinations are a possibility, also to be blamed on Iran. Perhaps there are real terrorist attacks and assassinations. Perhaps there are military confrontations in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere in the region. Or, perhaps, the Iranians will lay low, the US will ride high, and all this will blow over as the election circus draws to an end.
No one fully knows what is going to happen in the near or distant future. But something will happen. Either the Iranians will respond or the Americans will invade. There is a chance that cooler heads will prevail but, after 19 years of full-throttle war, it’s hard to believe that’s even worth hoping for.
About Brandon
Brandon Turbeville writes for TheOrganicPrepper.com and his own website, BrandonTurbeville.com He is the author of ten books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, The Difference It Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President, and Resisting The Empire: The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome. His books can be found in the bookstore at BrandonTurbeville.com and on Amazon.
Turbeville has published over 1500 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, civil liberties and, most notably, geopolitics and the Syrian crisis. His most recent release is a book of poetry, “Dance, Amputee.”
It’s not an assassination.
This is giberish
Well Matt your always well spoken at MSB so PLEASE Define Assassination.
For the rest of the world even the Germans, French and British News calls it an Assassination. I would call it an Assassination by a Drone. It really stinks that our cover story is so floppy and changing it reminded me of the lousy story telling of Obama and killing Osama Bin Laden.
No matter, I’ve worked with several Iranians, I’ve even had one as a soldier of mine (yes US Army). You know when in the Wrath of Kahn that quote “Revenge is a dish best served Cold”? That is a classic Iranian proverb.
I fully expect that in due time they will revenge their General. His Martyrdom maybe the most expensive military action of American history.
I fully expect that this revenge WILL NOT be limited to the Middle East. I will not be surprised if our Oil Refineries suffer a series of “Accidents”. Crippling our ability to produce heating fuel-gas, transport fuel and fertilizer (yes made from oil guys) during a Polar Vortex maybe the worst Weather Event of our countries history with thousands if not millions of freezing deaths as the Electricity Grid could never replace that much fuel oil-propane use. Maybe the Grid would also suffer “accidents”.
Have your wood stove and alternative lighting ready friends. The ride maybe bumpy.
Time will tell, I pray I am wrong and somehow Trump can resolve this with diplomacy.
Still not able to handle opposing viewpoints I see any better than on MSB. Try revisiting this in 2 months and check you and the authors predictions.
Civilians are assassinated. Enemy combatants and terrorist are killed.
Matt by the dictionary Assassinate: Verb, murder (an important person) in a surprise attack for political or religious reasons.
Nothing changes if it’s a civilian or a enemy combatant.
And the end result will be far more trouble than planned.
Well Matt more news from non-MSN sources. The German and French press reports that General Solemani was INVITED to Bagdad to act as an Ambassador between Iran and the USA.
The story again gets more smelly as more information comes out. NO WONDER a Prime Israeli TARGET that has successfully avoided being “Killed” for decades was out in the OPEN near the Airport…..
BTW are you aware that General Solemani was a major player in destroying ISIS in liaison with the Russians? Oh yeah I have PICTURES of Senator Songbird Mc Stain standing WITH his ISIS Buddies. No wonder we had to kill that General, he was destroying OUR Terrorists. If you doubt that look to Canada where the White Helmet Terrorists have been resettled after Russia and Syria chased them out of country.
So who accepts that the USA is always the GOOD GUYS?
Most of America is good decent people but our leadership has betrayed us. And sadly THEY are WELL Protected from the Fallout of their actions while you and I are in the path of danger.
Pray for our Republic as this time our distance from the Middle East MAY NOT SAVE US.
Hmmm.ok.
No.
Mr. Turbeville brings up some potentially valid points, but presents an unmistakable bias toward the Persian mullahs. He is also most assuredly not in possession of the intelligence used by POTUS Trump to make the go decision.
There is also the little nagging fact that Soleimani is responsible for the deaths of over 600 (est.) US service men and women as well as thousands of Iraqi civilians: his killing is completely justified.
As respects Iran in general – it’s a nominal theocracy, much worse than the Spanish Inquisition of the late 1400s. The mullahs use Islam as the bludgeon to keep their population under control, although that control is becoming more tenuous. Personally I think the next target for the drones should be the Iranian Revolutionary Guard facilities, it’s entire “navy”, and then mullahs.
This guy certainly does NOT know the facts and acts like the Fake News by saying ‘Allegedly”. He is NOT the person you need to put up front in your website to be the ‘expert’. Get someone who knows and is familiar with the truth. Please be a purveyor of TRUTH then your site will be credible!
Bullseye and good riddance IMO.
