(01-03-2020, 08:16 AM)jj82284 Wrote:

(01-03-2020, 06:57 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: At first glance, it appears that the United States assassinated a foreign leader.  The question is, is it worth it?  Iran will certainly respond very forcefully.  They could choose a cyberattack, or they could support major acts of terrorism in the United States, or any of a lot of other options.   And since we have now assassinated one of their top people, does that bring open season on our top people?  Will one of our top generals in the region be assassinated by a car bomb, or a suicide bomber?  And what happens then?  

I don't have any faith that the Trump administration has thought this through.  We've chosen to go down a road, and we don't know what's at the end of it.  Or if there even is an end to it.

This will no doubt strengthen the hand of the hard liners in Iran, and possibly unite the people of Iran against the United States.  This at a time when Iranians have been in the streets protesting against their government.  This will end those protests.  

At first glance, this looks like a major blunder by the Trump administration.

So let me get this right.  This guy kills american soldiers attacks our embassy and your concern is that the protests against his regime will stop.  No mention of the fact that he was also coordinating the oppression of said protestors?

I don't think  popular opinion on the streets of Iran is relevant. One, we don't have personnel there, and two, the Iranians themselves tend to gun down protesters. Long term, it'd be nice if Iranians rose up and brought the mullahs to heel, but that shouldn't be our focus.

Mike Pompeo says that Iraqis who didn't like Soleimani are celebrating on the streets of Baghdad.  That's good.  But are there enough Iraqis with that opinion for us to keep our embassy and our support bases open in Baghdad?  That's where we should be focused.

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