Iranian blunders lead to death of terror general in attack ordered by Trump

Iran's first blunder was attacking US outposts in Iraq.  It compounded that blunder by ordering a takeover of the US embassy in Iraq which was repulsed by US Marines.  At the time Trump threatened Iran with retaliation and that happened last night in an operation that killed among others the leading terrorist general for the Islamic religious bigot regime in Tehran.

There was no one more deserving of an attack.  He had the blood of hundreds of Americans on his hands as well as Israelis and Arab allies in the region.

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Hezbollah’s media is now confirming Soleimani’s death as well. If the name sounds unfamiliar, this New Yorker profile from 2013 covers all the bases. As head of the Quds Force, he was the most influential Shiite terrorist commander in the world, the person responsible for managing Iran’s proxy wars in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. He was the tip of the spear of Shiite fundamentalism, the mastermind for exporting Iran’s revolution through military and paramilitary means, be it conventional warfare, assassinations, terrorist bombings, or what have you. He was also almost certainly the second most powerful figure in Iran behind only Khamenei. I’m tempted to compare his death to the death of Yamamoto in World War II but I think maybe that sells Soleimani short. Not even Yamamoto was as singular a figure in the Japanese military command as Soleimani was in Iran....
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And the details in this AP story make it sound like the U.S. knew exactly what it was doing:

A senior Iraqi politician and a high-level security official confirmed to the Associated Press that Soleimani and al-Muhandis were among those killed in the attack. Two militia leaders loyal to Iran also confirmed the deaths, including an official with the Kataeb Hezbollah, which was involved in the attack on the U.S. Embassy this week.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Muhandis had arrived to the airport in a convoy to receive Soleimani whose plane had arrived from either Lebanon or Syria. The airstrike occurred as soon as he descended from the plane to be greeted by al-Muhandis and his companions, killing them all.

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Speculation is that Iran will be forced to retaliate.  However, the instruments of their retaliation were certainly weakened by the death of this group of Iranian terrorist including the general.   It was pretty arrogant of the Iranians to send this guy and the Hezballah leader into Iraq where the US has the weapons to deal with them.  It was a significant miscalculation on the part of Iran.

Fox News Reports:

At least three rockets were fired at Baghdad International Airport Friday killing at least seven people, including Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, according to multiple reports early Friday.

Soleimani is the military mastermind whom Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had deemed equally as dangerous as Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In October, Baghdadi killed himself during a U.S. raid on a compound in northwest Syria, seven months after the so-called ISIS “caliphate” officially crumbled as the terrorist group was defeated in its final swath of Syrian territory in March.

Soleimani was the long-running leader of the elite intelligence wing called Quds Force – which itself has been a designated terror group since 2007, and is estimated to be 20,000 strong. Considered one of the most powerful men in Iran, he routinely was referred to as its “shadow commander” or “spymaster.”
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"Soleimani is our leader" had been photographed spray-painted on windows by Iran-backed militiamen at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, three Iraqi officials told The Associated Press. Iraqi TV reported the deaths as well.
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The arrogance of Iran led to the demise of the leaders of their proxy forces in the region.  I am sure Iran was surprised at the retaliation against their attempts to run the US out of Iraq.  It is likely to be welcomed by many in Iraq who have recently been protesting about the Iranian presence.

Congressional Republicans say Iran badly miscalculated.  Democrats worried about Iran's response and would apparently allow them to get away with the attacks.  One GOP Senator accused his Democrat colleagues of  "drunk partisanship."