Hours after Iran’s missile attack on American bases in Iraq, Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami says Tehran’s next responses to the US assassination of a top Iranian general will be proportionate to what Washington will do.

“Our next measure will naturally be proportionate to the ones the Americans will take. Our measures will definitely continue,” the minister told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, adding that the early morning strike has given the US a lesson that will be etched in its mind.

US officials have confirmed that they were given advance notice Tuesday night before Iranian missile strikes against bases hosting US troops, part of what is seen as a concerted effort to avoid casualties.

Iranian FM Javad Zarif said the advance notice was provided to the Iraqi government, citing respect for Iraqi sovereignty. Iraq told the US, giving time to get people out of the way of the attack.

In addition, there are reports that the Iranians were directly communicating with the US through multiple sources, including the Swiss Embassy in Iran, to assure them that the attacks were the extent of their retaliation and that they are done.

Head of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh has stated that the 8 January missile attack on American bases in neighbouring Iraq was only the start of a series of attacks that will take place across the entire region, Tasnim News Agency reported. The general further shared that the country had hundreds of missiles ready for launch, when it carried out strikes and added that Tehran conducted cyberattacks on the same day against American plane and drone navigation systems.

I am a Presbyterian. Trump supposedly is a Presbyterian. Trump is in the hip pocket of Israel and doesn't give a flying fuck about Christians!

“All that Qassem Soleimani did was stand up for Christians against ISIS and Al Qaeda”

A mass was held in the Presbyterian church of Aleppo, Syria to honor the martyrdom of General Soleimani who had an essential role in the liberation battle of East Aleppo against US-backed Jihadists. Reverend Ibrahim Naseir is speaking.

The Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents the U.S., was warned at least one hour before the attack happened. Around 0:00 UTC the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) which prohibited civil U.S. flights over Iraq, Iran, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

This attack was the "open" and "proportional" response for the U.S. assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani which Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had promised. It will certainly not be the only response but represents the opening shot of a long and much more silent campaign to kick the U.S. out of the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who had threatened to destroy 52 targets in Iran including cultural sites if Iran would take any revenge, seems to have understood that this attack was intentionally limited to avoid a larger war:

The Iranian leadership is highly intelligent . We on the other hand are stuck with a moron who does the bidding of Israel.

Tehran could not let the assassination of one of its most senior and popular officials go unpunished.

Still, it seems that the attack on Wednesday was intended as a warning rather than real retribution. Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi of Iraq said that Tehran had warned him that the missiles were coming; reports say he passed that information on to American and Iraqi troops, as the Iranian military probably expected. The Iranians, with their sophisticated intelligence operations in Iraq, were also likely well aware of the layout of the bases that they hit, and knew American troops would be able to take cover from the rockets. All of this suggests that the Iranians wanted to minimize casualties, even as they projected strength.

General Soleimani devised genius military tactics to counter both American and Israeli plans; although Israel doesn’t share a border with Iran, Iran assuredly shares a border with Israel. Deploying the Iranian Revolutionary Guards alongside local pro Iran militias into areas of conflict allowed Soleimani to encircle the Jewish state within a wall of fierce resistance. Iran’s regional allies are superbly trained, ideologically and religiously motivated and they have the benefit of the rich Iranian ballistic arsenal and technology that can deliver lethal punishment to Israel in a conflict.

Similar tactics were put into action by General Soleimani against American military forces in the region. Iran may not share a border with the USA but pro Iranian Iraqi militias have managed to surround and harass American forces in Iraq. Iran also dominates the most strategic passes in the Persian Gulf through its Shia militias in Yemen.

The host of Redacted Tonight has listed six things about the highly controversial killing that the media has either ignored completely or under-reported, including the not-so-convenient fact that Soleimani had come to Baghdad to hold de-escalation talks with Saudi Arabia – before being killed by a US drone.

Iran’s assault on bases housing US troops in Iraq was intended to smash American military infrastructure rather than kill soldiers, an Iranian commander told state television. He promised further strikes in the region.

Before and after pics.

Damage at Al Asad air base in Iraq is seen in satellite pictures taken, Wednesday, January 8.

