Killing of Soleimani follows long push from Pompeo for aggressive action against Iran, but airstrike

[applegrove]

Killing of Soleimani follows long push from Pompeo for aggressive action against Iran, but airstrike brings serious risks

By John Hudson, Josh Dawsey, Shane Harris and Dan Lamothe at the Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/killing-of-soleimani-follows-long-push-from-pompeo-for-aggressive-action-against-iran-but-airstrike-brings-serious-risks/2020/01/05/092a8e00-2f7d-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html?arc404=true

"SNIP.....

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo woke on Tuesday to a 4 a.m. call alerting him to a large protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

As demonstrators began hurling molotov cocktails at the heavily fortified compound, Pompeo grappled with the new security threat to his diplomats in phone calls starting at 4:30 a.m. with Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Matthew Tueller, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, according to U.S. officials.

The secretary also spoke to President Trump multiple times every day last week, culminating in Trump’s decision to approve the killing of Iran’s top military commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, at the urging of Pompeo and Vice President Pence, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Pompeo had lost a similar high-stakes deliberation last summer when Trump declined to retaliate militarily against Iran after it downed a U.S. surveillance drone, an outcome that left Pompeo “morose,” according to one U.S. official. But recent changes to Trump’s national security team and the whims of a president anxious about being viewed as hesitant in the face of Iranian aggression created an opening for Pompeo to press for the kind of action he had long been advocating.

.....SNIP"

[sandensea]

1. From Bombeo...and Bibi

"You really think this could get me re-elected?"

"Donald! When have I ever lied to you? (you witless dolt)"

[dalton99a]

5. +1.The human intelligence was likely provided by Israel

[sandensea]

6. No doubt about it, Dalton. They want this war like Cheeto wants money.

Or Bibi, for that matter.

[UniteFightBack]

2. Also dump didn't like the looks of a 'Benghazi' type of thing on 'his watch'. nt

[C_U_L8R]

3. Murder is murder.

That's a bunch more high crimes to pile on.

[applegrove]

4. Soleimani did roadside bombings of us forces and civilians. So he was a terrorist.

But was it wise to take out Iran's #2? At a time when islam was becoming less extreme across the Middle East? The whole ratcheting up to war was predictable after Trump tore up Obama's agreement with Iran. When Soleimani blew up american soldiers iran was not at war with the us so it was terrorism.