House Judiciary Committee ranking member Devin Nunes suggests that the latest move by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) is a good reason to eliminate FISC.

FISC presiding Judge James E. Boasberg appointed liberal lawyer David Kris as Amicus Curiae (impartial advisor to the court) in order to ensure that the evidence submitted by the FBI for FISA warrants in the future is accurate in order to comply with the Inspector General's report in December 2019.

Is David Kris impartial?

From his "short" blog on the IG report on Crossfire Hurricane, Kris expressed his opinion of AG Barr and Clinton's AG Janet Reno. (Janet Reno of Waco, Texas and Branch Davidians fame.)

In my professional lifetime, Attorney General Janet Reno  probably represents the end of the spectrum closest to pure law enforcement, farthest away from politics. Barr is pretty clearly at the other end, and when his second tour as attorney general is done, we may be able to look back and assess authoritatively (perhaps with the benefit of an inspector general report) whether and to what extent he pushed the edges of the spectrum further (or too far) toward the political.

David Kris criticized the "Nunes Memo" shortly after it was released in February of 2018. The memo was the work of the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, exposing the corrupt Russia Collusion investigation which is called Crossfire Hurricane. Michael Horowitz, in his IG report of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, largely corroborated the Nunes Memo. Kris:

The central irony of the memo prepared by House intelligence chairman Devin Nunes, we now know, is that it tried to deceive the American people in precisely the same way that it falsely accused the FBI of deceiving the FISA Court. 

This video compilation provides an accurate sampling of Kris's view of the president. He, like the rest of the resistance, makes assertions unsupported by evidence or reality.  Keep in mind that everything he accuses the president of has been debunked by the Mueller Report and the Horowitz report.

The real central irony: the FISC chooses a FISC apologist to reform the FISC

On the appointment of David Kris to oversee reforms at the FBI after the Inspector General's report on FISA warrant abuses, Rep. Devin Nunes commented,

"It's hard to imagine a worse person the FISC could have chosen, outside Comey, McCabe, or Schiff. It’s a ridiculous choice. The FBI lied to the FISC, and to help make sure that doesn’t happen again, the FISC chose an FBI apologist who denied and defended those lies. The FISC is setting its own credibility on fire.”

David Kris is an apologist who has failed to see, even when presented with evidence, that both the FBI and FISC were incompetent or worse.

Kris is a true believer in the FISC

He defended the FISC on the Carter Page FISAs, saying that they were subjected to exacting scrutiny and that FISC is not just a rubber stamp.

In sum, the court’s letter and various public statements, as well as the statistical evidence, show that FISA applications are subjected to exacting scrutiny; the FISA Court is not a rubber stamp. And they show that this scrutiny is effectuated in many ways, most of them informal... The absence of a “hearing” on the Carter Page FISAs does not in any way suggest that the FISA Court treated the applications casually or carelessly.

Congressman Mark Meadows said that Republicans in Congress will be asking Judge Boasberg to remove Kris from the process. He also said if the FBI and FISC do not implement the necessary reforms, the FISC may not be reauthorized in the spring.

In a blog, Kris acknowledges the Horowitz report and the problems in the FBI and FISC, but he also continued to attack the president, AG Barr, and John Durham, suggesting that they are the real problem - which does not come across as impartial.

Go here for more on David Kris.

Watch Devin Nunes explain why David Kris is a bad choice to oversee reforms at the FISC.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy believes that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has withheld from the Senate the articles of impeachment to delay the start of the Senate trial. A late start will keep candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders in the Senate chamber rather than on the campaign in Iowa.

Is this a coincidence? 

Pelosi delays to harm Sanders and help Biden

McCarthy suggested that Pelosi has delayed sending the impeachment articles to the Senate to ensure that Bernie Sanders will be sitting at his desk in the Senate instead of campaigning to win the February 3rd Iowa caucuses.

Once Pelosi sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate, the trial will begin. Once the trial begins, no other business will be conducted by the Senate, and the senators will be at their desks six days a week until the trial is over.

Even if Pelosi sends the articles to the Senate later this week, McCarthy does not think the trial could start until the next week. Bill Clinton's impeachment trial took five weeks. During the trial, Senators must work six days a week until the trial is completed. The Iowa Democratic Caucus is on February 3rd. On this timetable, four of the Democrat candidates will be sitting in the Senate that day: Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. This gives a big advantage to Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden.

Why doesn't the Democrat leadership want Bernie?

Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emmanuel, and others in Democrat leadership are afraid that Sanders will not be able to win the presidency because he is openly socialist, which may play well with the base, but won't win votes in the campaign against President Trump. His plan to replace private health care insurance with Medicare for all would not do well in swing states.

Emmanuel pointed out that a Sanders candidacy would make it hard to win over the battleground states. “You need a candidate with a message that can help us win swing voters in battleground states. The degree of difficulty dramatically increases under a Bernie Sanders's candidacy. It just gets a lot harder.”

But Sanders is now polling in first place in Iowa, replacing Pete Buttigieg who has fallen behind Sanders and Warren but remains ahead of Joe Biden.

If Sanders is stuck in the Senate for weeks, it is likely to hurt his campaign with just over 3 weeks until the Iowa caucuses.

The Democrats rigged the nomination against Sanders in 2016

Would it be out of character for the Democrats to try to harm Sanders' campaign? Oh wait, there is precedent for that from the Democrat party in 2016!

Bernie Sanders accused the DNC of rigging the nomination process to favor Hillary Clinton back in 2016. Donna Brazile and Elizabeth Warren said the same thing.

WATCH:

This is not about fairness or love for the Constitution, If Nancy Pelosi's delay to deliver the articles of impeachment has been about harming Bernie Sanders, she is showing herself to be a cynical political hack that puts party and power before country. But we already knew that.

After refusing for days to take responsibility for the missile strike that took Ukrainian Flight 752 down, Iran finally admitted that they shot the Boeing 737 down with an SA-15 anti-ballistic missile. They attributed the tragedy that killed 176 people to operator error, but they are still placing blame on the US, too.

The Victims

The victims of Flight 752 hailed from seven different countries including Iran. The passenger count  was Iran 82, Canada 63, Ukraine 11, Sweden 10, Afghanistan 4, UK 3, Germany 3

Iranian government takes responsibility, sort of

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the missile strike was an unforgivable mistake and that Iran would improve its defense systems to avoid such accidents.

According to the Washington Examiner, "The accident occurred while the Iranian military was on high alert and while Tehran neglected to ground civilian flights that night, a Western intelligence official told the Washington Examiner."

Iran still blames the US

Even after having to finally admit that the missile strike was their fault, Iran is blaming the US for the accident. Iranian Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif cited "human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster."

Iranians protest Supreme Leader

But Iranians are blaming Khameinei's government and the IRGC. They are furious and have poured into the streets to protest the fatal mistake. They hold the IRGC and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for the deaths of 176 people, and are demanding to know why all planes weren't grounded while Iran was attacking Iraq. They want Khameinei out.

President Trump tweets a warning to Tehran

President Trump has been monitoring the protests in Iran. He warned the Iranian government not to shut down the internet or harm the protestors. He warned that the world is watching what they do.

It has been a long time since the Democrats in the House passed two articles of impeachment against President Trump on December 18, 2019.

But now, Nancy Pelosi is finally ready to send the impeachment articles to the Senate

The Speaker of the House announced she will send the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week after holding them for more than 3 weeks. She denies that she was feeling pressure from her own party, but Democrats in the House and Senate have started urging her to send them.

Senate Democrats break ranks

Pelosi held the articles for so long that even some of her Democratic colleagues were questioning her methods. Senator Diane Feinstein told Pelosi this week to send the articles or drop it (Feinstein did walk that back later.) “The longer it goes on the less urgent it becomes. So if it’s serious and urgent, send them over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over,” Feinstein said.

Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, both Democrats, said the Senate needs to move ahead with the trial, whether they get their witnesses or not.

Even a House Democrat, Adam Smith, chair of the Armed Services Committee urged Pelosi to send the articles.

WATCH:

Remember when Impeachment was urgent?

Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Jerrold Nadler, and the rest of the Democrats that could get face time with the press spent over 3 months insisting that impeaching President Trump was a matter of national security. They rushed through show hearings in the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee in which a lot of "witnesses" testified about their disagreements with President Trump's decisions. Then they spent more time on television telling us how corrupt and criminal this president is, and how urgent it is to get him out of office before he corrupted the 2020 election.

Only Democrats voted to impeach Trump

On a party-line vote, the Democrats voted to impeach the president and then...nothing. The articles were not delivered to the Senate, Pelosi didn't want to talk about impeachment, and for the last 3 weeks, everyone has been wondering if the impeachment is going to happen. It has been so long you might have to refresh your memory on what the articles even were. Something about abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, I think.