Iran’s anticipated retaliation for the US assassination of Qassem Suleimani sent a clear signal to Donald Trump that while the current round of violence may be over, Iran stands ready to respond to any future US provocation.

Tehran warned Iraq to spare US soldiers.
First and foremost, Iran communicated its intent to strike US targets in Iraq directly to the Iraqi Prime Minister a full two hours prior to the missiles being launched; Iraq then shared this information with US military commanders, who were able to ensure all US troops were in hardened shelters at the time of the attack.

The missile attack on the US incorporated new, advanced missiles—the Qaim 1 and Fahad-110—possessing advanced guidance and control capable of pinpoint precision.

Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET

Satellite photos taken Wednesday show that an Iranian missile strike has caused extensive damage at the Ain al-Assad air base in Iraq, which hosts U.S. and coalition troops.

The photos, taken by the commercial company Planet and shared with NPR via the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, show hangars and buildings hit hard by a barrage of Iranian missiles that were fired early Wednesday morning local time.

According to a report cited by the Independent, analysts should start from the assumption that the plane, which had 176 people on board, none of whom survived, crashed as the result of a "shootdown." While others insisted that it's still too early to jump to conclusions, the OPS group, an aviation risk monitoring group, said photos from the crash site clearly show projectile holes in the plane's fuselage and wing.

"We would recommend the starting assumption to be that this was a shootdown event, similar to MH17 – until there is clear evidence to the contrary," highlighting photos of the crash site which they said "show obvious projectile holes in the fuselage and a wing section."

Check out the expressions on General Milley's face and some of the other officers. Pence looks happy. The military people don't. Milley looks like he is chewing nails. CIA drone did the deed. The US Military took the hit. Trump a day or 2 earlier in 2 letters to the Iranians delivered by the Swiss envoy, asked the Iranians for a proportional response ie. kill a US high ranking officer and not to hit a base with a bunch of missiles.
I think we have a really pissed off military at the moment. They are probably mad at damn near everybody because they have been made the Patsies for this mess.

Introduction: Trump tells us no one was killed. If someone was, the US would lie about it but after hearing the deafening explosions at al Asad, thundering from 5 miles away, it must have been magic.

One report from Israel claims they received 224 wounded, flown to that country for treatment. That story is not confirmed.

Iran claims 80 Americans were killed. That is possible, even likely considering the size of the attack but also not confirmed. Trump could be telling the truth, there is no reason to not believe him other than than this would be the first time we have caught him not lying.

Federico Pieraccini for Strategic Culture
Days after the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, new and important information is coming to light from a speech given by the Iraqi prime minister. The story behind Soleimani’s assassination seems to go much deeper than what has thus far been reported, involving Saudi Arabia and China as well the US dollar’s role as the global reserve currency.

Above all, the Saudi Royal family wanted to let people know immediately that they had not been informed of the US operation:

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not consulted regarding the US strike. In light of the rapid developments, the Kingdom stresses the importance of exercising restraint to guard against all acts that may lead to escalation, with severe consequences.

The murder of Soleimani and the destruction of the al-Asad Air Base along with the U.S. half of the Erbil International Airport can be attributed to an “American” “contractor’s” death.

The individual, Nawres Hamid, Iraqi born, was killed in an attack, suspected by Kurdish forces, on the K 1 base in Iraq.

The contractor had worked in Iraq as part of rendition, detention and torture squads responsible for thousands of deaths.

Cutting through bad arguments, distractions, and euphemisms to see murder for what it is.

The Trump administration has assassinated Iran’s top military leader, Qassim Suleimani, and with the possibility of a serious escalation in violent conflict, it’s a good time to think about how propaganda works and train ourselves to avoid accidentally swallowing it.

Looks like Pepe's source was right.....so far.

“It is most unlikely Trump will escalate at this point, and this could provide him with the opportunity to leave the Middle East except for the Gulf States. Trump wants to get out,” a U.S. intelligence source says.

If Tehran ever decided to shut down the Strait of Hormuz it would trigger a global depression, writes Pepe Escobar.

Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani had flown into Baghdad on a normal carrier flight, carrying a diplomatic passport. He had been sent by Tehran to deliver, in person, a reply to a message from Riyadh on de-escalation across the Middle East. Those negotiations had been requested by the Trump administration.

So, Baghdad was officially mediating between Tehran and Riyadh, at the behest of Trump. And Soleimani was a messenger.

Now, the fact is that the United States government – on foreign soil, as a guest nation – has assassinated a diplomatic envoy who was on an official mission that had been requested by the United States government itself.

Iran's top judiciary has ordered the United States to pay up $130 billion in damages about a year after the United Nation's top court ruled that President Donald Trump's administration should ease sanctions against Tehran to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian goods.

Qasem Soleimani was assassinated on January 2nd, 2020 in Baghdad by a drone strike ordered by Israel-first Trump. The Iranian Commander of the ‘Quds Force’ was murdered alongside the leader of the Iraqi ‘Popular Mobilization Forces’, Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, aka Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in addition to at least 6 other persons.

It was a coward act by a coward President who’s no better than a gangbanger on a drive-by shooting targeting unarmed individuals, who in this case were on a diplomatic mission.

There's reportedly a big reason casualties were avoided in Iran's Tuesday night strike.

Shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, Iran told Iraq a response to the U.S. assassination of Qassem Soleimani "had begun or would start shortly," Iraq's prime minister's office said Wednesday morning. And as an Arab diplomatic source has since told CNN, Iraq then relayed that information to the U.S. and told it "which bases would be hit."

When the Pentagon offered President Trump a series of potential responses to missile strikes on a U.S. base in Kirkuk, Iraq, by an Iranian-backed militia, they "tacked on the choice" of killing Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Quds Force commander and the second most powerful figure in Iran, "mainly to make other options seem reasonable,"

Iranian state television said that at least 80 “American terrorists” were killed in Iranian strikes on the US-operated Ayn al-Assad airbase and the US military facility near the city of Erbil. It added that US aircraft and military equipment were “severely damaged”.

The US military and political leadership appeared to be in a deep crisis over the ongoing escalation with Iran.

Since the very moment of the Iranian strike, the US has not really reacted to the development. The US appeared to be unprepared for such a move by the Iranian leadership.

Some sources claim that the US did not react because the Iranian missile strike was just a symbolic move: no US troops were allegedly killed and there are indications that US forces may have known in advance of the attack.

However, even if this is true, the entire situation (when some nation delivers missile strike on US forces and there is no response) is unprecedented. This demonstrates both the crisis within the US military political leadership and the weakening US position in the Middle East.

The attacks were launched at 1:20 a.m. local time, the exact moment the US military launched drone strikes on Friday that led to the martyrdom of General Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Quds Force, and the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror group, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, among others, in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

"Early estimates indicate heavy US casualties in Iran's missile attack," an informed IRGC Intelligence Department told FNA Wednesday morning.

"According to the reports sent by our sources in the region to this moment, at least 80 US arm personnel have been killed and around 200 others wounded," he said, adding that the wounded have been evacuated from Ein Al-Assad on choppers.

He further underlined the strategic importance of Ein Al-Assad airbase to the US, and mentioned that the military center provided backup for US army drones.

Ein Al-Assad is an airbase with a 4km runway at 188m altitude from sea levels, which is the main and the largest US airbase in Iraq. Early reports said the radar systems and missile defense shields in Ein Al-Assad have failed to operate and intercept the Iranian missiles. Unofficial reports said the US army's central radar systems at Ein Al-Assad had been jammed by electronic warfare.

“A slap was delivered last night, but what is important is that the seditious presence of America in the region is ended,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Wednesday.

Most Iranian Jews live in the capital. In Tehran, there are 13 active synagogues that hold weekly services, five Jewish schools, two Jewish kindergartens, and a 100-bed capacity Jewish hospital. Although there are active Jewish communities all around the country, Tehran’s community is the most significant.

