American Imperialism Hits Fever Pitch with Assassination of Top Iranian General
AFP / Tauseef Mustafa
Written by: Aidan Jonah & Esé
The assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on the direct orders of US President Donald Trump has drawn worldwide criticism.
The commander of the Quds force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Soleimani, and the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, were killed by US airstrikes outside of Baghdad airport in Iraq on Friday.
According to CNN, Trump said he ordered a precision strike to "terminate" a top Iranian commander who was plotting "imminent and sinister attacks" on Americans, claiming that the decision was one of deterrence rather than aggression.
At least six people were killed in the strike, an Iraqi security source told CNN on condition of anonymity. Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, said the strike targeted vehicles carrying Soleimani and al-Muhandis and that all passengers were killed.
American Reaction
America’s Department of Defense released a statement saying that killing General Soleimani was an act of defense after thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in front of the U.S embassy in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad. U.S blamed Iran for the demonstrators. Iran rejected this accusation. U.S Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb also said to Al Jazeera that “there is no doubt” that the US wanted to target Soleimani “for a while,” before the anti-American demonstrators in front of the U.S embassy.
The protests came about in anger of airstrikes by U.S planes on several bases belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and called for the US parliament to end its mission in Iraq and for it to order its troops back.
U.S Democratic congressional leaders issued statements condemning President Donald Trump’s ordered strikes, saying it was conducted without congressional approval. “The law requires notification so the president can’t plunge the United States into ill-considered wars,” said Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in his statement.
Former Vice President and Democratic Presidential frontrunner, Joe Biden, posted his statement on Twitter. "The Administration's statement says that its goal is to deter future attacks by Iran, but this action will almost certainly have the opposite effect," Biden said.
Canada’s New Democratic Party leader, Jagmeet Singh also tweeted about the urgency of responding to the matter. “The Prime Minister needs to act quickly with other countries to de-escalate the situation and not be drawn into the path that President Trump is taking,” he tweeted.
Citizen fury
Officials, however, are not the only ones condemning the assassination. Protests have erupted in several countries, including Iran, Kashmir, Nigeria, Pakistan, the U.K. and the U.S. Millions are mourning his death and chanting “death to America,” a slogan used to condemn U.S. policies.
Protests in Nigeria against the American strike that killed Soleimani
Iranian Response
Soleimani’s death sparked outrage on the streets of Iran, with thousands protesting the military strikes after Friday prayers.
Three days of national mourning have been declared in Iran, where he was revered as a national hero. Funeral processions will be held for Soleimani in both Iran and Iraq, Iranian state-run IRNA news agency reported.
The leader of Iran, Ayatullah Sayyed Ali Khamenei says those who assassinated General Soleimani must await a “harsh revenge.”
General Soleimani has supervised the decisive stages of Iran-backed operations against Daesh in Iraq, also known as the Islamic State, which lost all its territories it had seized in Iraq and Syria in late 2017. He had also assisted the Baghdad government in retrieving the oil-rich city of Tikrit from Deesh in 2015.
Historical Parallels
When the US invaded Iraq in 2003, they had 112 billion barrels of oil, which was wanted by transnational oil companies who held tremendous influence of the Republican administration of George W. Bush.
The justification for the invasion was developed through false claims of Iraq possessing “Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
On Nov. 10, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced the discovery of a new oil field which contained 53 million barrels of crude.
Iran has the world's fourth-biggest oil reserves and second-largest gas reserves, and shares a massive offshore field in the Persian Gulf with Qatar. Its existing proven reserves is near 150 billion barrels.
Similarly to the “WMD crisis” in 2003, recent events near the American embassy are being used as a pretext to ramp up American presence in the region
American escalation continues
NBC News confirmed that the US is sending approximately 3,000 soldiers to the Middle East. The deployment of additional soldiers from a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, comes in addition to the 650 others already deployed in the region.
The Pentagon says that the troops will stay in the region for only 60 days.