ERIC ZUESSE -- Iraq Says ISIS Did the Attack that Trump Killed Soleimani For

Iraq Says ISIS Did the Attack that Trump Killed Soleimani For

Soleimani Was ISIS’s Main enemy. Did ISIS Fool Trump There?

by Eric Zuesse

February 7, 2020

Iraq Says ISIS Did the Attack that Trump Killed Soleimani For.

Soleimani Was ISIS’s Main enemy. Did ISIS Fool Trump There?

Scott Ritter on Why Soleimani Is a Hero to Almost All Iraqis

Eric Zuesse

On February 6th, the New York Times headlined “Was U.S. Wrong About Attack That Nearly Started a War With Iran? and presented the Iraq Government’s evidence that ISIS had actually done the December 27th rocket-attack which had killed an American contractor (an Iraqi translator for U.S. forces), for which Trump killed Iran’s second-most-powerful leader, General Qasem Soleimani. The NYT reporters were unable to obtain from the Trump Administration any of their alleged secret evidence that Soleimani was behind that attack. Though Iraq’s Government was forthcoming with answers and evidence to the reporters’ questions, America’s Government was not.

Even some of America’s mainstream news-media have previously reported that Soleimani was an extremely effective general in the international war against ISIS. Whereas Russian media openly state that Qasem Soleimani was the world’s most effective general against ISIS, no U.S. media do, but some of them provide buried in a report facts which support that conclusion, such as here and here and here, and some news-media of other nations (even of predominantly Hindu India) also are public about the fact. (Even in anti-Muslim India, General Suleimani is recognized as having been a global leader in the battles against both ISIS and the Taliban — both of which fundamentalist-Sunni groups threaten not only Shiite Iran but Hindu India.) So, on January 3rd, Trump assassinated the world’s most effective general who led the elimination of the Sunni-terrorist group ISIS. And the U.S. Government calls Soleimani a ‘terrorist’, because America’s billionaires want to grab Iran back like they had it after the CIA coup in Iran in 1953 and before the Iranians overthrew the U.S.-imposed dictator Shah in 1979. However, by killing General Soleimani, Trump may have benefitted not only ISIS but also America’s billionaires — the same group that had conquered Iran in 1953 by means of that CIA coup.

Will killing of Iran’s Soleimani influence North Korea’s “strategic weapon” plans?

Will killing of Iran’s Soleimani influence North Korea’s “strategic weapon” plans?

By Duyeon Kim, January 9, 2020

Source

Kim Jong Un, giving his plenary speech. Photo credit: KCNA

It’s anybody’s guess as to what North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is thinking and feeling in reaction to the US killing of General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iran’s Quds Force. In Kim’s mind, does the killing make it seem less likely that US President Donald Trump’s “fire and fury” rhetoric and escalatory actions of 2017 were a bluff? Does the regime regard Soleimani’s death as a warning not to provoke Washington this year with more weapons tests? Will Pyongyang be more cautious this year than in the past, or will it see Washington’s preoccupation with the Middle East as an opportunity to accelerate perfecting (including testing) its nuclear weapons capability? Will the killing further confirm in the North Korean leader’s eyes his rationale of having nuclear weapons to guard against what he views as US aggression?

PT -- Stephen Lendman -- O Secretário Geral da ONU, António Guterres, não condena os assassínios dos EUA no Iraque

O Secretário Geral da ONU, António Guterres, não condena os assassínios dos EUA no Iraque

Por Stephen Lendman

Global Research, 05 de Janeiro 05 de 2020

Região: Médio Oriente & Norte de África

Tema Lei e Justiça, Nações Unidas   

A relatora especial da ONU sobre execuções extra judiciais, sumárias ou arbitrárias, Agnès Callamard, criticou o assassínio perpetrado pelo regime Trump, do General iraniano Soleimani,  do Vice Presidente iraquiano da PMU, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis e de outros que estavam com eles, twittando o seguinte:

 “Os homicídios de Qasem Soleiman e Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis são muito provavelmente ilegais e violam o Direito Internacional sobre os Direitos Humanos”.

“Fora do contexto das hostilidades activas, o uso de drones ou de outros meios para matar alvos, quase nunca é legal.”