Pelosi justified the withholding, saying she was keeping the articles until Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority leader would explain how the trial would work. She also wanted to call more witnesses and subpoena more documents. Translation: Pelosi was making demands and was waiting until McConnell caved into them. But, the Senate has the sole power to try impeachments, so Pelosi can't control the process once the articles are delivered.

What urgency?

When Pelosi refused to send the articles to the Senate, ordinary Americans knew they had been scammed. There was no urgency to remove the president on the part of Pelosi or the Democrats anymore. We had all been manipulated by the Democrats and the mainstream media.

The Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments

Meanwhile, McConnell and the Senate are moving forward using the precedents set by the Clinton impeachment, in which there was a briefing, opening arguments, questions from Senators and a vote to dismiss. McConnell has the votes needed to move forward without having to grant concessions to the Democrats, and most likely to vote to dismiss.

McConnell has said that the impeachment is a sham and should be dispensed with as quickly as possible.  Growing the impeachment trial with witnesses and more testimony will certainly tie up the Senate for too long, and as McConnell said, ''they have other things to do."

We can only hope that this will all be over soon.

On January 7, shortly after Iran bombed two bases in Iraq in retaliation for the US killing of their top general, Qasem Soleimani, a Ukrainian plane was shot down as it left the airport in Tehran. 176 people were killed.

The victims

The victims hailed from seven different nations: Iran 82, Canada 63, Ukraine 11, Sweden 10, Afghanistan 4, UK 3, Germany 3. Some were believed to have dual citizenship in Iran.

At first, it was thought that there was an engine failure in the Boeing 737 jet, but now it is believed that the plane was shot down by an Iran-owned Russian anti-ballistic missile.

Why was the plane in the air?

Questions immediately arise, such as why was there a plane in the air at all?

The FAA ordered all US planes to suspend all flights over Iran, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf. It is unknown why Iran did not also suspend flights out of Tehran.

The plane was only in flight for about two minutes and had achieved an altitude of almost 8,000 feet when it was struck by a Russian-made SA-15 surface-to-air missile shot from a manned and mobile Tor air-defense.

It is likely that Iran had their Tor air-defense vehicles manned and ready in anticipation of a US response to their rocket attacks in Iraq a couple of hours before.

At this time, it is believed that the strike on Flight 752 was a mistake.

Iran has denied that they shot the plane down.

This is a breaking news story.

WATCH:

Ricky Gervais lands more on the left, politically, but that didn't stop him from savagely and hilariously going after the gross and rampant hypocrisy of the Hollywood elite at the 2020 Golden Globes ceremony.

Admittedly, this isn't the first time he has lampooned them, but it may the first time they have been told that they have nothing to say.

Watching the reaction of the crowd is amusing as the beautiful celebrities are not sure how to respond to Gervais's jokes.

Among other things, Gervais told the glitterati that they should not tell other people what to think because they know nothing about the real world.

I am not endorsing Gervais in general as he has the same potty mouth most comedians have, but the video below is free of that, and full of things you always wished you could say to the preachy celebrities, producers, writers, and directors in Hollywood.

WATCH:

Events continue to escalate since a US airstrike in Baghdad killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. It is hard to sort fact from fiction at the moment in the fast and furious debate swirling through Washington, Iraq, Iran and the mainstream media, but let's give it a try.

In an interview with Chris Wallace on his Sunday Fox News program, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo provided some clarity on the president's strategy going forward. In a nutshell, it's to show Iran that there will be consequences if they harm Americans.

Why the urgency to take out Soleimani now?

Iran has been provoking the US for a while now, attacking our drones and attacking ships, but this time President Trump drew a line in the sand, saying that the US would not tolerate the death of another American. An American contractor was killed just a little over a week ago in Iraq in an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia attack. Then the US embassy in Baghdad was attacked by Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia. As a result the US took out the mastermind, Soleimani, that was behind those attacks.

Many on the left are accusing the president of using the Soleimani killing to distract from impeachment. Wallace asked Pompeo why the US needed to take out Soleimani now. Pompeo responded that the risks associated with inaction on the part of the US were greater than the risks of acting.

Wallace also asked if the American people should have access to all the information in the briefings, but Pompeo pointed out that some intelligence cannot be shared publicly as it would jeopardize further intelligence gathering which will be needed going forward.

Democrats argue that Trump had no authority

Nancy Pelosi has accused the Trump administration of acting without authority, but the administration maintains that their authority derives from the AUMF (authorization to use military force) Congress approved back in 2002. They also delivered a formal notification about the airstrike on Soleimani on Saturday, January 4th, as required by the War Powers Act. That act states that notification has to be delivered within 48 hours of the action.

