Qasem Soleimani (1957-2020), also spelled “Suleimani”, was the Iranian general the US killed last week in Baghdad, on January 2nd 2020 at 22:00 UTC (it was one in the morning the next day in Iraq).
In the US almost no one knew who he was, but now the press is saying he was a Horrible Terrible Person, worse than Osama bin Laden (the head of Al Qaeda) or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (the head of ISIS), both of whom the US also assassinated.
As CNBC, a supposedly serious news outlet, tweeted, in its own voice:
“America just took out the world’s no. 1 bad guy”
And that was not even Fox News on the far-right!
If Soleimani was that terrible, why did the press say so little about him before he was killed? He has been a general in Iran since the 1980s – he was hardly hiding under a rock.
Before and after: Compare the Wikipedia before and after his death:
On December 27th, the second paragraph:
“Soleimani hailed from a humble background. He began his military career since the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, during which he commanded the 41st Division. He was later involved in extraterritorial operations, providing military assistance to anti-Saddam Shia and Kurdish groups in Iraq, and later Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. In 2012, Soleimani helped bolster the Syrian government, a key Iranian ally, during the Syrian Civil War. Soleimani also assisted in the command of combined Iraqi government and Shia militia forces that advanced against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2014–2015.[19]”
On January 7th, today:
“Soleimani began his military career at the start of the Iran–Iraq War during the 1980s, eventually commanding the 41st Division. He was later involved in extraterritorial operations, providing military assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In 2012, Soleimani helped bolster the government of Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally, during Iran’s operations in the Syrian Civil War and helped to plan the Russian military intervention in Syria.[20] Soleimani oversaw the Kurdish and Shia militia forces in Iraq, and assisted the Iraqi forces that advanced against ISIL in 2014–2015.[21][22] Soleimani was one of the first to support Kurdish forces, providing them with arms.[23][24] He maintained a low profile during most of his career.”
Compare: Both paragraphs might be perfectly true – they are not logically contradictory. But notice the change in emphasis: two good things about him have been taken out (humble origins, anti-Saddam) and two bad ones added (pro-Assad, helps Russia). Good and bad, that is, from a US point of view! Just over half the edits made to the English-language Wikipedia come from the US.
Demonization: Soleimani, as you might expect, fought both for and against US enemies. He was, be it noted, a general for Iran, not the US. And Iran, be it further noted, is not some rebel province of the US empire. But now that President Trump has killed him, Soleimani is being demonized, flattened into a Hollywood “bad guy”. Why?
– Abagond, 2020.
See also:
- gaslighting
- cognitive dissonance
- Donald Trump
- tribal epistemology
- 2 + 2 = 5 – Sharpiegate and such
- Trumpspeak
- The press
- George Orwell: 1984
- Iran
- Islamic State (ISIS)
- Osama bin Laden
533
He is reponsible for the deaths of hundreds of US service members. He is absolutely despised by US Iraq war vets.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/01/03/soleimanis-legacy-gruesome-high-tech-ieds-that-haunted-us-troops-iraq/
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Since we are attempting to impeach the president at the moment there is an attempt to keep things on the quite side.
No one wants to complain about a leader who has been a stone in our shoe for over 30 years. Just because the general public has not heard of this leader, does not mean he has not been a problem.
We do not know what the results of this fatal error will be; however, in the long run pain will be felt on both sides.
MSNBC has had a constant complaint about this killing, so you cannot say that it has been approved. He has been a Iranian winner all the way back to the Iran Iraq war.
The republican party is in lock step with the president which is a result of those who hated Hillery, (anyone but her- right). This is what you got! A potential dictator. Look for more foolishness and maybe a reelection of the current president.
Have you even thought about how many lies this administration has told, why would you even comment about anything coming from them expecting it to be true or meaningful.
The joke is on those of you who voted for Bernie!
Over 40 people have died at the mourning of that leader in the crowding; how sad.
And we are shaking in our boots. Who, what, where, when, how, and/but not why, is on every ones mind.
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@Jackrabbit96817
Dear Sir you do not know of any successful General who is not responsible for the death of many people. When a person selects the military as his occupation and becomes successful they are going to issue orders that kill people.
