# US assassinates commanding general of Iran Quds force **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 3, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821 "2020-01-03T02:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/121 "2020-01-03T16:46:05Z")
Putin wants Belarus reintegrated with Russia, from December 24th: > **[Belarus' leader warns Russia against forceful merger](https://apnews.com/general-news-0ef06c716e331bd4411441a8b4b63af7)** > > The president of Belarus is warning Russia that an attempt by Moscow to force a merger of the two ex-Soviet neighbors could trigger a war. > [@](#): > > The president of Belarus warned Russia on Tuesday against a forced merger of the two ex-Soviet neighbors, saying such a move by Moscow could trigger a war. > > In an interview with Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the West would see a forceful attempt to join the two countries as a threat and stand up to Russia. > > His statement reflected simmering tensions between the two allies sparked by the Kremlin’s push for deeper integration. > > Lukashenko has ruled Belarus, a nation of 10 million people, for more than a quarter century while tolerating little dissent and relying on cheap energy and loans from Russia. Then, just 7-odd hours ago: > **[Russia halts oil supplies to Belarus](https://tass.com/economy/1105463)** > > Two oil refineries in the country continue to operate, but their capacity has been reduced to the minimum acceptable level > [@](#): > > MINSK, January 3. /TASS/. Russia has stopped oil supplies to Belarus, two oil refineries in the country continue to operate, but their capacity has been reduced to the minimum acceptable level, a source in Belneftekhim Concern informed TASS on Friday. > > “Russian oil is not delivered. The capacity of oil refineries has been reduced to the minimum technologically permissible level,” the source said. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/122 "2020-01-03T16:47:23Z")
While the US is distracted with Iraq, Russia will invade Belarus and take it over. Just watch. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/123 "2020-01-03T16:53:53Z")
This has nothing to do with Politics or Elections. I’m going to move it over to Great Debates and combine it with the existing thread over there. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/124 "2020-01-03T16:54:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > First, any Iranian war would be a naval/air war. Why would we invade? There’s absolutely nothing in it for us. It’s not like their navy has become MORE capable since the last time we wrecked it, and we’re very likely to be dominant in the air as well. Plus, their economy is highly dependent on oil, which means that they’re dependent on tankers and oil pipelines, both of which are easy to spot and capture/destroy. > > Iran is a second rate at best power. Probably more like third rate when you get right down to it. They are not a serious threat. It ultimately depends on which war Iran chooses to fight, which battlefields they choose to fight us on, and when they choose to do it. Let’s not forget the fact that the US military is pretty far from home, and Iran is essentially defending its home. Let’s also consider there are at least two other nations considerably more powerful than Iran who don’t want the United States to win in a war with Iran, so it’s likely that they’d get a helping hand. And finally, Europe doesn’t need another refugee crisis, as it would only put more pressure on center left regimes that are desperately fighting off nationalism internally and foreign pressure from Russia. Whatever upside the US would get from a hot conflict with Iran would be short-lived. It might last just long enough for the Donald to get a photo op aboard a USS carrier and put up a sign that reads “Keep Iran Great.” But that moment would quickly fade. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/125 "2020-01-03T16:54:41Z")
That may explain the Trump/Putin conversation a couple of days ago. They were exchanging late Christmas presents: Vlad: Donny, I need you to look the other way while I repatriate a small Russian territory of no consequence to you. Donald: Anything for you, Vlad. You know that. I’ll just need you to do me a small favor, tho… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/126 "2020-01-03T17:02:09Z")
Lol, I would think Putin is smart enough to not even bring up Belarus, saying instead “This guy is bad, Mr President, very bad. I would like to get him, but my hands are tied. But you? You are the only one who can do this, Mr President. And my team has determined he is going to attack an American base in a week, so this… problem… has to be fixed quickly. Imagine saying you saved lives instead of avenging them, Mr President! That’s nice, no?” ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/127 "2020-01-03T17:04:53Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Killing Suleiman, accident or not, is an adequate retaliation for their attack on our Embassy. Let them think twice about unprovoked acts of aggression against us or our Allies. The Iranian government is not a popular one and some USA carrot and stick might pay off. Sure, this will convince them to lay off and back down the same way the September 11th attacks made us think twice about our continued involvement in the Middle East. There is no way this does anything but galvanize the anti-American sentiment in Iran, and make them feel the need to escalate their aggression against us. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/128 "2020-01-03T17:05:30Z")
Russia apparently has called Trump’s decision “short-sighted” and will lead to “grave consequences”. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/129 "2020-01-03T17:11:35Z")