And yes, that also means I don’t exactly side with Brandon’s views.
It’s about time Iran was made to pay for being one of the regions key protagonists and key puppet masters.
I’ve had plenty of mates hit by or who ran the risk of being hit by sophisticated EFP IED’s in Afghan (and Iraq) – IED’s that didn’t assemble themselves in Iran and make it across the border by themselves.
Iran has been ‘a player’ at arms length long enough. And it’s been up to it’s elbows in US Servicemen’s blood for far too long.
Perhaps a Hellfire is an effective way of (relatively) surgically removing one of those puppet masters.
After bankrolling terror, training, arming terrorists (with IEDs in particular), hijacking a British Tanker, organising numerous rocket attacks, manipulating militia / terrorists throughout the region, not to mention wanting to join the North-Korean-Nuclear-Alliance (that’s sarcasm in case you can’t see the similarities of each country’s nuclear position, nuclear aims, population, governance etc) … isn’t it about time someone hit back?
I think the targeted killing (and personally I’m actually quite happy to call it an assassination) of some of the top brass who are decision makers at tactical and strategic levels IS justified in these circumstances – regardless of whether it’s carried out by the US, Israel or a Western/Gulf coalition.
Decades of diplomatic ‘dialogue’ don’t seem to have had a lot of effect on Iran.
Maybe a more direct approach will?
And as someone else commented – we haven’t seen the Intel that backed the decision.
I’m pretty confident the various US 3-letter-acronym’s and maybe Mossad too had ‘actionable intelligence’ on Soleimani … so IMO it’s great to see it actually ACTED UPON!
Dust-Off
(and for the record I’m not from the US or the Middle East … so I’m certainly not a chest-thumping-Trump-Fan!)
I am surprise that this site printed such a one sided, Libertarian bunch of nonsense. I would have suspected it from Zerosense, RT, or Mac Salvo.
This article presents many valid points and leaves some unmade.
Before I make further statements, I should mention that several years ago, it was my firm belief that the U.S. took action in other nations to take out the bad guys (threat to us or democracy) and help those nations’ general populace. Yes, quite naive on my part. I didn’t realize this though until I decided to conduct some in-depth economic research prompted by consequences observed and experienced from the Great Recession aka Great Financial Crisis. When I first set out on my endeavor to understand how this event was brought about that did so much damage to so many people’s lives, I had no idea that my quest would take me through eons of global history, economic theory, philosophy, psychology, financial systems, governance systems, etc. Had I known I would be embarking on a multi-year project, I probably would not have begun at all – just shrugged my shoulders and said ‘c’est la vie’ and kept my focus on my own little life in my own little backyard. But I didn’t and what I have learned is that so much of what we are taught, so much of what we hear, so much of our understanding about how our own country and the world operates, is skewed at best and utterly false at worst.
I will make a statement here that I do not expect nor wish for anyone to take my word as gospel for anything. I do hope that my comments will cause you to ask more questions, do some of your own research, and think for yourself. It is my belief that one of the greatest harms an individual can inflict upon themselves, is to allow someone else to impose their beliefs and perspectives upon you. Sharing is okay; imposing is not.
Having said all that, here is my comment on the cause and likely consequences of this recent U.S. assassination. The true God of the United States’ ruling class is money – pure and simple. If you control the flow of money, you control all life that it touches. Whoever has the most money, makes the rules (hence, the real rulers are those that hold the most money – in most cases, not your politicians). Those with the most money these days are the major shareholders of the mega corporations in the technology, banking, and arms sectors. All of these sectors profit from natural resource (oil, minerals, fertile land, cheap labor, etc.) acquisition and control. At present, a large majority of these money giants hail from the United States, France, and Great Britain. Many of these people would not be familiar to you as they prefer to stay out of the lime light. I’ll provide just a few names as examples (there are hundreds) – James A Bell, Linda B Baummann, Mortimer J Buckley, Patrick de Saint-Aignan. Alistair Darling. People within the circles of power know their names well. These elite few sit on many corporate boards and belong to numerous think tanks aka policy making institutions and some have and will again hold positions within government (appointed, rarely elected positions) – this set-up is commonly referred to as the revolving door and is what maintains this group’s hold on the money machine and therefore grip on the power wheel.
This group of rulers hailing from the Western oriented nations have run up against a force that challenges their global dominance – that force is China (now coupled with Russia). The China/Russia team has acquired enough money and military might to present an obstacle to the Western power group in its perpetual quest to gain and retain natural resources that feed its wealth creating machine that allows it to determine and shape the present and future of other nations on the global map. The China/Russia team have their own ideas about how the world should be shaped (they say they’re not interested in global domination but their extensive investments in South Africa, Africa, Middle East, and some of Europe suggest otherwise).