Do not get caught up in the foolishness of bull sitters!
Iran was not at war with the US an it seems as though that man was a political leader as well as a military leader!
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War is hell!
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Wow i’m grategul u opened this thtead bc i know a lot of muslims here st home i can only imagine
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*grateful
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There was once a rust-bucket known as the “El Faro”. The container ship was making a trip from Florida to Puerto Rico in 2015 when the captain commanded it to pursue a course directly towards major hurricane Joaquin even as other personnel suggested they modify course. He didn’t even come out of his cabin the situation was beyond recovery. The ship sank in 15000 feet of water mere kilometers from the eye of the powerful storm killing everyone (33) on board. The tragedy was a combination of the captain being poorly informed (he used less accurate weather reports), lazy (he didn’t check reports in a timely manner) and overconfident (transcripts reveal he underestimated the danger) while likely feeling pressure by the company’s management to make the shipment on schedule.
I feel that this tragedy is a suitable metaphor for the world in general. Most of us are passengers on a ship being steered by others. Even in democratic countries and in cases where leaders are neither lazy nor poorly informed, the leaders often face pressures from “management” in the form of wealthy individuals and companies. However, the economic, environmental or military consequences of the chosen course will be borne by all – and often disproportionately by people who had the least to do with the decision making.
So yes, we are on an almost constant war footing. For those who are still mourning Hilary, rest assured that she would likely have escalated matters as well. However, her focal point would probably have been Syria (Assad), instead, while Trump has zeroed in on Iran. I suspect that his apparent hatred of Obama played a role in this, making him anxious to reverse what was seen as a foreign policy accomplishment (the so-called “Iran deal”). He has put forward a strategy of isolating Iran called “maximum pressure” with the aim of bringing about “regime change”. In other words, it’s a siege. It is war. It has been war.
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@Origin
A person can say what would have happened to justify that which cannot be proven and be very happy. So Origin can say what would have happened,
I say, the unknown is unknowable and no one will ever know what would of happened. What we know is what IS happening!
The current president has destroyed the entire Obama Administration or placed what is left in jeopardy. How nice it is to see a current administration accomplish nothing except the destruction of a previous administrations work, plus give the rich the largest tax increase while bamboozling the poor into believing they have received a pay raise.
By blindly increasing the national debt to a significant level the current president may have effectively bankrupted the US, yet he can brag that he can dominate any nation on the face of the earth.
Go back to the Obama administration when we actually were having years of budget surplus, not deficits and the current president was complaining that the debt was rising because of the interest cost of money.
Using the thought that all were on board a ship and the Captain was locked in his cabin was not a very good thought, “someone was steering the boat”! It is a nice story; however if every one died who told the story?
The problem with history is the facts take years to be proven!
We have a current failure as a leader and a separation of powers in this nation that is going to challenge us and we need clear thinking, and we need an outstanding choice of the next leader.
There are more poor than “rich with the money” so the poor can control!
“Begin” seemed to be responding to my suggestion that the failure of voting for the democrat administration was not supported by the Republican failures. While we vote for a name on the ballot we actually vote for a team!
The battle between Sanders and Biden is well established to provide Trump a win!
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@Abagond and everyone else,
I think that the way things stand now, war is inevitable. The whole of Islamic world is upset at what was done by the Americans. Some of Islam’s highest-ranking individuals were at his funeral processions from both the Sunni and Shia spectrums. Even the Muslims here in America aren’t pleased.
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Thanks, Aba, one of the few to question the false narrative.
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Jackrabbit and Allen Shaw, you are both idiots!
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I want to see the evidence that Soleimani was involved in any attacks that killed American, UK, and others. Which attacks specifically…
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@abagond
Wikipedia is one of the more truthful sources. You google ‘white supremacy’ ‘western imperialism’ ‘colonization’ and it defines these things with a definitive back story and explanation without watering down anything. Have things changed?
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@Untoldstory
“I want to see the evidence…”
What would that evidence look like?