I think I heard that the justification for the attack was to thwart an “imminent” attack on US interests. If the attack was “imminent” then killing the general won’t stop it. If it wasn’t imminent, then it was an unprovoked assassination. The senator from Connecticut (D) on NPR this morning said that Trump’s approach to Iran is all tactics, no strategy. Seems right. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/130 "2020-01-03T17:13:07Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I have been fired due to my age and will be out of here on Saint April Fool’s Day. Any bets if things will hold off until then? I’ll take “it’s not going to hold off”. Do you have some sick leave you can use and boogie on out of there? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/131 "2020-01-03T17:17:55Z")
Lol, some wag on Twitter just noted that Trump has implemented the “Ryan Doctrine”, put into place by Tom Clancy’s fictional everyman President, Jack Ryan (uh, spoilers?), where Ryan kills an Iranian leader via drone strike during a televised speech, and then declares that the US will summarily kill anyone it considers a danger to US interests. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/132 "2020-01-03T17:23:33Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I think I heard that the justification for the attack was to thwart an “imminent” attack on US interests. > > If the attack was “imminent” then killing the general won’t stop it. If it wasn’t imminent, then it was an unprovoked assassination. > > The senator from Connecticut (D) on NPR this morning said that Trump’s approach to Iran is all tactics, no strategy. Seems right. All this makes strategic sense from _Putin’s_ point of view. Distract from Belarus. Increase oil prices. Fubar the United States. Make their idiot President feel like a man for playing Gavrilo Princip on a massive scale. Start a war which will increase oil prices more, increasing demands to get rid of sanctions. And more. A lot more. But, yeah, from the US perspective, Trump’s actions make little sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/133 "2020-01-03T17:27:39Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > ^ > The less a white dude knows about the region the more confident they are in their “analysis” and the posts. > Never fails. Not so much a white thing as an American thing. I feel your pain. ‘Listen, the Iranians have been around for 2000 years blah blah blah’ ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/134 "2020-01-03T17:31:03Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > He also had another secret phone call with Putin 2 days ago. That’s just as likely a reason. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/135 "2020-01-03T17:33:03Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > Cite? [Super-friendly phone call.](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7jved/trump-and-putin-had-a-nice-christmas-chat-but-the-white-house-isnt-talking-about-it) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/136 "2020-01-03T17:49:01Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > You haven’t contradicted anything I said here; on the contrary you’ve reinforced my statement that the US wins in the short, kinetic timeframe. Just as they did in Iraq and Afghanistan, and went on to get shredded in the insurgency/terrorism battle. > Iran is probably the most capable/decentralized/experienced foe the US has ever faced in this regard. > > The US couldn’t even defeat the Taliban FFS, how do you think they’re going to face a Quds apparatus that operates from Tehran to Lebanon? So . . . why _do_ that second part? Why not just win in the short kinetic part, like you said, and then just _not bother_ with the decentralized insurgency? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/137 "2020-01-03T17:54:44Z")
So, this bad guy was planning some outrage, and we killed him as a prevention. OK. Who told us about the planning and the immediacy thereof? Sounds like we have really great intelligence sources in Iran. And these sources? Is this from a _different_ intelligence community than the deep-state corrupted intelligence community that absitively posolutely cannot be relied upon? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/138 "2020-01-03T17:54:55Z")
The problem for Lukashenko is that he’s been in power for, what, 20 years or more? And during this time, Belarus has been far and away the most pro-Russian former Soviet republic. This is the ‘thanks’ he gets. It’ll be interesting to see how shutting off Belarus’ energy will be received by people in Belarus and how they react. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/139 "2020-01-03T17:58:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi also condemned the “assassination” — which was carried out in Baghdad — calling it “an act of aggression on Iraq” and “breach of sovereignty that will lead to war in Iraq, the region, and the world.” > **['Dangerous escalation' and 'severe revenge': The world responds to the US...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/03/qasem-soleimani-death-world-responds-to-us-assassination-of-irans-top-general.html)** > > U.S. assassination of Iran's top general Qasem Soleimani is sending shockwaves through the Middle East and beyond. Anyone care to speculate on how this compares to the assassination of Ferdinand? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821/140 "2020-01-03T18:08:14Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > But, yeah, from the US perspective, Trump’s actions make little sense. I wonder what Trump’s military advisors think of this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-assassinates-commanding-general-of-iran-quds-force/845821.md?page=8)