“Outro grande problema com as mortes extra-territoriais é a falta de supervisão”.

 “Os poderes executivos decidem quem pode ser morto sem o devido processo judicial, quando é que agem em legítima defesa, contra quem e como. Sem a aprovação dos respectivos parlamentos.”

Pompeo comentou o assassínio de Soleimani com uma ladainha de Grandes Mentiras, dizendo:

O regime Trump “decidiu eliminar Soleimani em resposta a ameaças iminentes à vida de cidadãos americanos (sic).

 “A nossa obrigação foi evitar a escalada (sic).”

Assassinar Soleimani foi uma “acção defensiva destinada a combater as ameaças agressivas utilizadas pela Força Iraniana Quds (sic)”.

Ele “estava a conspirar activamente na região para levar a cabo acções ... que colocariam em risco dezenas senão centenas de vidas de americanos(sic)”.

Tudo o que foi mencionado acima é puro lixo e  ninguém que compreenda como os EUA agem acredita nessas afirmações, isto é, eles agem de acordo com as suas próprias regras e extra judicialmente, a fim de alcançar os seus objectivos imperiais.

Matar Soleimani, Muhandis e os que os acompanhavam, foi um assassinato a sangue frio dos EUA, um crime hediondo e injustificável.

O Pentágono desculpou ilegitimamente o seu acto criminoso, dizendo o seguinte:

 “Sob a direcção de (Trump), as forças armadas dos EUA tomaram medidas defensivas decisivas para proteger o pessoal americano no estrangeiro, matando-os” - uma Grande Mentira, seguida de mais mentiras, afirmando falaciosamente:

Soleimani “comandou ataques a bases da coligação no Iraque, nos últimos meses (sic)”.

 “Este ataque teve como objectivo impedir futuros planos de ataque iranianos.”

"Os Estados Unidos continuarão a tomar todas as medidas necessárias para proteger o nosso povo e os nossos interesses onde quer que estejam, em todo o mundo (sic).”

A agressão levada a cabo pelo regime Trump e pelos seus mais recentes predecessores transformou centenas de milhões de muçulmanos em inimigos dos EUA, além de inúmeros outros, em todo o mundo - tornando os EUA o país mais insultado do mundo.

Em toda a História da República Islâmica, desde 1979, as autoridades e chefias militares nunca ordenaram um ataque a outra nação ou aos respectivos oficiais.

Pompeo não apresentou provas que apoiassem as suas acusações absurdas porque não existem.

Sempre que António Guterres comenta incidentes como o assassínio de Soleimani e outras acções hostis dos EUA, da NATO e de Israel, ele apela sempre a todos os lados para mostrarem contenção - deixando de evidenciar a culpa onde ela pertence.

Depois de não dizer nada durante horas após a agressão patrocinada pelo regime de Trump contra Soleimani e os que o acompanhavam, o seu porta-voz emitiu a sua observação pré-escrita, dizendo:

 “O Secretário Geral tem defendido consistentemente a não escalada no Golfo (sic). Está profundamente preocupado com a recente escalada (sic). ”

“Este é o momento em que os líderes devem exercer a máxima restrição (sic). O mundo não pode permitir que haja outra guerra no Golfo (sic). ”

“O mundo” precisa de um Chefe da Organização mundial com coragem moral, e não de um boneco pró-ocidental covarde – manipulado pelos poderes mais influentes em Washington, Bruxelas e Tel Aviv.

O líder do Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, pediu “a punição dos assassinos criminosos do regime Trump”, acrescentando:

É “o dever e a responsabilidade de todos os combatentes da resistência em todo o mundo”.

“Nós, que ficamos ao lado de Soleimani, seguiremos os seus passos e esforçar-nos-emos, dia e noite, para alcançar os seus objectivos."

“Levaremos uma bandeira em todos os campos de batalha e em todas as frentes e intensificaremos as vitórias do 'eixo da resistência' com a bênção do seu sangue puro.”

O Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros da Síria condenou as agressões e os assassinatos dos EUA, designando  as suas acções como “uma escalada séria ... um acto covarde  de agressão ... que fortalece a nossa determinação de seguir o caminho dos líderes martirizados da resistência”.

Na sexta-feira, centenas de milhares de iranianos foram às ruas para condenar o regime de Trump.