The White House briefed congress and their opinions of the “evidence” presented appears to have fallen along party lines. Abagond’s post challenges the narrative and the opinions expressed in response to it seem to fall on both sides of whether or not Soleimani was a bad guy. There’s even name-calling in the discussion above, so it’s obvious people are passionate about those opinions.
We live in a time without trust, a time that is overflowing with information which should allow us to disprove lies with facts, but instead it has led us to believe that everything is lies.
So, I’m genuinely curious… and I’m not challenging any opinion you may have formed… I’m just asking, what evidence would convince you one way or the other and who would you trust to present that evidence?
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Humans battling for territory and resources is a feature which reminds us that no matter how “civilized” our species claims to be, our instincts are still rooted in the animal kingdom.
The irony is, any society that evolves beyond that would be immediately destroyed by the rest. So, war is also an inevitable part of humanity.
In war, good guys and bad guys are often a matter of perspective. Trump said that we are safer now because “we took him our”. I imagine many in the World have felt less safe since Bush, Obama & Trump have been ordering drone assassinations of their leaders and/or in their countries.
@Allen Shaw
“War is hell!”
It’s not often I agree with you (or General Sherman for that matter), but on this point, we agree.
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But now that President Trump has killed him, Soleimani is being demonized, flattened into a Hollywood “bad guy”. Why?
Well, in order to justify the killing of this man, whom the US government was once in favor of, he must be overwhelmingly demonized or downtroddenly labeled to the extent that the gullible American public reaches the point of indifference or {he deserved it} concerning Soleiman on a mass scale.
Labeling theory:
“Deviancy is not a quality of the act a person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’. Deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label.” – Howard Becker, American Sociologist
“According to Becker, studying the act of the individual is unimportant because deviance is simply rule breaking behavior that is labeled deviant by persons in positions of power. Essentially, the behavior of the person does not matter until the label is applied. The rule breaking behavior is constant, the labeling of the behavior varies. – Howard Becker, Sociologist
https://labelingtheorylq.weebly.com/history.html
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46-1 as he always does $hit the bed having this man killed.
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@Cherry Boy
I may agree with you; however, you should have at least explained why U believe what you say!
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They are all war pigs.
I am not too surprised the media demonizes Iran and its players.
The anti war left is much smaller then the wealth redistribution left.
Agree with Origin’s view on things
The U.S. fears Iran becoming an Iranian satellite country because of the control of oil and Israeli concerns.
If Iran became allied with Iran what would change in the world ? In my opinion not much.
It’s none of “our” business.
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@ Michael Barker No matter how anyone feels this is just one big place with all nations mixed up, using each others resources.
The US today is using a large amount of the resources. We do not respect other peoples religions and in this nation we are split. Race, ethnics, religion, nationality all seem to bother us.
The Middle East is full of assets other want to get control of.
The current “Republican Party – old Southern Democrats” seems to be attempting to copy the NAZI party of Germany 30 -37 and all US citizens should study that place and time. They are the ones who wish to destroy the Iranian government.
It is our business, because we have learned to live the way we live and believe. We could learn to pay attention and help others who are in need, stop wasting resources, stop throwing our weight around, and actually participate in problem solving on a world basis; however, we cannot bury our head in the sand.
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I disagree Allen.
The U.S. could withdraw all of its troops from around the world and the planet would be a more peaceful place.
Would that vacuum allow for other State violence to give rise and to replace U.S. Imperialism ? Probably but on a lesser scale.
Most humans just want to live on Earth peaceful.
Allowing citizens of their own countries to choose their own destinies free From U.S. intervention is different then having ones “head in the sand”.
Those who want to bomb Iran should pull up a picture of Tehran and look at it.
It’s not some desert but a city full of families and children and working class people who have the same dreams “Westerners” have.
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Secretary of Defense Mark Espy said he couldn’t find any evidence of a threat that of Iranians attacking 4 US embassies. Trump is a habitual liar. Killing Soleimani was nothing but him trying to distract from his impeachment. I believe they call this wag the dog. So once again he has put the country in jeopardy. This fiend and the whole Republican Senate needs to be removed.
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This whole administration is 💩show. Get rid of the whole GOP. Nothing but liars and crooks.
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