Tuesday, January 2, 2018

The Iranian Revolution Proceeds Apace

The Trump administration stands nearly alone in supporting the protest demonstrations in Iran. Tell me you are surprised. Of course, Israel stands with America on this matter, as do, one suspects many Sunni Arab states. Netanyahu has publicly supported the demonstrators. The Sunni Arab nations obviously favor it, more discreetly.

As you know, former members of the Obama administration are counseling silence, thus, they want Trump to show the same cowardly face that their administration used when Iranians rose up in the 2009 Green Revolution. What matters to the Obama team is the Messiah's reputation. If another president could have done otherwise, their leader will look hollow indeed.

Amazingly, the Foreign Minister of Great Britain, one Boris Johnson, he whose hair was styled by a mix master, tweeted this:

We regret the loss of life that has occurred in the protests in Iran, and call on all concerned to refrain from violence and for international obligations on human rights to be observed.

This from a leading conservative British politician… perfectly even-handed, incapable of drawing a moral distinction between the demonstrators and the mullahs. Appalling, to say the least. Who knew that political correctness had undone so many, even in Europe, even on the right, even in the epicenter of the Anglosphere. 

In the meantime, the Times of Israel reports that the Trump administration has given Israel the green light to murder Iranian Quds force leader, Qassam Soleimani. The report comes from a Kuwaiti newspaper—signaling a higher level of cooperation between American, Israel, and Sunni Arabs:
  
US intelligence agencies have given Israel the green light to assassinate the senior Iranian responsible for coordinating military activity on behalf of the Islamic Republic in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida.

For the past 20 years or so, Qassem Soleimani has commanded the Quds Force — the branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards responsible for military and clandestine operations outside of the Islamic Republic.

Soleimani is a key figure in efforts to prop up Syrian President Bashar Assad and to enable him to retake cities and towns from rebel groups during his country’s ongoing civil war. He is also responsible for providing military aid to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza — both of which are committed to the destruction of Israel — as well as to Shia and Kurdish groups in Iraq.

This represents a break with Obama administration policies. What was the Obama policy toward Soleimani? Glad you asked. When Israel was about to assassinate him, the Obama administration tipped off the Iranians. You would have expected nothing less:

Three years ago, Israel came close to assassinating Soleimani near Damascus, al-Jarida quoted unnamed source as saying, but the Americans tipped off the Iranians against the background of intense disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem.

Yet again, we ask: which side were they on?

3 comments:

James said...

The IRGC has now been tasked to stop the latest uprising in Iran. This at the least makes the Mullahs only figureheads to the IRGC and it's effective commander Solemeini. Solemeini has made no public statements in regards to the uprising, but has notably stayed out of Iran and has been in personal touch with Putin and reportedly Assad.
The story of the US green lighting Israel to eliminate Solemeini can be looked at in many ways. 10 A warning to him 2) An attempt to bring him over (obviously surreptitiously) 3)poi8nt him in the direction of Tehran.

Sam L. said...

Which side were they on? Not the side of freedom for Iranians.

trigger warning said...

"With staggering architecture, exotic landscapes and rich culture, Iran offers endless adventure."
--- Iran Holiday Guide, The Guardian (2016)