A longo prazo, as políticas dos EUA são auto-destrutivas, o extremismo típico de uma nação em declínio.

Quanto maiores são as suas acções hostis em todo o mundo, mais inimigos eles adquirem.

Comentando o assassínio de Soleimani, a porta-voz do Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros da Rússia, Maria Zakharova, diz o seguinte:

O “ataque com mísseis do Pentágono (que matou Soleimani e os outros) foi um acto que não está em consonância com o Direito Internacional ... o cúmulo do cinismo” levado a cabo por um Estado imoral.

O objectivo de Washington tem tudo a ver com fazer valer o Poder sobre o Direito, procurando “alterar o equilíbrio de poder na região”.

“Não resultará em nada a não ser escalar tensões crescentes na região, o que, certamente, irá afectar milhões de pessoas”.

A acção do regime Trump “não escapará às Nações Unidas”, o Conselho de Segurança irá abordá-lo: o poder de veto dos EUA/Reino Unido/França impedirá a condenação oficial.

Matar Soleimani e o Vice Presidente da PMU do Iraque, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis e os restantes que os acompanhavam, só irá desestabilizar ainda mais a região.

As suas mortes nada tinham a ver com a protecção de vidas de cidadãos americanos, mas sim, tudo a ver com o avanço do Império Americano.

Foi um acto imprudente e auto-destrutivo que lhes saiu gorado, não conseguindo nada senão uma raiva popular ainda maior contra os EUA.

Também conduz os parlamentares iraquianos a aprovar uma legislação que ordene a saída das forças americanas do país, o que pode acontecer.

Autor laureado, Stephen Lendman, vive em Chicago. Pode ser contactado através do email: lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Pesquisador Associado do Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)

Obra mais recente: “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visite o seu blog  sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Valery Kulikov -- When Will Washington’s Assassination Spree be Universally Condemned?

08.01.2020 Author: Valery Kulikov

When Will Washington’s Assassination Spree be Universally Condemned? 

Column: Politics

Region: Middle East

Country: Iran

The treacherous US assassination of a senior Iranian leader – General Kassem Suleimani, which violated all norms of international law provoked a storm across international media with pretty much everyone opposing this criminal act committed by Washington. A lot of criticism has also been voiced regarding the entire US foreign policy posture.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has described this assassination as an “act of war” committed against Tehran. The fact that Washington’s move is a direct equivalent of launching a military campaign against Tehran has also been pointed out by German officials. In turn, Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement, where it was pointed out that when a UN member state eliminates officials of another UN member state on the territory of a third sovereign state, it constitutes a flagrant violation of the principles of international law, which deserves universal condemnation.

ERIC ZUESSE -- Trump Assassinated the Leading General Who Fought Against ISIS

Trump Assassinated the Leading General Who Fought Against ISIS

3252 ViewsJanuary 08, 2020 2 Comments

Eric Zuesse for the Saker Blog 

Even some mainstream U.S. ‘news’-media (but none that are Republican) acknowledge the fact that Qasem Soleimani was among the most effective of all nations’ generals who fought against ISIS. Other mainstream U.S. ‘news’-media seem very reluctant to do so, because the entirety of America’s mainstream ‘journalism’ has spewed hatred against Iran’s Government after Iranians in 1979 succeeded at overthrowing the dictator Shah whom America’s CIA had installed in 1953 to end Iran’s democracy and to control the country, and he privatized the National Iranian Oil company and cut America’s aristocrats in on the profits from sales of Iranian oil. (Under George W. Bush, the U.S. Government did basically the same thing to Iraq’s oil industry.) So, America’s mainstream ‘news’-media, which are owned by the same aristocracy that imposed Iran’s dictatorship in 1953, have portrayed Iran’s #2 leader, General Qasem Soleimani, as a ‘terrorist’, instead of as the leading fighter against ISIS, which he actually was.