By Aaron Kesel

Iran has unleashed a barrage of missile fire on military bases Al-Asad and Erbil in Iraq, leading many to speculate there is a greater response to come; and if the events in the past few days wasn’t a sign of war, this certainly is. Amid the attack, there was also a report of a civilian airliner crashing in Tehran that was heading to Kiev, showing what’s to come as innocents die as a casualty of war. And a nuclear plant in Iran was hit with an earthquake, raising suspicions about the timing...

Soleimani was assassinated because of his success in combatting US-supported ISIS and other terrorists, undermining its regional imperial aims.“

(E)very indication is that he was in Iraq to work with that government seeking to regain control of the oil fields that President Trump has bragged so loudly about grabbing.”

Trump overstepped by assassinating Soleimani and Iraqi deputy PMU head Muhandis, connected to the country’s military.

His action backfired, uniting tens of millions of Iranians, Iraqis, others in the region and elsewhere against the menace that the US poses.

In one of the series of blatant lies the USA has told to justify the assassination of Soleimani, Mike Pompeo said that Soleimani was killed because he was planning “Imminent attacks” on US citizens. It is a careful choice of word. Pompeo is specifically referring to the Bethlehem Doctrine of Pre-Emptive Self Defence.

Developed by Daniel Bethlehem when Legal Adviser to first Netanyahu’s government and then Blair’s, the Bethlehem Doctrine is that states have a right of “pre-emptive self-defence” against “imminent” attack. That is something most people, and most international law experts and judges, would accept. Including me.

An unconfirmed video has emerged online purporting to show a Ukrainian Boeing 737 crashing soon after takeoff while en route back to Kiev from the Iranian capital.

Posted online late on Tuesday night, the brief video clip shows what is said to be a Ukraine International Airlines flight as it hit the ground, giving off a bright flash. There were reportedly some 167 passengers and crew on board; their fate remains unknown.

*hyperlinks/videos live at source*

Alternative media has documented for decades the Orwellian-lies from .01% US “leaders” for war on Iran in order to maximize profit from petrodollars and resources (natural and human). Because of the massive and ongoing lies for illegal Wars of Aggression, it's obvious that whatever is said by US Presidents, legislators, and corporate media is unreliable testimony.

That is, we don't know anything about what happened other than whatever we're told from "official sources" are lies of omission and commission to cover-up ongoing illegal Wars of Aggression.

The US base is getting plastered(video)

Video footage has emerged purporting to show the first moments of an alleged Iranian retaliatory strike on an American base in Iraq, which comes days after a US assassination of a top Iranian general.

“‘Hard revenge’ begins / Army's heavy missile attacks on US base in [Ayn al-Asad],” wrote the semi-official Fars News Agency amid reports of a heavy missile attack on an American airbase in Iraq.

While Iran has not yet tested or deployed a missile capable of striking the United States, it continues to hone longer-range missile technologies under the auspices of its space-launch program. In addition to increasing the quantity of its missile arsenal, Iran is investing in qualitative improvements to its missiles’ accuracy and lethality.

7:00 PM Eastern Time, 13 ballistic missiles have hit al Asad as Patriot batteries installed in May fail.

30 Iranian guided missiles have so far hit al Asad Air Base in Iraq, home of the United States Air Force and largest base in Iraq. The US deployed multiple batteries of Patriot Missiles to the base in May in case of such at attack.

The IRGC also warned all US allies in the region that they will be targeted if any aggressive action is undertaken from their territory, putting Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel on notice.

Amid confusion over a reported US letter to Iraq announcing the steps its military would take to move out of Iraq, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi confirms that Baghdad has actually received "signed and translated" copies from the US Army concerning the withdrawal.

Iranian academic, Mohammad Marandi claims that, in killing Qasem Soleimani, Donald Trump has turned the Iranian and the Iraqi people against the U.S.

7:40 PM ET: US F-35 planes took off from a base in UAE. Iran reportedly warns the UAE will be attacked if American aircraft from there strike Iran.

csd
? @csd
2h2 hours ago
Replying to @JenGriffinFNC

All blood is on Trump and Pompeo's hands.
225 replies 111 retweets 922 likes

"We warn all allied countries of the US that if attacks are launched from bases in their countries on Iran, they will be a target of military retaliation," the IRGC said in a statement obtained by the New York Times' Farnaz Fassihi.

