General Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, was a vicious terrorist, heartless mass murderer, and military leader with no respect for human life. He was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in the Iraq War, re-armed the radical Islamic terrorists Hezbollah near Israel, aided the terrorist Houthis, contributed to the building of Islamic Jihad along the Gaza Strip, supported the Assad regime fighting for control of Syria, and was responsible for terror attacks against the U.S. in Iraq and worldwide. The idea that killing Soleimani was morally wrong is simply untrue. Looking back, was it a viable strategic and diplomatic move to kill Soleimani, and what should the U.S. do moving forward?
There are many arguments against killing Soleimani, one being that this attack was an assassination, which is in violation of American law under Executive Order 2.11: Prohibition on Assassination. The Left pointed to this executive order created by former president Ronald Reagan, which banned assassinations of foreign officials by the U.S. The key difference in the killing of Soleimani was that he and the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were categorized as terrorists earlier in the year, making Soleimani not an official in a legal government but a criminal. Additionally, because he was outside of Iran at the time of his death, this was merely the elimination of a terrorist in an ally’s territory.
Democrats further cited that President Donald J. Trump P’00 delegated the use of military force without Congressional approval. This is not true, however, as the attack happened in Iraq, where there was already an American military presence, granting Trump, as Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military, the authority to act based on past authorization.
The other narrative brought forth by opponents of Soleima-
ni’s death is that Trump’s strike exacerbated the pre-existing tensions between the U.S. and Iran. This statement completely disregards Iran’s actions in the past and pushes blame onto Trump instead. In the past two years alone, Iran has attacked internationally flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz, fired rockets upon Americans in Iraq, downed American drones flying over Iraq, and most recently, attacked and burned down the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Iran abused its situation, and after years of taking the hits, the United States finally defended its citizens, its allies, and its sovereignty.
The goal of the attack was to re-establish deterrence, something lost under the Obama administration with the signing of the Iranian Nuclear Deal. Now, Iran will threaten and try to intimidate the U.S. — in fact, it has already attempted to do so but it ultimately wouldn’t dare risk war with us. And if they do, we will fight back with minimal U.S. casualties. Although the killing of Soleimani can be seen as a risky and alarming move, it gives the United States the best strategic outcome to end terror in Iran and finally establish a democratic Middle East.
Two weeks ago, the death of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani took the media by storm with what one American expatriate in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia described as “the most major development in the Middle East of the last ten years.” The events following the attack demonstrated that the top Iranian general’s assassination was a brash, unmediated, and dangerous move.
For one, President Donald J. Trump P’00 carried out the attack without Congressional approval, leaving many in Congress feeling frustrated and overlooked. Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, tweeted, “Did America just assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most powerful person in Iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war?” President Trump’s spontaneous decision to kill Soleimani left his fellow lawmakers more mistrusting of him than ever. In a time of American bipartisanship and political polarization, the last thing President Trump should have done was make such a risky decision without first consulting members of Congress.
Furthermore, it is clear that the repercussions of Soleimani’s assassination have had disastrous effects on many people’s lives, both in the United States and Iran. Memes and TikTok videos of getting drafted into the U.S. military, which went viral in the days following Soleimani’s death, hinted at a much scarier reality: thousands of American soldiers have already been sent to the Middle East. Following Soleimani’s death, Iranians across the country rallied for revenge and unified behind the front of defeating the U.S. The Iranian government went so far as to launch missiles at two American bases in Iraq.
The assassination of Qasem Soleimani was a poor decision by the White House because its repurcussions have not only hurt Iranian citizens, but also those aboard a Boeing 737. The Iranian government launched two surface-to-air missiles at a Boeing 737, thinking they were hitting an American plane. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 176 people on board. Trump may have intended to kill a single man, but he inadvertently endangered or killed thousands of others. The danger within Iran has exponentially increased, and the country now fears that even a passenger aircraft may be a threat to its sovereignty.
When U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, the White House was relatively solemn and subdued about the killing. On the other hand, President Trump tweeted an American flag minutes before the Pentagon confirmed they had killed Soleimani. He cheered at his first rally of 2020 in Toledo, Ohio, saying that Soleimani “was a bloodthirsty terror and now he’s no longer a terror, he’s dead.” His death could be argued as a necessity, but the fact that it was celebrated is perhaps just as “bloodthirsty.” How barbaric is it to celebrate murdering someone, especially when the victim was shot unaware? And what positive effect did it produce, except to further infuriate Iranians and incite their anger? Trump’s killing of Soleimani only jeopardizes principles of justice and decency fundamental to the U.S.
In killing Soleimani, the White House aggravated its already fragile relationship with Iran. Now, if tension isn’t resolved, we will all suffer its consequences.
