I am opening this up to catalog everything ongoing; this is snowballing rapidly.
Top Senate Democrat Received No Advance Notice Of U.S. Strike On Iran General
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was not aware of the Trump administration’s plan to escalate tensions with Iran by killing Qassem Soleimani, an aide said.
Apparently Eric Trump knew of this, posted about it, then deleted it when he got in trouble.
China and Russia are both major allies of Iran, so starting a war with them is a bad, bad place to go, and yet that may be exactly where we are headed.
And both China and Russia are urging restraint right now. That’s normally our job. We’re the rogue nation here.
And, as always, there is a Trump tweet for everything:
And here is Dinesh D’Souza stating the Democrats are equivalent to the government of an enemy state… and Trump re-tweeting it.
Lindsey Graham Claims He Was Briefed About Soleimani Strike During Trump Golf Trip
Pelosi demands briefing on US-Iran strike, Graham says he was informed beforehand
Trump is on a twitter rant defending having Iranian General Qassem Soleimani killed. The argument: “he was a bad man so we’re not sorry he’s gone.” This entirely ignores that the method was illegal, a violation of federal AND international law. Two wrongs do not make a right.
I am posting this article because it is relevant. Trump’s pardoning of war criminals is directly related to these new actions:
Trump pardons people accused of war crimes because he thinks war should be savage
After World War II, the U.S. military rejected the concept of “total war.” Trump embraces it.
That moment where Putin is making excuses for Trump by claiming he was set up by our intelligence community in the murder of Soleimani, just in case the “he was a bad guy, I was totally justified” argument fails.
Also related:
Donald Trump’s Worst Deal
The President helped build a hotel in Azerbaijan that appears to be a corrupt operation engineered by oligarchs tied to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
And here is Russia telling us we’re breaking the law:
Sen. Tim Kaine Files War Powers Resolution to Prevent War with Iran
This is the claim Pompeo and Trump are making for this assassination. Even if it were true, it would NOT make their actions any more legal.
Planned attacks against U.S. targets in Syria, Lebanon were reason for Soleimani strike, say officials
Targets in Syria under threat included military outposts, officials said. In Lebanon, Soleimani was allegedly planning attacks on diplomatic targets.
Oh look…
Defense Stocks Lockheed Martin, Northrop, Raytheon Rally After U.S. Kills Top Iranian Commander
https://www.investors.com/news/defense-stocks-higher-u-s-kills-top-iranian-commander/
Apparently there are further drone strikes being carried out in Iraq at this very moment.
Airstrikes targeting Iraqi militia reported north of Baghdad, killing five yet-to-be-identified members of an Iran-backed militia.
The chances of this situation de-escalating just suffered a major blow in light of the fact that Trump is not only taunting Iran and boasting of his deeds but carrying out MORE strikes this very moment.