On 3 January 2020, Ilan Goldenberg, of the Democratic Party neoconservative Center for a New American Security, headlined in the Council on Foreign Relations’s Foreign Affairs, “Will Iran’s Response to the Soleimani Strike Lead to War?” and only two references to ISIS were there, both buried in his article: “He led Iran’s campaign to arm and train Shiite militias in Iraq — militias responsible for the deaths of an estimated 600 American troops from 2003 to 2011— and became the chief purveyor of Iranian political influence in Iraq thereafter, most notably through his efforts to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).” And: “ISIS retains an underground presence and could take advantage of the chaos of an American withdrawal or a U.S.-Iranian conflict to improve its position in Iraq.” So, it’s hard for a reader there to figure out that Trump actually assassinated ISIS’s main enemy.

ERIC ZUESSE -- Who the Winners Are from America’s Destruction of Iraq and War Against Iran

Who the Winners Are from America’s Destruction of Iraq and War Against Iran

by Eric Zuesse

January 5, 2020

Americans are unfortunately severely reluctant to disbelieve the lies that normally spew forth from the U.S. Government about foreign countries and especially about foreign countries that it invades or wants to invade. Consider, for examples, the lies that were told against Iraq when Saddam Hussein ruled it, or about Libya when Muammar Gaddafi ruled it, or about Iran right now. But Americans widely believe their Government’s lies, nonetheless.

On Friday, January 3rd, the Republican Fox ‘News’ channel headlined “Rose McGowan, John Cusack bash killing of Iran’s Soleimani, slam Trump”, and reported the two actors’ opposition to the Republican U.S. President Trump’s violation of Iraqi sovereignty that day, and to his assassination at the Bagdad airport of Iran’s #2 leader, General Qasem Solemani, as well as Trump’s murders there of some Iraqis, and of some other Iranians.

To judge from the “Best” (most-liked) reader-comments at that ‘news’-report, Trump will have at least that Republican audience behind him regarding this action by him, though what he did there could spark World War III, and though the beneficiaries of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush’s 20 March 2003 invasion of Iraq haven’t been ordinary people such as those thousands of Republican commenters are, but instead have been, and are, billionaires from around the world who invested in the privatization of Iraq’s oil, which resulted from that invasion. For a far-right audience such as that — people who cannot distinguish between nationalism and patriotism, and who know only nationalism — the most-liked comment was “Rose [McGowan], you do realize that in Iran, if you had worn that dress made of nothing but chains, you would have been stoned to death? Congratulations on being the new Jane Fonda.” That person, “JanWub1,” didn’t think, at all, about the U.S. Government’s lies that had persuaded the American public to boost their approval of George W. Bush from 57% immediately before the invasion to 71% immediately after his lie-based international war-crime in invading Iraq, and that person and everyone who clicked “Like” on it had obviously learned nothing from that historical example, nor did the individual commenter even so much as just mention the possibility of Trump’s having sparked WW III on that occasion, but instead “JanWub1” personalized the issue to that commenter’s contempt and hatred of an actress who had opposed that 2003 international war-crime against Iraq by the USA, and transferred that hatred against her onto the present two thespians, who oppose this President’s illegal invasion and murders.

So: how do we know who actually benefitted from that international war-crime — the invasion and military occupation of Iraq?

Back on 15 April 2013, a rare entirely honest CNN news-report about Iraq was published online, from the independent journalist Antonia Juhasz, who headlined “Why the war in Iraq was fought for Big Oil”. She wrote that:

In 2000, Big Oil, including Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell, spent more money to get fellow oilmen Bush and Cheney into office than they had spent on any previous election. Just over a week into Bush’s first term, their efforts paid off when the National Energy Policy Development Group, chaired by Cheney, was formed, bringing the administration and the oil companies together to plot our collective energy future. In March, the task force reviewed lists and maps outlining Iraq’s entire oil productive capacity.

The Saker -- Quick update on the latest developments

Quick update on the latest developments

2147 ViewsJanuary 06, 2020 23 Comments

Dear friends,

Today is the Orthodox Eve of the Nativity, and tomorrow is the Orthodox Christmas so I will keep this one short.

1. It appears that Russia and China blocked a US UNSC Resolution.  The message to Uncle Shmuel is simple: get out.  Needless to say, The Idiot-in-Chief and his malignant manatee are pissed.
2. It also appears that Uncle Shmuel will initiate some kind of withdrawal.
3. Why was Trump the Saker 2019 man of the year?

Let’s take them one by one.

