(01-03-2020, 09:20 AM)homebiscuit Wrote:

(01-03-2020, 08:50 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: There's nothing in my post that is hard to understand.  

Yes, this was a bad guy.  But...

Assassinating a foreign leader means open season on foreign leaders, including American leaders.  This is a major escalation, and Iran cannot and will not back down.  Killing this guy makes him a martyr, and I don't think Iranians will be celebrating it any more than I would celebrate the killing of an American leader, no matter how much I detested said American leader.  The natural reaction is going to be uniting the people of Iran against the United States.  Even moderates in Iran, of which there are apparently many, will say it is not up to the United States to pick Iran's leaders.  

Would you tolerate the assassination of an American general by a foreign government?  

This is the kind of action that will reverberate for the next 30 years among middle easterners.  It's not something we can take back.  It's done.  The toothpaste is out of the tube.  

Trump came into office decrying the endless wars in the Middle East.  What he did yesterday could very possibly get us involved in a bigger, wider Middle Eastern war than we have ever been involved in.   

The only way this is not a blunder is if Iran backs down, and that won't happen.  

Again, this is my opinion at the moment, as always subject to change.

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That's how you see it, but the more relevant questions are, how do the Iranians see it, what are they going to do about it, and is that what we want them to do?  And what happens then?  

Have we really thought this through?

I have no doubt the Iranians will respond. But hold on a minute, I’m trying to remember the last time an American general machine gunned 1500 protesters in our streets. And if one did, I’m trying to think about how upset I would be if he were killed by a foreign power that I know would be sympathetic to my cause.

What you fail to realize is that most Persians are not uneducated and indoctrinated Muslim fanatics. Many are secular and have been trying to shrug off the iron-fisted rule of their theocratic government for years. I would be willing to bet that most of them are happy to hear this news. At least the families of the 1500 murdered in their own streets are.

This man was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and the maiming of thousands more. He was in Baghdad to orchestrate more of this violence against Americans in the region. Should we have not taken action?