Oz Katerji
No man has more civilian blood on his hands in the Middle East than Qassem Soleimani.— Oz Katerji (@OzKaterji) January 3, 2020
His assassination is an era-defining moment for the region, and will have massive and unforeseen repercussions.
Tonight the only people I keep in my thoughts are the families of his victims.
Melanie Phillips (extracts)
"Soleimani has been described by some outlets as a terrorist leader. This is vastly to underestimate his importance. The al Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is part of Iran’s hugely powerful proxy army, and Soleimani was the regime’s key military strategist and military commander.
He launched countless military operations against US, Israel and others. He was responsible for hundreds of American deaths in Iraq. He was the invaluable architect of Iran’s territorial drive for regional incursion and hegemony.President Trump, who ordered the strike against Soleimani, has already weakened the regime through reimposing sanctions. That in itself has helped inspire the immensely brave Iranian protesters who, despite suffering in their thousands murder, jailing and torture, have continued with their demonstrations aimed at bringing down the regime that has so oppressed them and ruined their country.Even a mortally wounded serpent, however, can still cause death and destruction through the thrashing of its tail. America and Israel are now braced for Iran to retaliate. Since the middle of last year it has been escalating its aggression in the region, firing rockets at US bases, attacking oil tankers in regional waters and crippling Saudi Arabia’s most critical oil installation through a multiple missile strikePresident Jimmy Carter was paralysed by the 444-day Iran hostage crisis. President Clinton vacillated between sanctions against Iran and appeasement.
Most infamously, President Obama did a deal with the regime which would have allowed it to develop nuclear weapons after at best a ten-year delay, and which opened the way for millions of dollars to be funnelled into Iran to finance its continuing terrorist attacks, regional aggression and genocidal agenda against Israel.
Faced with attacks on American assets, Carter ran away, Clinton prevaricated, Obama actually helped fund them – but Trump ruthlessly and decisively killed the attacker. America is now back as a force to be reckoned with.
Qassem Soleimani was an arch-terrorist with American blood on his hands. His demise should be applauded by all who seek peace and justice. Proud of President Trump for doing the strong and right thing. @realDonaldTrump 🇺🇸
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This is an extremely serious situation. There’s a clear danger of further violence and escalation in the Middle East. We need to engage, not isolate Iran. All sides need to de-escalate tensions and prevent further conflict.
This is a very dangerous moment. 17 years after the catastrophic decision to go to war in Iraq violence still rages every day. World leaders must stand up to Trump. The last thing we need is another all-out war.
The US assassination of Qasem Soleimani is an extremely serious and dangerous escalation of conflict with global significance. The UK government should urge restraint on the part of both Iran and the US, and stand up to the belligerent actions and rhetoric coming from the US.— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 3, 202
Update: I swear I hadn't looked at Lucy Lips's post on Harry's Place when I chose these tweets and quotes. I haven't been plagiarising, honest.
Nick Robinson was quick out of the blocks to re-establish his toenails in the Corbyn camp.
ReplyDeleteThose three deserve each other, and will, one day, be reunited.
Jeremy seems to be anti-USA and one sided in his criticism. Why isn't he saying we need to stand up to the belligerent actions and rhetoric coming from Iran?
ReplyDeleteSo are the BBC.
DeleteTwo unsupportive voxpops for every positive one on the Soleimani reports I have seen and listened to.
They just can’t help themselves on big stories like this. They are much closer to the Corbyn position and can’t bring themselves to offer any support for Trump. And don’t we know it.
The BBC seem to be playing down Soleimani's involvement in the anti-semitic terrorist attack on Jews in Argentina that cost 85 innocent people their lives.
ReplyDeleteCompare and contrast with anyone alleged to have uttered a single inadvisable word, however mild, against the practices of followers of Islam - the BBC will repeatedly make the link between the person and the alleged hate speech...now, tomorrow, next week, next year and next decade - it will not be forgotten.