The IRGC warned both the US and regional allies against retaliation following the January 8 strikes in Iraq.

“Multiple sites” have come under attack by Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles, Fox News reported citing anonymous Pentagon officials. There has been no official confirmation from the US Department of Defense.

Iran state TV said on Tuesday night that Tehran launched “tens” of surface-to-surface missiles at the Ain Assad air base which houses US troops in Iraq.

Pentagon confirms that more than a dozen ballistic missiles fired at US bases in Iraq. Trump briefed on situation.

Ayn al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq, which houses a large US air base, has been struck with several rockets following a strike carried out by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) as "revenge" for the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani, reported Press TV.

The IRGC confirmed early Wednesday morning to Press TV that Ayn al-Asad Air Base was hit after tens of missiles were fired toward the facility, which contains US forces.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson boldly spoke out against war with Iran on his show Monday night and pointed out how the same people who lied about Iraq having WMDs as a pretext for war are pushing more lies to get us into war with Iran.

Truly our greatest ally!

"Netanyahu told security cabinet that Israel wasn't involved in the killing of Soleimani and stressed 'it is a U.S. event and we should stay out of it', according to 2 cabinet ministers who attended the meeting," Barak Ravid of Israel's Channel 13 reported Monday.

Trump’s successful presidential campaign included a pledge to disengage from useless Asian wars, a promise that might well have been his margin of victory.

Having executed a deliberate, planned assassination of a foreign leader, the United States has committed an act of war and is now de facto at war with Iran in a conflict that could easily have been avoided and which will not end well for any of the participants.

The blood of the Americans, Iranians and Iraqis who will die in the next few weeks is clearly on Donald Trump’s hands as this war was never inevitable and serves no U.S. national interest. It will surely turn out to be a debacle, as well as devastating for all parties involved. And it might well, on top of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, be the long-awaited beginning of the end of America’s imperial ambitions. Trump has had three years to learn the lesson gleaned from Iraq and Afghanistan. He obviously used that time to learn nothing.

Jan. 07, 2020 - 2:04 - Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst reports from Baghdad after Defense Secretary Mark Esper's remarks on the U.S. presence in Iraq after the death of Gen. Soleimani.

Iran has already complained that the US breached international laws with the targeted killing of General Soleimani. The US Secretary of State said any US military strikes inside Iran would be legal.

The Trump administration is barring Iran’s top diplomat from entering the United States this week to address the United Nations Security Council about the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top military official in Baghdad, violating the terms of a 1947 headquarters agreement requiring Washington to permit foreign officials into the country to conduct U.N. business, according to three diplomatic sources.

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: Doubling Down Into Another “March of Folly”?

The drone assassination in Iraq of Iranian Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani evokes memory of the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in June 1914, which led to World War I. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quick to warn of “severe revenge.” That Iran will retaliate at a time and place of its choosing is a near certainty. And escalation into World War III is no longer just a remote possibility, particularly given the multitude of vulnerable targets offered by our large military footprint in the region and in nearby waters.

America's second largest oil company has evacuated all of its American oil workers from Iraq following last week's U.S. airstrike in Baghdad.

New Delhi, Jan 04 (ANI): Speaking on US strike on Iran where Iran’s top commander General Qasem Soleimani was killed, Ambassador of Syria to India, Daniel Chuburu said, “This process will make danger escalation in the region. It proves that how America is keen to protect terrorism in the ground because America killed the leader who was against the terror groups. The leader Qasem Soleimani was the leader of military group and defeated ISIS in the ground of Iraq and Syria. ISIS is created by CIA, which is Central Intelligence Agency of America. Because America is keen to protect ISIS so, they killed Mr. Qasem Soleimani.”

James Dorsey warns that adopting the principle of might is right and abandoning international law “risks creating a global jungle in which wars, political violence, marginalisation of ethnic and religious groups, and destabilising mass migration contribute to rule of the jungle rather than rule of law”.>>

Iran’s parliament on Tuesday passed a bill labelling the entire US military a terrorist organisation in response to last week’s assassination of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani by the United States.