First, it appears that no country outside “The Only Democracy in the Middle-East” is supporting the US.  Okay, the UK did, but after some hand twisting.  The rest of the EU are the usual spineless non-entities which cannot voice anything more cogent than “we appeal for restraint on all sides” or equally insipid canned sentences.  The truth is that the entire planet is horrified and does not know what to do to stop this insanity.

Second, we already know how Trump likes his withdrawals: he likes them partial, as was the case in Syria.  Besides, he is already issuing more dumb threats, but now against the Iraqis.  Good luck with that Donald.

Third, I wonder which part of

“I think I have been very clear about my total disappointment with Donald Trump. In fact, my disappointment has now turned to outright disgust. And if you ask me to make a list of what I have against Trump, it would be a long one. And yet, we have to always keep things in perspective. The choice was Trump or Clinton. With Clinton we had “war for sure” (probably against Russia, starting with a suicidal attempt to impose US-run no-fly zone over Syria). With Trump our choice was “war maybe, but maybe not”. And the fact that the US *almost* had a war with the DPRK, with Iran, with Syria (and, possibly, Russia!) and against Venezuela. And, let’s be honest again, this still might happen. But at the time of writing (Dec 3rd) Trump did not authorize a war. He came close to it in Syria, but neither “almost” nor “close to” are equivalent to “did it”.

Are hard to understand. But okay, I will explain it in simple terms.

The Saker -- The USA is now at war, de-facto and de-jure,with BOTH Iraq and Iran (UPDATED 6X)

The USA is now at war, de-facto and de-jure,with BOTH Iraq and Iran (UPDATED 6X)

7470 ViewsJanuary 05, 2020 93 Comments

The blowback has begun

First, let’s begin by a quick summary of what has taken place (note: this info is still coming in, so there might be corrections once the official sources make their official statements).

1. 1. Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdl Mahdi has now officially revealed that the US had asked him to mediate between the US and Iran and that General Qassem Soleimani to come and talk to him and give him the answer to his mediation efforts.  Thus, Soleimani was on an OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC MISSION as part of a diplomatic initiative INITIATED BY THE USA.
   2. The Iraqi Parliament has now voted on a resolution requiring the government to press Washington and its allies to withdraw their troops from Iraq.
   3. Iraq’s caretaker PM Adil Abdul Mahdi said the American side notified the Iraqi military about the planned airstrike minutes before it was carried out. He stressed that his government denied Washington permission to continue with the operation.
   4. The Iraqi Parliament has also demanded that the Iraqi government must “work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason“
   5. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said that Baghdad had turned to the UN Security Council with complaints about US violations of its sovereignty.
   6. Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said the parliamentary resolution to end foreign troop presence in the country did not go far enough, calling on local and foreign militia groups to unite.  I also have confirmation that the Mehdi Army is being re-mobilized.
   7. The Pentagon brass is now laying the responsibility for this monumental disaster on Trump (see here).  The are now slowly waking up to this immense clusterbleep and don’t want to be held responsible for what is coming next.
   8. For the first time in the history of Iran, a Red Flag was hoisted over the Holy Dome Of Jamkaran Mosque, Iran.  This indicates that the blood of martyrs has been spilled and that a major battle will now happen.  The text in the flag says “Oh Hussein we ask for your help” (unofficial translation 1) or “Rise up and avenge al-Husayn” (unofficial translation 2)
   9. The US has announced the deployment of 3’000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne to Kuwait.
   10. Finally, the Idiot-in-Chief tweeted the following message, probably to try to reassure his freaked out supporters: “The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World! If Iran attacks an American Base, or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way…and without hesitation!“.  Apparently, he still thinks that criminally overspending for 2nd rate military hardware is going to yield victory…

Analysis

FR -- L’Otan suspend ses activités en Iraq + PT -- A NATO suspende as suas actividades no Iraque

L’Otan suspend ses activités en Iraq

RÉSEAU VOLTAIRE | 5 JANVIER 2020 

ENGLISH  ESPAÑOL 

L’Organisation du Traité de l’Atlantique-Nord vient de donner instruction à son personnel en Iraq de suspendre toutes leurs activités.

Après l’assassinat du général Qassem Soleimani et de dignitaires des Unités de mobilisation populaire, l’Alliance craint une riposte contre son personnel.