Democrats accuse Trump of starting a war with Iran

Pelosi also accuses the president of starting a war with Iran, but Soleimani was killed in Iraq, where he had been banned by the UN. The killing of Soleimani was not an act of war, it was the death of a terrorist, one who had killed many Americans, Iraqis, and others. Senator Marco Rubio addressed this argument.

General David Petraeus: Soleimani killing more significant that Bin Laden and Baghdadi

General David Petraeus, commanding general of the MNF (multi-national forces) in Iraq from 2007-2008,  said the death of  Soleimani was more important than Bin Laden or Baghdadi. In an interview with Foreign Affairs, Petraeus said that the killing of Soleimani is a strong message that the US will respond to the aggressive tactics of Iran and the killing of Americans.

David Petraeus: It is impossible to overstate the importance of this particular action. It is more significant than the killing of Osama bin Laden or even the death of [Islamic State leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi. Suleimani was the architect and operational commander of the Iranian effort to solidify control of the so-called Shia crescent, stretching from Iran to Iraq through Syria into southern Lebanon. He is responsible for providing explosives, projectiles, and arms and other munitions that killed well over 600 American soldiers and many more of our coalition and Iraqi partners just in Iraq, as well as in many other countries such as Syria. So his death is of enormous significance.

Iran is divided

In November, Iranians protested their government. International sanctions and military spending have kept the Iranian people poor and they rose up to protest. The government responded with a brutal crackdown, killing many, and imprisoning thousands. They shut down the internet for days to try to prevent news from getting out and made sharing video of the unrest a criminal offense. Nonetheless, video has trickled out.

According to the BBC, "The Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has spent billions of dollars arming, training and paying militias in the region, saying that if the force does not fight Iran's enemies beyond its borders then it will have to face them on the streets of Tehran."

Iraq is divided along religious lines

What is happening in Iraq and in the Middle East is basically a religious war of Shi'ites against Sunnis.  The Shi'ites are in charge of Iran and almost control Iraq now. But Sunnis may by fighting back.

There is evidence Iraq is anything but united and that many Iraqis want Iranian influence out of their country. In October and November 2019, Iraqis attacked the Iran consulate twice in Karbala and set it on fire. They also tore down the Iranian flag and replaced it with the Iraqi flag. Iran sent Qasem Soleimani to advise on how to handle the protests in Iraq, and 250 people were killed during the protests.

Part of Iraqi Parliament votes to remove all foreign troops from Iraq

On Sunday, the Iraqi Parliament voted to remove foreign troops from Iraq. The vote was one-sided, all Shi'ite lawmakers. The Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the vote. They are concerned that an Iran-led insurgency is the likely alternative in the absence of coalition forces.

According to the Jerusalem Post, "One Sunni member of parliament told Reuters that both groups feared that kicking out U.S.-led coalition forces would leave Iraq vulnerable to an insurgency, undermine security and heighten the power of Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias.

Indeed, knowing the power and influence that Iran wields in the region, Iraq could easily become a vassal state in a growing Iranian empire.

Pompeo placed the blame for Iranian aggression and endless war squarely on Obama

President Trump has talked a lot about getting the US military out of the Middle East and has said someone else needs to fight over it.

Wallace asked Pompeo if we were getting out of the Middle East or stepping back in? Pompeo stated,  "Endless wars are the direct result of weakness."

"The Obama administration created enormous risk to the American people in Iran, this administration is working to reduce that risk."

Wallace asked Pompeo if impeachment has emboldened our enemies, to which Pompeo responded, "You should ask Mr. Soleimani."

After the US airstrike that President Trump ordered killed Iran's top general Qasem Soliemani on Friday, there were a lot of strong reactions from the usual folks.

How did we get here?

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been making the talk show rounds, explaining how Iran and all of its proxies became so strong. He points to the Obama policy of appeasement of Iran and the resulting strengthening of the Shia militias in Iraq, Hezbollah, and other problems.

Why didn't we know who Soleimani was?

Now that we know what a dangerous person Soleimani was, why were most people ignorant of his existence?

Perhaps we can attribute our general ignorance of such an important person to the mainstream media. which has been focused on partisan issues in Washington, and not so much on people and events that can seriously threaten us.

Take Soleimani for instance: he has been operating in the middle east for decades. He has had a hand in many of the events that have been going on there, but have you ever heard of him?

