As you all have heard, on December 31, 2019, a U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was attacked and under siege by Iran-backed militia Kata’ib Hizbollah, who attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy. Now why did they decide to attack the U.S. Embassy? This was in part a retaliation against the U.S. airstrikes on December 29, which targeted five facilities belonging to Hizbollah. Now the reason why the U.S. launched airstrikes, was because of the series of rocket attacks aimed at coalition bases in Iraq which killed an American contractor, wounding several others in the attack. I would say President Trump’s reaction to this attack by Iran is completely justified. Iran has been playing the US for a while now and no-one has done anything about it, making them think it’s ok.
May 2019, Iran attacks oil tankers in the Gulf. June 2019, Iran shot down a US drone. July 2019, Iran seizes a British oil tanker. September 2019, Iran attacked a Saudi state run oil company. December 2019, Iran attacks US military bases in Iraq. December 2019, Iran storms a US embassy in Baghdad. There is a line and Iran has passed it numerous times without any consequences. President Trump finally says enough is enough and sent Marines to Baghdad, with the additional 85th airborne, and hundreds of US troops to stand ready. This will not be like Benghazi where 4 Americans were left to die. Those fearing a draft, there won’t be a draft. Those saying President Trump started the war, read the first couple sentences in this paragraph. President Trump struck back, which is completely justified, but also stated he would prefer to have peace rather than war with Iran.
So in conclusion, President Trump’s reaction to Iran is justified and was called for. The killing of Suleimani was something we should all be grateful for, rather than protesting and apologizing to Iran. Suleimani was scum of the Earth responsible for the deaths of hundreds of US troops, and needed to be taken out. Something no-one else had the guts to do, except our President, Donald Trump.
Dear Jimmy:
I am excited that you decided to write “Was President Trump’s reaction to Iran justified?” because I think relations with Iran may prove to be a central focus in foreign policy in the new future. I think this will continue to be the case as the restart their nuclear program because of Trump decision to cut off foreign relations.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “Iran has been playing the US for a while now and no-one has done anything about it, making them think it’s ok.” I think this is an ill-informed and oversimplified view of the matter because it fails to take into account past administrations and other allies successful negotiations with the regime. Yes Iran is an oppressive state, but that doesn’t justify inflaming tensions to the point of war with Iran
Another sentence that I questioned was: “ Something no-one else had the guts to do, except our President, Donald Trump. ” This stood out for me because there was no personal courage or sacrifice on the part of the President in the killing of Soleimani. The people that have to pay the consequence for the needless escalation are the U.S. servicemen and women who will have to fight the war, and Irani civilians who are under the brow of the regime. Trump is not going to fight in the war, he avoided fighting in the Vietnam War despite draft. The cost of Trump’s pet war will be paid in the blood of our brave military.
As you probably could tell, I don’t agree with you that Trumps killing of Soleimani was justified. One reason I say this is it circumvented diplomatic relations, posing unnecessary costs both in the form of money and lives. Another reason I disagree with you is the result of the attack was the reinstating of the Iran nuclear program, which will only make Iran more powerful. Someone else will fill Soleimani’s shoes but they will be made a lot more powerful with Iran’s construction of nukes
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because you seem to be very passionate and have strong opinions. I hope that you learn to do full contextualized research instead of taking talking points out of the Presidents mouth