The assassination of General Soleimani will be the beginning of the end of the US presence in the region and the start of asymmetrical warfare

Tehran - Iran

Martyrdom is the reward of the Almighty God for the great men who sincerely fight against evil, oppression, and injustice. General Soleimani was a brave, resolute and courageous commander. The Iranians viewed the admired General Soleimani as a powerful commander of all Iranians who thrived for the dignity and independence of Iran. Sadly, he was martyred by the US for this reason. Tehran has declared three days of mourning until his funeral on Tuesday.

Feb 11th Islamic Iran will commemorate forty-one years since that momentous historic revolution. The country has survived forty-one of sanctions, oppression, economic warfare, and arms embargo, yet has emerged victorious. The Iranian nation will not forget the US crimes in 1953, during the Shah’s time, shooting of Iranian Airplane killing 272 civilians, assassinations of nuclear scientists and now the commander Soleimani. After 41 of aggression that Iranians have done so many sacrifices to preserve the country’s honor and dignity.

US crimes against Iran date back to the CIA-MI6 engineered coup against the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in August 1953 to impose a despotic Shah. The coup ushered in the most horrific period of torture and killings in Iranian history. Shooting down of Iran Air flight 655 killing all 290 passengers on board on July 3, 1988, supporting Saddam’s chemical attack, igniting an eight-year war that killed over a million Iranians and continues assassinations and cyber-attacks are war crimes. This is still alive in the memory of young Iranians and not exactly a record that the US can be proud of.

The US’ act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani—The most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al—is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation. The Actions of Trump Administration with the assassination of General Soleimani will be the beginning of the end of the US presence in the region and the start of asymmetrical warfare.

Was this ordered to deflect President Trump from the impeachment trial?

We don’t know, however authorizing the killings without even the fig leaf of a congressional mandate, Trump has yet again displayed a tendency to act unilaterally. However, this unilateral approach always carries the seal of approval from Zionist Israel and the Bedouin kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Both these regimes have been at the forefront in an all-out proxy war on Iran.

Donald Trump during his campaign criticized President Obama for dragging US forces into futile wars in the Middle East. This attack has drawn criticism from Jewish Voice of Peace, J street, LEPOCO, World Beyond War, Win Without War and many other organizations. Many congressional leaders Bernie Sanders, Nancy Pelosi, Chris Murphy, and Biden have raised concerns regarding Congressional approval—a profoundly reckless move that could have deadly consequences and result in a war with Iran. The last thing the world needs is another disastrous American military adventure in the Middle East.

Nancy Pelosi said “the administration conducted the airstrike without consultation of Congress or authorization for use of military force against Iran. She said it “risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence.”

Biden said that Trump “just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.” Meanwhile, Democrats slammed Trump for failing to inform Congress ahead of the strike. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said: “…….to push ahead with an action of this gravity without involving Congress raises serious legal problems and is an affront to Congress’s powers as a coequal branch of government.”

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who is scheduled to address United Nation on Jan 9th said “the assassination of Soleimani was “an extremely dangerous and foolish escalation …The US bears responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism,” he said.

Our country should never just fall into war. Our Constitution is clear: The power to go to war rests with Congress, not the president. We must insist that the Constitution be honored. Congress needs to reassert its constitutional authority over matters of war and peace and act immediately to prevent a devastating war with Iran. Once again, the Trump administration has brought us to the brink of war with Iran.

The Constitution gives Congress, and only Congress, the power to declare war. That means that every representative and senator have a duty to make sure Trump is restrained from dragging the United States into military conflict without express authorization. And the public has a duty to make sure our representatives know where we stand: opposed to another disastrous war of choice in the Middle East.

The Question of Legality:

United Nations official Agnes Callamard, questioned the operation and called unlawful. She further adds that the U.S. decision to directly target Iranian officials within Iraq without the permission of Congress or the Iraqi government raises a number of difficult legal and policy questions. While international legal scholar, Notre Dame Law School Prof Mary Ellen O’Connell, has this view of the legal implications:

“Pre-emptive self-defense is never a legal justification for assassination. Nothing is. The relevant law is the United Nations Charter, which defines self-defense as a right to respond to an actual and significant armed attack,” she said.

“The use of a drone to kill Iranian Gen Qassim Soleimani in Baghdad was not in response to an armed attack on the United States. Iran has not attacked the sovereign territory of the United States,” she said.

“In this case, the United States has not only committed an extrajudicial killing, it has carried out an unlawful attack within Iraq.”