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley did warn the UN about Soleimani:

In the mainstream media, Haley's warnings fell on deaf ears. They had "more important things to do," like trying to get rid of Donald Trump.

What the Democrats are saying

The Democrats have taken the position that President Trump is the real danger to the world, and Qasem Soleimani was an Iranian folk hero.

Colin Kaepernick accused the US of committing terrorism.

Bernie Sanders: “Trump’s dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars.”

Elizabeth Warren acknowledged that Soleimani was a bad guy, but she called the attack a “reckless move escalates the situation with Iran and increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict”.

Many are outraged that they were not consulted before the attack, but their arguments are baseless, as the president was fully within his right to take Soleimani out. Soleimani was a terrorist and he had been banned from Iraq.

Chuck Schumer warned, “When the security of the nation is at stake, decisions must not be made in a vacuum. It is paramount for administrations to get an outside view to prevent groupthink.”

Nancy Pelosi chided President Trump: “This initiation of hostilities was taken without an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) against Iran, without the consultation of the Congress and without the articulation of a clear and legitimate strategy to either the Congress or the public.”

How will Iran retaliate?

Speculation abounds regarding what form Iran's promised "crushing revenge" will take. One way they could retaliate is through cyberwarfare.

It turns out that the cyberwar with Iran has been going on since 2009 at least, when Iran hacked Twitter. 2012 was a banner year for attacks. Iran mostly targets "soft" targets. The US targets government computer systems that are used to run Iran's nuclear program. They also target military systems.

Go here to see how many and how long Iran and the US have been hacking each other: US Iran cyber attacks.

Iranian General Gholamali Abuhamzeh mentioned some potential targets that could include the Strait of Hormuz, an important thoroughfare for American naval vessels and commercial traffic. He said there were at least 35 targets that Iran could reach including Tel Aviv.

Tehran also has announced that it named a successor: the force's little-known deputy chief, Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani. According to the Washington Post, Qaani is not a networker like Soleimani, but an administrative guy. He has been around just as long as Soleimani, so it is expected that the empire Soleimani built will endure.

How will the US respond to Iranian revenge?

The State Department has pointed out that whatever the Iranians do, it will just be a continuance of what they have already been doing. That was the point of taking out Soleimani. He has been killing and maiming Americans for a long time now.

President Trump promised to target 52 sites that are important to Iran if Iran tries to get revenge for the death of Soleimani.

This is a developing story.

Watch Iraqis celebrate the death of Soleimani:

 

 

One day after a successful pre-emptive defensive strike took out Iran's top exporter of terror, Qassim Soleimani, the US State Department and President Trump are arguing that the strike was necessary to save American lives.

Ortagus stated: "We killed a terrorist yesterday."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strike was designed to disrupt Soleimani's plots, deter further plotting by Iran, and de-escalate tensions with Iran.

For more on Soleimani and his past go here.

President Trump justifies the strike

President Trump issued a statement justifying the strike:

General Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more... but got caught!

"He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people, including the recent large number of PROTESTERS killed in Iran itself. While Iran will never be able to properly admit it, Soleimani was both hated and feared within the country. They are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe. He should have been taken out many years ago!"

In his first official appearance since Soleimani's death, President Trump answered his critics with, "We took action to stop a war, not to start a war."

WATCH:

Neither Bush nor Obama went after Soleimani

Neither President Bush or President Obama tried to take Soleimani out during their tenure. Bush thought it was too risky, and Obama wanted to improve relations with Iran. So, Soleimani continued his terrorist activities unopposed by the US until President Trump. Some described Soleimani as worse than Bin Laden or Al Baghdadi.

Senator Mitch McConnell justified the attack

Senator Mitch McConnell briefed the Senate and explained why Soleimani was such a threat, saying, "Soleimani made it his life's work to take the Iranian revolutionary calls for "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" and turned them into action." McConnel called Soleimani's actions destabilizing for the entire middle east.

Democrats assert that the President needed congressional authorization

Unsurprisingly, the Democrats are criticizing President Trump, saying that he should have gotten authorization before taking Soleimani out. 2020 candidate Tulsi Gabbard said that the strike was an act of war against Iran and hadn't been authorized by Congress. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, and Pete Buttigieg echoed similar opinions.

But the war in Iraq, where Soleimani was killed, was authorized by Congress in 2001 by an almost unanimous vote. 