A NATO suspende as suas actividades no Iraque

Rede VOLTAIRE | 5 de JANeiro de 2020 

ENGLISH  ESPAÑOL 

A Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte acaba de dar instruções ao seu pessoal no Iraque, para suspender todas as suas actividades.

Depois do assassinato do General Qassem Soleimani e dos dignitários das Unidades de Mobilização Popular, a Aliança receia uma resposta contra o seu pessoal.

The Saker -- Assassínio de Soleimani: o que pode acontecer a seguir?

The Saker -- Assassínio de Soleimani: o que pode acontecer a seguir?

por The Saker

General Soleimani.Primeiro, um rápido resumo da situação

Precisamos começar por resumir rapidamente o que acaba de acontecer:

1. O general Soleimani estava em Bagdad numa visita oficial para acompanhar o funeral dos iraquianos assassinados pelos EUA no dia 29
2. Os EUA agora assumiram oficialmente a responsabilidade por este assassinato
3. O Supremo Líder iraniano, aiatola Ali Khamenei declarou oficialmente que “Contudo, uma severa retaliação aguarda os criminosos que pintaram as suas mãos corruptas com o sangue dele e dos seus companheiros martirizados ontem à noite”

Os EUA colocam-se a si próprios – e ao Irã – em apuros

Os iranianos simplesmente não tiveram outra escolha senão declarar que haverá uma retaliação. Existem alguns problemas básicos com o que acontece a seguir. Vamos examiná-los um por um:

JASON REZA JORJANI TRUMP’S IRAN WAR BEGINS

TRUMP’S IRAN WAR BEGINS

POLITICS

JASON REZA JORJANI

Trump’s Iran War Begins

• 3rd January 2020

• 3 Comments

The assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump is likely to be viewed by historians as a catalyst comparable to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated by Serbian conspirators seeking the secession of Slavs from his realm. Austria-Hungry responded by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia and, shortly thereafter, declaring war on the Slavic kingdom. An 1892 French alliance forged with Czarist Russia mandated mobilization in the event of military action by any members of the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Consequently, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand set off a chain reaction that, in very short order, plunged Europe into the inhuman hell of the First World War. The assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike ordered by President Donald Trump on January 2, 2020, is likely to be viewed by historians, in hindsight, as a comparable catalyst – albeit one with even more catastrophic consequences.

Even an American assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would not have triggered the kind of retaliation that everyone ought to expect from Iran and its proxies in the coming days.

RÉSEAU VOLTAIRE -- La justification US de l’assassinat du général Soleimani

La justification US de l’assassinat du général Soleimani

RÉSEAU VOLTAIRE | 4 JANVIER 2020 

ENGLISH  ESPAÑOL 

Selon la presse atlantiste, le général Qasem Soleimani, commandant de la force Al-Quods des Gardiens de la Révolution iranien, préparait une opération visant à retourner l’opinion publique iraquienne [1].

Alors que les manifestations de la communauté chiite se multiplient contre l’influence iranienne sur le personnel politique iraquien, des attentats auraient été commis contre des intérêts US, provoquant une riposte US contre les manifestants iraquiens, qui elle-même aurait réveillé le nationalisme iraquien au détriment de la révolte actuelle.

C’est pour entraver ce complot que les États-Unis auraient assassiné le 2 janvier 2020 Qasem Soleimani, en provenance de Damas, lors de sa réception à l’aéroport de Bagdad par son allié Abou Mehdi al-Mouhandis [2]. Washington aurait préalablement mis en garde l’Iran lors d’une déclaration du secrétaire à la Défense Mark Esper [3].

Cette narration, si elle est logique n’en est pas pour autant crédible. La stratégie imputée au général Soleimani ne correspond pas du tout ni à sa personnalité, ni à son action militaire connue, ni au mode opératoire des services secrets iraniens. Au contraire, ce plan rappelle étrangement celui qu’avait imaginé l’ambassadeur John Negroponte pour mettre fin à la Résistance irakienne en fomentant la guerre civile iraquienne. Bien d’autres interprétations des événements sont possibles, à commencer par une volonté US d’agir sur la paralysie mutuelle des forces du gouvernement iranien et des Gardiens de la Révolution.