On January 3, 2020 Qasem Soleimani Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and, commander of its Quds Force, was killed by a drone strike by the U.S. Following the attack the Department of Defense released a statement blaming the general for a prior rocket attack, stating that his forces were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans.
Secretary of the state Mike Pompeo told reporters, “I can’t talk too much about the nature of the threats, but the American people should know that President Trump’s decision to remove Qassem Soleimani from the battlefield saved American lives….there was, in fact, an imminent attack taking place….”
This is where it gets interesting because, International law, as it pretends to self-defense, stipulates that striking an enemy first to prevent an attack is only lawful when that attack is thought to be imminent, in other words happening or about to happen; there are also other requirements, such as that the anticipated attack leaves “no choice of means and no moment of deliberation.”
A week before the attack the Trump administration briefed Congress. Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah said it was “probably the worst briefing, at least on a military issue, I’ve seen in the nine years I’ve been here.” Other members suggested that they were unconvinced an attack was imminent.
During an interview President Trump stated, “We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious. Somebody died, one of our military people died, people were badly wounded just a week before.” He didn’t provide any evidence to support this. soon other officials began to backtrack from this statement. Pomper once again put forth a defense on Fox news stating, “There is no doubt that there was a series of imminent attacks being plotted by Qassem Soleimani. We don’t know precisely when and we don’t know precisely where, but it was real.” Logically many stated to wonder if they weren’t aware of the “when” how can they tell it was imminent.
If not to protect America, then why did President Trump take such a drastic decision that can result in a full-fledged war? To understand this decision we must look at the time period, past actions and future impact. Soleimani’s death occurred around the same time the 2020 presidential election process began. Merely a “quiescence?”
During the last election, the campaign that got Trump the most attention revolved around building a wall around the Mexican border. This election he needed a new campaign idea to gain voters’ interest. Taking a decision of this magnitude and Convincing the public it was to protect Americans will surely get the voters.
In November 2011 Trump tweeted, “In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran,” additionally days before that tweet Trump posted a video claiming, “Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He’s weak and he’s ineffective. So the only way he figures that he’s going to get reelected — and as sure as you’re sitting there — is to start a war with Iran.” Many of the sentiments he expressed about president Obama seem true for him if we examine his portfolio which includes sexual misconduct, white supremacy, swindling charity profits, possible collusion with Russians and countless lies. The possibility of Donald Trump taking this drastic decision just to get reelected is not remotely far-fetched.
The youth play a big part in today’s political climate. It is imperative to take account of what they think about this situation. Zubaida Kader, a current senior stated,“ We know he wants to learn for the 2020 election and starting a war would create fear which in turn will give him power.” She also reviled how his past actions make him a good suspect. I also got a chance to interviewed
Moshope Olowojolu “although many agreed with his decision I think it would have been better to just capture him and get information out of him rather than just killing him” she told me. The next generation of voters is not buying Trump’s act. The association of Qasem Soleimani was not a necessity, but an attention-seeking student for reelection.