The preamble of the ‘‘Authorization for Use of Military Force’’ states:

Whereas, on September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence were
committed against the United States and its citizens; and
Whereas, such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that
the United States exercise its rights to self-defense and to protect
United States citizens both at home and abroad; and
Whereas, in light of the threat to the national security and foreign
policy of the United States posed by these grave acts of violence;
and
Whereas, such acts continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary
threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United
States; and
Whereas, the President has authority under the Constitution to
take action to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism
against the United States:

IRGC and Qods designated Terrorist organization

Obviously, the president has a duty to defend Americans against terrorism, and Soleimani was a terrorist. Indeed, the president designated "Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Qods Force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act" on April 8, 2019. Soleimani was the Iranian Quds Force commander.

Congress approved the War on Terror long ago, and the strike on Soleimani was another action in that war. The strike was not a declaration of war, it was just another action in an ongoing war against terrorism.  Congress could amend the authorization, but, Congress is too busy with impeachment to worry about re-visiting the Authorization of Military Force.

Senator Lindsay Graham justifies the attack

Senator Lindsey Graham was asked if the president should have consulted Congress before the strike against Soleimani. He responded that that would be the last thing the president should do.

Graham emphasized that the strike against Soleimani was not an act of revenge, but a pre-emptive defensive strike to disrupt Soleimani's plans to attack Americans. Graham also said that Soleimani is dead today because he miscalculated what President Trump would do.

Graham advised that the US needs to let Iran know what will happen if they try to retaliate. He said that if the Iranians know what we will do, it will moderate their response.

Graham also warned that Iran has armed Iraqi Shiite militias and that the Iraqi government is in danger of being destabilized by Iranian influence.

Iran threatens "crushing" revenge

Iran's Supreme leader Khameini is threatening "crushing revenge." He is portraying Soleimani as a martyr. More to come.

Is a war with Iran next?

Fox News contributor Walid Phares suggests that Iran is not ready for a war with the US.

WATCH:

Apparently, while talking heads were debating whether or not the seige of the US embassy in Baghdad was Trump's "Benghazi," Gen. Qassim Soleimani, leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, was planning a campaign to kill more Americans in Iraq. At the same time, the Pentagon, under the direction of President Trump, was planning a preemptive strike to take Soleimani out before he could carry out his plans.

US drone attack takes out Iran's top general

On January 2, Soliemani was in a convoy leaving Baghdad’s international airport with Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis when an American drone strike took out the convoy.

Qassim Soleimani  was the mastermind behind the attacks on the US in Iraq

According to the Epoch Times,

"Soleimani is considered the architect behind Iran’s elite Quds Force—an elite unit within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that is tasked with Iran’s extra-territorial military operations—including activities to expand Iranian influence in Syria and rocket attacks on Israel."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Soliemani a martyr and threatened revenge on the US and Israel, though Israel did not participate in the airstrike. Khamenei declared that there would be three days of mourning for the martyr.

Soleimani was actively planning more attacks

Soleimani was behind the airstrike that killed an American contractor last week, and also the attack on the US embassy this week.

The Pentagon announced that,

“At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization."

"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more."

US publicly warns Iran against further attacks

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been publicly warning the Iranians and the Iranian backed Iraqi militias that the US would take decisive action if they continued to attack US interests in Iraq. since last Friday when an American contractor was killed by an Iranian proxy Iraqi militia.

Timeline:

  • December 27: Iranian backed Iraqi militia kills American in a rocket attack
  • December 29: The US conducts airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah, a Shiite militia, in Syria and Iraq
  • December 31: Hashed al-Shaabi, a pro-Iranian paramilitary group attacked the US embassy in Baghdad
  • January 1: US regains control of the embassy after bringing in Marine reinforcements
  • January 1: US State Department issues a level four advisory Do Not Travel to Iraq due to terrorism, armed conflict and kidnapping risk
  • January 2: US targets and kills Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in airstrike
  • January 3: Iranian Supreme leader promises retaliation
  • January 3: US media and Democrats in Congress have a meltdown

Do not travel advisory

On January 1st, the US State Department issued a level 4 travel advisory: Do Not Travel due to a high risk of violence and kidnapping,  On January 3rd, they advised all Americans to not approach the embassy in Baghdad and to get out of Iraq. The US Consulate General Erbil in northern Iraq, near Turkey, remains open and continues to provide aid to travelers.

This is a breaking news story.

Representative Dan Crenshaw talks about Soleimani. WATCH:

Copyright© 2025 - Conservative Institute LLC - All Rights Reserved