The Iranian parliament’s presiding board earlier called the drone hit on Soleimani an act of ‘state-sponsored terrorism’.

The motion, which was approved unanimously by the Majlis, also allocated over $220 million to the Quds force, an elite unit responsible for clandestine military and intelligence operations abroad

Gen. Soleimani had been the Quds Force long-time commander; he was widely credited with helping Iraq defeat Daesh* and was considered to be one of Iran’s most prominent political figures, so his killing was interpreted by many in Iran as the de-facto declaration of war.

Iraq's caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, told his parliament in Baghdad on Sunday that US strike on Soleimani was a 'political assassination'
Abdul Mahdi claimed that Soleimani was due to meet with him on the same day that he was killed by a US drone near the Baghdad airport early on Friday
The outgoing Iraqi leader says that Soleimani was supposed to bring him Iran's response to a Saudi proposal for de-escalating regional tensions
Saudi Arabia, a regional rival, blames Iran for an attack on the kingdom's oil facilities in September
Abdul Mahdi also claims that President Trump called him and asked him to mediate talks with Iran after the US embassy in Baghdad was nearly overrun
Supporters of the Shiite group Kataib Hezbollah scaled the walls and barreled through security at the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday
Abdul Mahdi said he personally intervened to defuse the embassy crisis and that the American president thanked him for doing so

According to the Iraqi Prime Minister Iran and the Saudi Kingdom were in Peace Negotiations that were being hosted by Iraq

Over the weekend, an adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reportedly hinted at striking Donald Trump’s properties in response to the targeted airstrikes that took out the high ranking military commander Qassem Soleimani.

Hesameddin Ashena, one of the top advisers to the Iranian President, made a post on Twitter linking to a Forbes article which listed all the properties in the Trump real estate empire, including his hotels in New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and his resorts and golf courses that are spread out across the US and Britain.

The beginning of the end for US Forces in the Middle East. I hope they get them out before a bunch of US service men and women get killed. But that is probably wishful thinking on my part. Neither Trump or Pompus ass or Esper give a fuck about the lives of anyone under them. In 2 letters the Swiss envoy delivered to Iran,Trump asked Iran to not massively retaliate against US Forces. He asked for a proportional response,ie,kill one of our generals and we can call it even. I don't think the military is too happy with this pack of neocons.

The the US-led military coalition purportedly fighting the Daesh terrorist group has reportedly relocated its headquarters in Iraq to Kuwait in the wake of recent assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and the second-in-command of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and public rage over the targeted killings.

Millions of Iranians have packed the streets of Tehran to pay homage to the Middle East's most prominent anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani who was assassinated on US President Donald Trump's order Friday.

A huge sea of mourners, streaming from all the adjoining streets in freezing temperatures, descended on the iconic Engelab Square in central Tehran Monday morning before rallying to Azadi Tower in the capital's west.

Chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel," they carried portraits of their national hero whose assassination in a US airstrike at Baghdad airport has generated an outpouring of anger and patriotism across Iran and elsewhere, with vociferous calls for revenge.

Tehran (Basirat) :Iranian MPs on Tuesday voted for a triple-urgency motion, dubbed the Harsh Revenge Motion, which designates Pentagon and those involved in the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani as terrorists and adds them to the list of Iran’s sanctions.

Articles of impeachment by House Dems against Trump with no legitimate standing seek political advantage in November’s presidential and congressional elections.

That’s what this is all about, ignoring serious Trump wrongdoing, just cause for impeachment and removal from office. More on this below.

Under the Constitution’s Article II, Section 4, impeachment and conviction require proving “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

”No legitimacy exists to impeach Trump for abuse of power on grounds of seeking interference from Ukraine to aid his 2020 presidential reelection and obstruction of Congress for defying House subpoenas.

Clear just cause exists to impeach and remove him from office for crimes of war, against humanity, and betraying the public trust by serving monied interests exclusively at the expense of ordinary people he greatly harmed at home and abroad.

But now he’s just a madman with nukes, being pulled by betrayal, frustration, anger and fear towards making even more dangerous decisions than the ones he’s already made.

