From Military.com:
“Iraqi TV, Officials: Iran's Gen.
Soleimani, Head of Elite Quds Force, Killed in Baghdad Airstrike”
Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head
of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad’s
international airport on Friday local time, Iraqi television and three Iraqi
officials said. The strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy
commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or
PMF, the officials said. Their deaths are a potential turning point in the
Middle East and are expected to draw severe retaliation from Iran and the
forces it backs in the Middle East against Israel and American interests. The
PMF blamed the United States for an attack at Baghdad International Airport
Friday. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. or Iran. A senior Iraqi
politician and a high-level security official confirmed to the Associated Press
that Soleimani and al-Muhandis were among those killed in the attack. Two
militia leaders loyal to Iran also confirmed the deaths, including an official
with the Kata'ib Hezbollah, which was involved in the attack on the U.S.
Embassy this week. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
al-Muhandis had arrived to the airport in a convoy to receive Soleimani whose
plane had arrived from either Lebanon or Syria. The airstrike occurred as soon
as he descended from the plane to be greeted by al-Muhandis and his companions,
killing them all. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the subject and because they were not authorized to give
official statements. The senior politician said Soleimani's body was identified
by the ring he wore. Soleimani had been rumored dead several times, including
in a 2006 airplane crash that killed other military officials in northwestern
Iran and following a 2012 bombing in Damascus that killed top aides of
embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. More recently, rumors circulated in
November 2015 that Soleimani was killed or seriously wounded leading forces
loyal to Assad as they fought around Syria’s Aleppo. Earlier Friday, an
official with an Iran-backed paramilitary force said that seven people were
killed by a missile fired at Baghdad International Airport, blaming the United
States. The official with the group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces
said the dead included its airport protocol officer, identifying him as
Mohammed Reda. A security official confirmed that seven people were killed in
the attack on the airport, describing it as an airstrike. Earlier, Iraq’s
Security Media Cell, which releases information regarding Iraqi security, said
Katyusha rockets landed near the airport's cargo hall, killing several people
and setting two cars on fire. It was not immediately clear who fired the
missile or rockets or who was targeted. There was no immediate comment from the
U.S. The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year's
Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day
embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted President Donald Trump to order
about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East. The breach at the embassy
followed U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed
militia in Iraq, the Kata'ib Hezbollah. The U.S. military said the strikes were
in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket
attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia. U.S.
officials have suggested they were prepared to engage in further retaliatory
attacks in Iraq. “The game has changed,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said
Thursday, telling reporters that violent acts by Iran-backed Shiite militias in
Iraq — including the rocket attack on Dec. 27 that killed one American — will
be met with U.S. military force. He said the Iraqi government has fallen short
of its obligation to defend its American partner in the attack on the U.S.
Embassy. The developments also represent a major downturn in Iraq-U.S.
relations that could further undermine U.S. influence in the region and
American troops in Iraq and weaken Washington’s hand in its pressure campaign
against Iran.
^ It’s great to hear that the
head of Iran’s special forces has died and the fact that it happened in Iraq is
icing on the cake. Iraqis should be mad that Iran is using their country as a
pawn (and don’t they remember the Iran-Iraq War?) Recent events continue to
show that the Iraqis are not capable of keeping their citizens or diplomats
safe in their own country. Ordinary Iraqis have protested against their own Government
for several years now because their own Government can’t or won’t give them
basic everyday things. It’s clear there is a lot of corruption throughout Iraq at
all levels and that Iraq is playing a dangerous game of using Iran and the US
to get what they (Iraq) wants. The fact that the Iraqis did nothing to protect
the US Embassy in Baghdad shows that the US needs to be prepared to protect
itself and its citizens against both the Iraqis and the Iranians. The US can
not and should not allow any country to try and destroy its Embassies or
Consulates anywhere in the world and the fact that the Iranians are involved in
the attack against the US Embassy in Iraq brings back memories of when the
Iranians stormed the US Embassy in Iran in 1979 and kept American citizens hostage
until 1981. The US (and any country) has the right to protect its diplomatic missions
in any way they can - even if that means
killing those who storm or try to storm the Embassy. The main difference
between 1979 in Iran and 2020 in Iraq is that today we have a President who
seems willing to do whatever it takes to protect Americans (even Americans
overseas) than we had 40+ years ago. Iran is a major threat to the whole world
and one that no one should take lightly. With that said no country should allow
Iranian-backed attacks to go unpunished. With the killing of Iran’s special forces
leader in Iraq the threat from Iran has only grown. ^
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