This Iran situation is a small part of the ongoing battle for global dominance between the Western and Eastern power blocks. Intended or unintended, this assassination of Iran’s top General is the spark that has lit a new ‘hot’ global war. Given the larger picture, it was bound to start somewhere; now we know where. The question remaining is the extent of destruction it will cause.
In the coming months we will see escalating violence in more and more places. Unfortunately, we in the U.S. will likely not have the luxury we have so long enjoyed, of having these military conflicts take place outside our borders. Eventually, if not in the near future, we will be the recipients of violent attack.
When Obama came into office, he promised to take our troops out of Iraq. In 2010, control of the Iraqi government was being fought over by Iranian-backed Shite politicians and Iraqi Sunni politicians. The following article tells how Biden and the Obama administration supported the Iranian-backed people because Obama’s goal was to get that elusive Iran nuclear deal, no matter the cost. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/biden-sided-with-terror-leader-soleimani-in-handing-control-of-iraq-to-iran/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=da87b05303-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_03_08_10_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-da87b05303-45957653
So the Iranian-backed people gained control of the government and Obama pulled out the American troops. But when ISIS came along, who did Obama turn to for help in his weak efforts at fighting them? Iranian troops were brought into Iraq to fight the Sunni ISIS people. So there have been a lot of Iranians and Iranian-backed people making moves in Iraq for a number of years now. And the pallets of cash that Obama gave Iran just helped to finance more of their murderous efforts around the world.
Then along comes Trump, who pulled out of Iran nuclear deal sham and reimposed sanctions on them, which has really hurt Iran economically (even with some European countries ignoring the sanctions). This has helped to restart the protests in Iran against the government, that has killed around 1500 of their protestors so far. Iran hopes to engage the US in a war to get international backing for their cause (hoping to get the sanctions lifted) and to unite their people against a common enemy, thereby tamping down the protests.
Iran tried a number of ploys to get Trump to attack their country. They swore that if they couldn’t sell their oil, then the other Arabian countries weren’t going to get their oil tankers through the strait for transport to the outside world. They took over a British oil tanker. They shot down a US drone that was keeping tabs on their activities. They bombed a Saudi Arabian oil facility. Their compatriots in Yemen bombed another Saudi oil facility on the western side of the country. And still, Trump made no move against their country.
So why is it so hard to believe that their next gambit would be to use their terrorist groups to attack places in Iraq and Syria where Americans have been stationed? And why is bombing these terrorist camps after Americans were killed and wounded a bad thing? This is a strike against the perpetrators on the ground, instead of going after the country who ordered the attack.
Then we have an Iranian in charge of the security for the Green Zone, where it is supposed to be a safe haven; yet, some “protestors” just managed to get through and into the Green Zone so they could attack the Embassy. So we have a follow-up action by the Iranians (not Iraqis) storming the US Embassy to try and embarrass us with another Benghazi-like outcome or to have Trump finally strike Iran. And for Brandon to say that the “protestors” were Iraqis is naive. There is an article with photographs showing top level Iranians on the ground with those so-called protestors. https://www.redstate.com/bonchie/2019/12/31/heres-proof-iran-is-behind-the-attack-on-the-u.s.-embassy-in-iraq
But that Embassy attack didn’t work like the Iranians had planned. They weren’t dealing with the Obama administration this time. Trump took steps to protect the US Embassy and he didn’t drop bombs over Iran. So what could Iran do next to try and goad Trump into attacking them? This was why Soleimeni was coming to Iraq, to personally see to whatever actions they had planned against Americans to try and get Trump to act against the country of Iran. Instead, Trump took out the leaders of the terrorist groups and military factions that have not only killed many Americans in the past, but were planning on killing even more in the future.
Oh yes, poor innocent Iran leaders who want to wipe Israel off of the map and destroy America, “The Great Satan.” Even citizens in Iran protest their own leadership and tens of thousands are turning from Islam to Christ because the Islamic ideology and their regime and not doing anything for them.
For years we have read reports about various Muslim/Taliban/Al Queda/etc. leaders being killed by the US military. For years this has gone on. Now, all of a sudden and without any explanation whatsoever it is being called an ASSASSINATION. Why the change? Words mean things. Is it only because Donald J. Trump is Commander in Chief and the media is going out of it’s way to A. kiss the ass of the Iranian people and B. doing whatever it can to avoid giving him credit?
NOBODY in the American media called Obama an assassin when he ordered the killing of Bin Laden.
