I read the news every day but had never heard of General Soleimani until Donald Trump had American forces kill him. I still do not understand why Trump had him murdered.
The are so many issues of concern surrounding this event. First, the White House cannot put forth a coherent rationale for why Trump had the US military murder this general. The idea that he was an imminent threat does not hold water as there is no collaborating evidence and the administration says Trump approved the plan to kill Soleimani several months ago.
This action seemed to occur without any specific provocation. Trump has even argued in his tweet stream that the fact that Soleimani was a bad guy is sufficient justification. The implication being, Donald Trump can kill any foreign leader he deems a bad guy. I do believe Soleimani was a bad guy, who did bad things. But, the world is full of bad guys. In the Christian-Judeo United States I was raised in, the fact that someone is a “bad” guy is not justification for murdering them.
Other possible theories include:
-
- this is a page out of the movie Wag the Dog (he watches a lot of TV). Start a war as a distraction from impeachment,
- he has surrounded himself with extreme hawks,
- he is mentally ill,
- he is incapable of backing down.
This is not foreign policy, it is warmongering. In June I wrote about Trump taking us within 10 minutes of war with Iran (https://politicaleye.org/2019/06/22/10-minutes-from-going-the-war/) and 6 month later he is at it again. Donald Trump is risking our safety and well-being for some reason he cannot explain. It is the most disturbing action of his Presidency to date. Also I do not believe the Iranians are done retaliating. I fear Trump is going to get us all killed.