My Personal Side

By Craig Hastings
I honestly did not know the man behind the name Qasem Soleimani until after he was killed on January 3, 2020.  He was an Iranian General belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who lead the Quds Force.  The Quds Force of The Guard is responsible for carrying out clandestine operations mainly in other countries and more specifically any operation to disrupt American efforts to stabilize the Middle East.  There appears to be bipartisan support of the information released after Soleimani’s death that this man is responsible for hundreds if not thousands of American military and civilian deaths since he joined the Iranian military in 1979.  President Trump gave a green light on January 3 to conduct a drone strike on the motorcade leaving the airport in Bagdad Iraq in which Soleimani was a passenger in one of those vehicles.

As the news spread Washington Democrats immediately began to cry foul.  So many of them felt left out and because they were left out this would leave them no avenue to share in the success of the mission.  So as they will always do, Democrats found a hundred ways to find fault in the President’s action.  We all know that just days prior an organized Iranian attack of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq had taken place.  So what was Soleimani doing in a motorcade just fifteen minutes travel time from the U.S. Embassy when he was killed?  It seems evident the Iranian hierarchy was displeased with the efforts of the bumbling idiots they sent to the Embassy to overthrow it on New Year’s Eve.  It only made sense for their best terrorist commander to be sent to the area to organize and execute a more substantial attack and overthrow.  Why?  Too show the rest of the world just how cunning and unafraid the Iranian Government is of America.

It seems the American Intelligence Community and President Trump have bridged their distrust for one another.  First it was the location and assassination of Baghdadi and now the successful location of Soleimani and assassination of him. The Intelligence agencies have truly lived up to their standard of being the best in the world under the Trump Administration.  We are also learning now that both President Obama and President Bush probably had their own occasions of ability to take this bad actor out but didn’t for fear of political fallout.  So because of their inability to make hard decisions and stick with everything safe, more American soldiers have died in the years past.  President Bush did make that hard decision you argue?  Sure he did.  He was influenced by a bunch of overzealous warmongers in his administration and America invaded Iraq for amassing a large inventory of chemical weapons.  Which they didn’t have, none that were ever found anyway.  This war has forever disrupted the balance of the Middle East.  Sure these dress up and play army men had forever fought amongst themselves over who was the best God to worship and how and when to worship but, their leaders stayed their leaders.  When the leader changed nothing much else did.  America should have sat this one out.

Americans were shunned and hated before our invasion of Iraq but after and ever since the entire population of the Middle East preach death to America all the while continuing to fight amongst themselves.  But Americans remain the first place prize.  Any time death and destruction can be accomplished related to America, they win.  And for the past twelve years, eight under Obama and four under Bush, our government has practiced a “look the other way” approach to babysitting bad actors in the Middle East.  President Obama went so far to payout a reported and undisputed $1.7 billion in cash and a disputed amount of somewhere between $34-$75 billion in other assets to Iran to ink a terrible nuclear deal that was within the first two years violated by the Iranian government.  Advice; don’t let Obama negotiate your next real estate deal or even your next vehicle purchase!

Anyway, President Trump waited for all the significant in name only Democrats whine and cry about his madman decision to dare seek out and destroy (kill) the most important Iranian military commander.  They predict death and destruction to American assets all over the world in the coming weeks and months because of the Trump Administrations reckless conduct on the third.  A retired American General or two have also joined in the “Oh No, What Do We Do Now” song the Democrats are singing.  However, get this, I believe I heard candidate Joe Biden say in a sidewalk interview that his only concern is that the Trump Administration has a plan “B” and plan “C” for the Iranian response and reprisal.  Not that the assassination was the wrong or bad thing to do.

So after everyone got their chance to denounce and denigrate President Trump’s order to destroy an enemy that is responsible for hundreds even thousands of Americans over thirty years, the President announced what these slow-witted Democrat critics just can’t seem to remember.  The President always has concrete evidence and information that justifies his actions when it comes to being the Commander in Chief.  I must admit that this President does and says some questionable things as our president but I believe he is extremely sensitive to his decisions that may or will take another human life.  The intelligence collected on this event lead President Trump and the men and women present in his War Room to believe a major strike of consequence to American lives and property was about to take place.  The only missing piece to the puzzle was for this Soleimani assassin to arrive on scene to coordinate the event.  This was only one piece of the information collected that disclosed numerous heinous acts that are to be carried out against Americans and our Allies in the near future.

The only concern of everyone in Washington should be; “What is our plan to carry out the first strike of any and all events?”  But no, no, House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer are more concerned that they get first notice so they can argue or leak plans of a first strike.  These two have lost their way in Washington.  No matter the dire consequences of what they may be the cause, they only care is that President Trump can’t look as though he wins at anything.  They hate this man that much that they will allow the country to suffer just to block President Trump a victory at anything; even war games.  They need to go.

I have the very best reason in the world for peace in the Middle East; my oldest son will be bused off to Fort Benning Georgia on the 28th of January.  I certainly don’t won’t him to be deployed in the desert hell of Iraq, Iran, Syria, or Afghanistan.  The thought brings panic to my soul and tears to my eyes.  But, I think our President is doing the right thing right now.  President Trump intends to engage in a war of precision strikes on the most valuable assets and military strengths of our enemies.  He wants to avoid boots on the ground, door-to-door searches in cities set up for ambush, and mass deployments of men and women with no real missions of meaningful accomplishments.  Will Iran retaliate against American assets?  They will try but, God help them when they do.  This President doesn’t have the same milquetoast characteristics of President Obama and the rest of the world needs to understand and heed this.  America is once again, after a far too long hiatus, the world’s leader and peacekeeper supported by the greatest military men and women and the world’s most compassionate population on earth.

(The views and opinions expressed in the submitted columns are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of The Journal.)