To start out, there is a deep state that is over a century old. As K Storme mentioned, it is based on their god, namely money. They presume to act “in my name” which at times makes me ashamed to call myself an American. This is the deep state that needs to be eradicated. Members of the deep state include the Clintons, the Bushes, Obama, Pelosi, Biden, Scull & Crossbones, Warren Buffet, and many other who have not been in the spotlight. I don’t know about Trump. The deep state takes care of its own, which is why those people that I named are not in jail, rather are multi-millionares. When will justice be served for our country?
Brandon Turbeville in his recounting of history doesn’t go far enough back far enough. He is right that we are at war, but it is a war that goes back over a millennium. Namely, to the founding of Islam itself. Islam is a religion that is at war with the world, and at the same time has a civil war within itself. However, Islam is also at war with human nature, which is why it depends on violence to expand, and to keep those under its thumb within the control. It is a religion of dishonesty and thugs.
As for the CIA involvement in Iran, we need to go back to Mohamed Mossadegh. He threatened the deep state, and paid the price. Had he succeeded, would he have been like Atatürk? The CIA’s actions resulted first in the imposition of the widely unpopular Shah’s reign, to be replaced by the equally unpopular theocracy/dictatorship of the Mullahs.
Qassim Soleimani was the leader of the oppression against anyone who opposed the dictatorship of the Mullahs. As such, he has the blood of thousands on his hands, including Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians and others.
As far as war between Iran and the U.S., that has already been declared. When Ruhollah Khomeini instituted the theocracy-dictationship, he had Iran declare war against the U.S. and Israel. As long as Iran was not able to attack the U.S. directly, the deep state has been content to ignore that declaration of war. Because we are already in a state of war against Iran, the assassination of Qassim Soleimani is a legitimate war response.
Now what? Qassim Soleimani worked with Mexican cartels to smuggle in Quds Force operatives. Will they be activated to conduct terror attacks within the U.S.? The deep state is just as much against the Constitution, especially the Second Amendment, as the Iranian Mullahs, will they facilitate such terror attacks as black flag operations? The “Russians” (aka resurrected Soviet Union under Putin) claim that they have “lost” 50 suitcase nukes, will we see some of them set off in U.S. cities?
The next war will be fought on U.S. soil. The oceans are no longer a barrier in the age of intercontinental missiles. The Chinese dictatorship wants to take over Taiwan—they know that they need to neutralize the U.S. That means a Chinese invasion. They have already pre-positioned weapons in the U.S. for their troops. They won’t repeat the Japaneses mistake of World War II. Russia, aka Soviet Union, wants to take over Europe, and they need to neutralize the U.S. They will attack us with nukes. There’s a good chance they’ll take out our land-based response before they’re able to respond. China and the Soviet Union will coordinate their attack.
There is a God in heaven, and he demands justice. He is still the judge of nations. We, as a nation, have murdered over 60 million innocent lives through abortion. You think God won’t take vengeance on this country as punishment for this injustice? Unfortunately, that’s just one injustice being practiced in the U.S.
When will this happen? I don’t know. It could be as early as this August. Maybe next August. The question is not if, but when?
Always enjoy Brandon’s analysis. He gets criticized, but that’s because he takes a clear look at the middle of things while all you get elsewhere is views from the extremes. Seems to me that Brandon hits the nail on the head more often than most. Cui Bono, indeed.
Here it is 2020 and ISLAM still SUCKS and wants to kill infidels. Imagine that.
Brandon, I respectfully disagree (sort of).
The US has not had any kind of a cogent foreign policy, anywhere in the world, since the Marshall Plan in Europe (and similar re-building in Japan) after WW 2.0. The British and French mandates for Palestine limited our middle East options, out of respect for the two allies. If the Palestinians want to throw rocks at somebody, blame the Brits and the French for the mess. The policies towards Iran (in the time of the Shah, and after) were never well thought out or articulated. I’d like to blame it all on President Carter, but he inherited a mess going back to President Truman and before to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. The fact that Mr. Carter was in way over his head didn’t help any.
Trying to “play nice” with the Iranians didn’t have the desired results when President Obama gave it a try. Perhaps by some hardball maneuvers on the part of President Trump will gain some traction.
Recognize that the art of negotiation lies in your adversary knowing you might just walk away from the deal. Ask for more than the other person is willing to give, and then compromise a bit. Car dealers in particular live in dread of me walking into their showroom. I know how to do this. Mr. Trump does it on a much larger scale.
Having spent nearly 50 years in the US Defense and Intelligence community gives me a unique perspective on or incoherent foreign policy and the world in general. IMO, the major problem with US Foreign policy is that we don’t have one. Therein lies the root of the problem.
Be safe, Semper Fi.