Because, when you realize that Soleimani was in Baghdad to deliver Iran’s opening terms for a negotiated peace with Saudi Arabia, this attack was a blunder.

When you further realize that Soleimani was there at Trump’s behest with Iraqi Prime Minister Mahdi as broker, this attack looks like patently insane.

America’s hegemonic military agenda in the Middle East has reached a dangerous threshold.

The assassination of IRGC General Soleimani ordered by the President of the United States on January 3, 2020 is tantamount to an Act of War against Iran.

What the media has failed to acknowledge is General Soleimani’s central role in countering ISIS-Daesh and Al Qaeda terrorists in both Iraq and Syria.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC) under the helm of General Soleimani consisted in waging a real counter-terrorism campaign against ISIS-Daesh mercenaries, who from the outset were funded, trained and recruited by the US and its allies.

Trump’s action plan to “stop a war” consists in “protecting” America’s ISIS and Al Qaeda affiliated foot-soldiers.

Complete confusion reigned at the Pentagon after the publication of a letter about withdrawal from Iraq, with the top general describing it as a “mistake” and the Defense Secretary arguing there were no plans for the US pullout.

In the address, Abdul-Mahdi revealed that that Soleimani had traveled to Baghdad to deliver a message back from Iran to Saudi Arabia about a proposal to lower tensions in the region, that Soleimani was to meet with the Prime Minister the very morning he was assassinated, and — most crucially — that days prior Trump had asked the Iraqi Prime Minister to “play the mediator’s role” between the U.S. and Iran.

Oddly, this information is not yet a major headline in any mainstream publication and those that have mentioned it in passing do not explain its full implications.

Donald Trump’s threat to destroy the sites of ancient Persia should send a shiver down the spine of any civilised person. How can anything justify American bombing of Persepolis or the mosques of Isfahan? Only the demented can see them as “threatening America”. It is on the same ethical plane as the Islamic State vandalism of Palmyra and Mosul.

The destruction of cultural artefacts in war is specifically outlawed under the Hague convention of 1954 and subsequent protocols. It ranks with genocide, chemical weapons and the “strategic” bombing of civilians as beyond the pale of human behaviour. The US does not recognise most of these treaties as it concedes extraterritorial sovereignty, but it normally obeys them.

After Washington’s illegal assassination of Iran’s decorated and beloved general, Qasem Soleimani, media outlets and pundits on both sides of the aisle wasted no time spewing falsehoods. These outlets and journalists rely on the ignorance of readers to peddle their lies and rewrite the narrative.

Indeed, most Americans had never heard the name “Qasem Soleimani” prior to January 2, 2020, but were suddenly instructed to hate him.

Following a vote by the Iraqi parliament to remove foreign troops from the nation, the US president threatened to destroy Iraq’s economy in retaliation and to refuse to leave unless an expensive military base worth billions of dollars was paid for.

“If they do ask us to leave, if we don’t do it in a very friendly basis,” Trump told the press on Sunday. “We will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It’ll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame. If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq.”

We are governed now by a Twit who Tweets!

US President Donald Trump has told Congress to follow his Twitter posts for any action against Iran if it retaliates against the death of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in an American drone strike last week.

Trump who ordered the killing of Soleimani without giving prior information to Congressional leaders, said in the dramatic tweet on Sunday that he was not legally required to notify Congress.

The Trump administration claimed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was planning “imminent attacks” on US interests when it assassinated him. That lie was just destroyed, but not before countless corporate media outlets transmitted it to the public.
By Max Blumenthal

The West and its allies support al Qaeda and ISIS globally. They are the proxies, the “boots on the ground” that destroy sovereign, independent countries for their Western permanent-state masters. They are the essence of barbarism and evil, shrouded in torn veils of “plausible deniability” that deceive only those who willfully choose to be deceived.

By Chris Menahan

President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his threat to destroy sites “important to Iran and Iranian culture” if Iran retaliates over the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani.

Trump, who in the past has said he wants to leave the Middle East entirely but is only staying there for Israel, said Sunday that the US will not leave Iraq unless they “pay us back” for an expensive air base we built up to permanently occupy the region.