As it turns out, the Iraqi people are not happy with the recent assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the killing of some of his militiamen in Iraq. Tens of thousands marched in the streets of Baghdad chanting “death to America.”
Thousands of furious mourners thronged in the streets of Baghdad today during funeral processions for the slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia commander who died with him during yesterday’s US strike.
They chanted ‘Death to America’ and ‘America is the Great Satan’ as they walked beside the coffins of Soleimani, architect of Iran’s global military strategy, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Kataeb Hezbollah chief, in Baghdad.
The pair had been riding in a two-vehicle convoy which was decimated by three missiles from an American MQ-9 Reaper Drone in the early hours of Friday outside Baghdad International Airport.
The strike – which also killed four more Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards and five members of Iraq’s pro-Iran paramilitary network – infuriated Tehran, who vowed jihad on America.
Meanwhile Iraq, whose prime minister attended the funerals today, threatened to order the expulsion of all US troops from the country after what it called ‘a brazen violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.’
President Donald Trump has said that he ordered the killing of Soleimani to prevent war, adding that the commander was plotting ‘imminent and sinister’ attacks against Americans.
Mike Pompeo’s claim that Iraqis were happy with these cowardly killings looks quite ridiculous considering the number of people who have come out into the streets. All they’ve done is create a martyr. General Soleimani was a great and honorable man who fought for his country. He was a highly respected man inside of Iran and among Shiites throughout the Middle East.
The Iranian nation will honor the memory of the noble Major-General Soleimani & the martyrs with him—particularly the great Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis— & I declare 3 days of mourning across the nation. I condole & congratulate his family. /5
Sayyed Ali Khamenei
Jan 3, 2020— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 3, 2020
Brigadier General Qa’ani has been appointed new Commander of IRGC Quds Force. The strategy of the Quds Force will be identical to that during the time of Martyr General Soleimani pic.twitter.com/a2zjhp90QP
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 3, 2020
Hajj Qasem Soleimani had been exposed to martyrdom repeatedly, but in performing his duty & fighting for the cause of God, he didn’t fear anyone or anything. He was martyred by the most villainous people, the US govt, & their pride in this crime is a distinguishing feature of him pic.twitter.com/0kbrT9NgaH
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 4, 2020
To Martyr Soleimani’s daughter, “Everyone is bereaved & grateful to your father. This gratitude is due to his great sincerity, since hearts are in God’s hands. Without sincerity, ppl’s hearts wouldn’t have been with him like this. May God bestow His blessings on all of us." pic.twitter.com/L347jTalPJ
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) January 4, 2020
We’ll have to see if the Iraqi parliament votes to expel the United States from their country over this.
If they do that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jews and neocons on television calling for a re-invasion of Iraq claiming that Iraq’s vibrant democracy was corrupted by Iranian influence. This would obviously be insane, but insanity has been the norm for a very long time.
I guess it would be ironic if the orange man used this insanity to pull troops out of Iraq. But I have a hard time believing that this was some type of brilliant multidimensional chess move. We also have no idea what the Iranian retaliation will be but we should expect it to be quite severe.