America…with democrats at the wheel? 0.o!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=uOV37bTf-JE&feature=emb_title
When’s the last time the news reported one of our soldiers “assassinated”? Go ahead look it up I’ll wait.
They don’t they are “killed”.
Liberal koolaid
Here’s some of that history (from the alternate media — TODAY) that Brandon wrote that there wasn’t time to include — that helps put perspective to the military-industrial-congressional complex that we’ve been warned about — from the Constitutional founders (using the term of “standing army”) to Eisenhower’s MIC warning, not to forget Truman’s confession that creating the CIA was a bad mistake:
ATTACKS ON IRAN, PAST AND PRESENT (since the 1920s), by John Scales Avery, 4 Jan 2020
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/75899/attacks-on-iran-past-and.html
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Jacob G Hornberger: A Limited-Government Republic versus a National-Security State
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/a-limited-government-republic-versus-a-national-security-state/
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The US Government Lies Constantly, And The Burden Of Proof Is On The Accuser, by Caitlin Johnstone, 4 Jan 2020
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-us-government-lies-constantly-and-the-burden-of-proof-is-on-the-accuser-a8f7d4dd87a9
and from the comments, this:
Douglas Valentine interview at https://dissidentvoice.org/2020/01/soleimanis-assassination-an-act-of-psychological-warfare/
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–Lewis
More of today’s (Jan 5th, 2020) news:
Iranian State TV Announces $80 Million Bounty For President Trump’s Head
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/iranian-state-tv-announces-80-million-bounty-president-trumps-head
AND
PREPARE for Iran to activate terror cells across America and attack the power grid, water supplies and vulnerable infrastructure, Jan 05, 2020 by: Mike Adams
https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-01-05-iran-to-activate-terror-cells-across-america-power-grid-vulnerable-infrastructure.html
The $80M bounty is definitely news; the Mike Adams warnings article is speculation, but I’d hate to bet against it coming true.
–Lewis
Tactical error on the part of the US. Israel had no appetite to take Soleimeni out – they fully knew what would happen. Might even take the heat off Netanyahu’s corruption problem. Our incompetent commander-in-chief is no different than Hitler when it comes to listening. Russia, China, and others aren’t happy with the assassination BUT they will figure out how to benefit from it.
And with the recent news re: US defense contractors using shell companies to hide they were making military equipment abroad, we should all be worried. The US is a sitting duck – we can’t manufacture anything – be it TVs or equipment needed for national defense. Best case is we won’t starve while waiting to find out what our new official language will be.
Selena
“We won’t starve while waiting to find out what our new official language will be”.
By that are referring we are all dead or the SLAVES of the invading forces?
If you think for one minute they are planning on feeding you or we have the food supplies this nation once did. Sorry to burst your bubble but this countries food sources have been taken over by shell corporations via Canada. The Chinese gov via fake businesses have been consuming the food supply out of this country under the blessings of swamp people. How do I know, friends in the business our seeing first hand, better learn how to garden and raise your own meat supplies. Fyi–jic
It must be too early in the morning for me because this is coming across as being anti-American and placing all the blame on us. I’m going to have another cup of coffee and read it again. I must surely be missing something.
Great article. It’s ironic that I have to keep correcting my friends to the truth that an assassination took place. I also have to correct them when they say that the Embassy was assaulted when in reality, it was a protest that went a little far. These are seasoned troops. If they wanted to “assault “ the Embassy, they would have brought their weapons and possibly their mortars and artillery. It was a protest .
Was them 56 killed by being trampled one of them false flag events this junk is talking bout? Lol
They sure showed me.
I suppose you’ve never LOL at the Black Friday events in America eh? Maybe it’s funnier with little brown people?
Coming soon to a Large Concert near you after the revenge shows up HERE.
You used to have such an interesting discussion ability Matt. Now it’s just hit and run quips? What happened?? Was it nobody on this MSB list is training furor that burned you?
Nah man just scared old folks looking for the boogie man in everything. There was no training except with a few.
I’m still in contact with one.
Y’all got any of them false flags flying around blaming Iranians yet?
The Project for a New American Century, a neo-con organization founded in 1997, produced a policy document in September 2000 titled “Rebuilding America’s Defences–Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century.” Look it up and give it a read. None of what’s going on in the world is unintentional, it has been planned for decades. How sad for humanity.
Brandon, don’t you fucking DARE put “neo-liberal” on this, you dumb motherfucking son of a whore! This is owned 100% by Trump and his neo-con cronies!
What happened? Did we all die? False flags? Super secret death squad sleeper cells? Were our “imperial” ambitions quota out?
Oh that’s right nothing happened.
Jibberish