Trump Takes out IRGC Leader; Democrats Complain

Last Friday, President Trump ordered a drone strike against Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

Soleimani was the leader of the Marines-equivalent of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a terrorist organization that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

According to the White House, Soleimani had been planning to attack American diplomats in Iran and the surrounding region. He was also involved in the recent attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad  and a separate attack on December 27th that killed an American contractor and wounded several others.

The day after Soleimani’s death, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats criticized Trump for ordering the strike without informing Congress.

“This initiation of hostilities was taken without…the consultation of the Congress and without the articulation of a clear and legitimate strategy to either the Congress or the public,” argued Pelosi. 

“He didn’t consult,” added Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). “Next, he will go to war with Iran without an authorization if Congress doesn’t take drastic steps to force him into compliance.”

Democratic presidential candidates also complained about the attack:

Soleimani “deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos. None of that negates the fact that this is a hugely escalatory move in an already dangerous region. The Administration’s statement says that its goal is to deter future attacks by Iran, but this action almost certainly will have the opposite effect,” tweeted former Vice President Joe Biden.

Soleimani was a “murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands – including hundreds of Americans,” tweeted Elizabeth Warren. “But this reckless move escalates the situation with Iran and increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict.”

Given comments like this, it’s no surprise Trump decided not to brief the Democrats on his plans. They probably would have reached out directly to the Quds Force to warn Soleimani of the attack. Not to mention they just tried to remove Trump from office.

As phrased by TV personality John Cardillo: “The Dems’ argument on the Soleimani kill is moronic: Let Iran attack our embassies and kill our people, but don’t hit back because they might attack our embassies and kill our people.”

Even more shocking is a 2018 report suggesting the Obama Administration interfered to protect Soleimani in 2015 when Israel was moving to assassinate him. Coincidentally, this was the same year Obama signed the JCPOA and gave Iran loads of cash.

Lastly, to address the argument that assassinations are illegal:

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford signed an executive order prohibiting any representative of the US government from conducting an assassination.

The theory is that assassinations lead to violent power struggles and the possible rise of an ever-badder bad guy. In this case, Soleimani will be replaced by his deputy and the Quds Force will operate with the same objective (their words, not mine).

Furthermore, an executive order is not the same thing as a law. Executive orders are renewed with each president and current presidents can make exceptions.

“Soleimani was a lawful military objective,” explains former DHS Sec. Jeh Johnson. “The President under his Constitutional authority as Commander in Chief had ample domestic legal authority to take him out.”

Yes, the Quds Force is threatening to kill Americans. But let’s remember this is coming from a terror organization that takes hostages, assaults foreign embassies, shoots down drones, funds Hezbollah, bribes politicians, disrupts shipping, and hates America.