By Renee Parsons
January 10, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
The
assassination of Major General Qaseem
Soleimani, who was already a national hero
in Iran, has now achieved the stature of a
world class martyr. Carrying a diplomatic
passport on his flight into Baghdad,
Soleimani was also carrying the Iranian
response to a Saudi initiative for peace.
In
contrast, President Donald Trump has
revealed more about his own inner angst than
he ever intended – or perhaps, being a
non-introspective type, what has been
revealed may be more than he himself has
ever acknowledged.
As
events and more of the back story unfold,
Trump’s frequently problematic sense of
reality may be questioned in view of his
astonishing suggestion that he is ‘ready
to make a new
nuclear deal with Iran, even as he
ordered additional sanctions against the
country. Prior to Soleimani’s assassination,
Trump threatened
to kill Iraq Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi.
There is
no denying that the nature of the act is
right out of the Israel playbook of quick
and dirty overkill and extermination of
humanity as seen in Gaza and Jerusalem on a
daily basis.
During a
session of the Iraq legislature immediately
after the assassination, Mahdi reported that
the Americans had “ruined his country”
and were now unwilling to repair Iraq’s
electric grid and other infrastructure
needs. Mahdi did what any self respecting
leader would do; he signed a contract with
Trump’s favorite trading partner to make the
repairs. China already had an international
reputation for providing necessary community
infrastructure in Africa and elsewhere –
wonder if they might visit Detroit and solve
their water quality crisis.
Trump
has vehemently opposed Iraq’s deal with
China unless Mahdi would guarantee that
50% of Iraq’s oil revenue would go to
the US. Mahdi refused and when he refused to
reject the contract, he said that Trump “threatened
to unleash huge demonstrations against me
that would end my premiership”.
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Mahdi continued “Huge demonstrations against
me duly materialized and Trump called
again to threaten that if I did not
comply with his demands, then he would
have Marine snipers on tall buildings
target protesters and security personnel
alike in order to pressure me. I refused
again and handed in my resignation. To
this day the Americans insist on us
rescinding our deal with the Chinese.”
Mahdi says he was also “threatened with
false-flag sniper shootings of both
protesters and security personnel in order
to inflame the situation” like what took
place in Cairo in 2009, Libya in 2011, and
the Maidan in 2014.
“After this, when our Minister of Defense
publicly stated that a third party
was targeting both protestors and security
personnel alike (just as Trump had
threatened he would do), I received a new
call from Trump threatening to kill both me
and the Minister of Defense if we kept on
talking about this “third party”.
Does any
precedent exist, outside of a formally
declared war, where the leader of one
country personally threatens the life of the
leader of another country? This sounds more
serious than just a “bad hair” day but
rather that someone was off their meds. As
Trump frequently demonstrates a bombastic
nature with a non-functioning filter to
refine his every whim and thought, he has
more recently exhibited a deep dark side
that has emerged for many Americans to
witness.
The
nature of the Act itself, the sheer violence
of obliterating another human being beyond
recognition, appeared to not be enough to
satisfy the President’s inner lustful rage.
He continued over the weekend to issue a
score of irrational threats to Iran and
unfounded accusations about Soleimani who is
now acknowledged as architect of the
successful campaign to defeat ISIS in Iraq
and Syria. Despite the false bravado,
Trump’s media blast was less a show of
strength and courage than a horrifying
display of one soul’s malevolent nature.
Forty
two hours after the assassination, Trump
appeared before the VFW’s National
Conference where, in a massive disconnect
from reality, he suggested: “I
withdrew the US from a horrible one sided
nuclear deal and Iran is not the same
country any more; that I can say. We’ll
see what happens but we’re ready to make a
real deal; not a deal that was done by
the previous administration which was a
disaster“ Is it rational to consider
a new nuclear deal with Iran after having
just assassinated that country’s most
revered military leader?
By
Wednesday, in an awkward and somewhat
bumbling
public appearance from the White House,
Trump appeared short of breath and nervous
as he spoke the same belligerent rhetoric
but in a more mellow tone. He again raised
the possibility of a new nuclear deal with
Iran: “We must all work together to
make a deal with Iran that makes the world a
safer and more peaceful place” and “The
US is ready to embrace peace with all who
seek it.” as if the assassination
was a long ago forgotten kerfuffle.
As Trump
continued to pound on Soleimani in death
about destabilizing the Middle East, every
word he uttered about terrorists could be
easily applied to the US, to himself or to
Barack Obama or GW for their never-ending
campaign to preserve The Empire.
With a
penchant for over-exaggeration, Trump claims
that the “US has achieved energy
independence” as if it is a done
deal. “We are now the number one producer
of oil and natural gas anywhere in the
world. We are independent and “we
do not need Middle East oil.” So
let’s take him at his word that the US has
truly achieved long term reliable energy
independence; then let’s immediately
initiate an exit strategy from Afghanistan,
Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and where
ever else US troops are protecting
pipelines.
The
Iranians are long term, big picture thinkers
and they might see the wisdom of going
through the motions of a new deal with the
US but the smart money is on a covert act
that will claim a fitting justice for
Soleimani as it is time for Israel to fight
its own battles.
Renee Parsonshas
been a member of the ACLU’s Florida State
Board of Directorsand
President of the ACLU Treasure Coast
Chapter. She has been an elected public
official
in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist with
Friends of the Earth and staff member in
the US House of Representatives in
Washington, DC. She can be found on Twitter
@reneedove31.
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