Responses to President Trump’s decision to take out General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, has sent reverberations throughout the Middle East and prompted both praise and panic from American political figures. Count former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley among those who unequivocally agree with Trump’s “strong and right” move.
“Qassem Soleimani was an arch terrorist with American blood on his hands,” the ambassador said in a statement on social media Thursday evening. “His demise should be applauded by all who seek peace and justice. Proud of President Trump for doing the strong and right thing.”
Qassem Soleimani was an arch terrorist with American blood on his hands. His demise should be applauded by all who seek peace and justice. Proud of President Trump for doing the strong and right thing. @realDonaldTrump 🇺🇸
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 3, 2020
Haley has consistently condemned Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. While serving as ambassador to the U.N., Haley spoke out agains the terror-funding state, including for its “total disregard of the sovereignty” in Iraq.
“For almost 40 years, the Iranian regime has existed outside the community of law-abiding nations. It is difficult to name a conflict in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints on it,” Haley said in a speech on Sept. 20, 2018. “The Iranian regime has backed dictators who gas their own people. It stokes conflict. It funds foreign fighters and terrorists. It transfers missiles to militants. It acts against the interests and policies of this Security Council, time and time again. Across the Middle East, Iran has trampled on the sovereignty of its neighbors. In Lebanon. In Syria. In Yemen. And the Iranian regime has shown a total disregard of the sovereignty of a country that is at a critical stage in its political development: Iraq.”
The U.S. Department of State announced in April 2019 that Soleimani, as head of the Iranian and Iran-backed forces in Iraq, was responsible for operations that resulted in the deaths of 608 U.S. soldiers in the Iraq War (2003-2011), which is 17 percent of U.S. personnel killed over the course of the conflict.
In a statement issued Thursday night after the airstrikes on Soleimani, the U.S. Department of Defense held the deceased general responsible for “the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.” The Pentagon also accused Soleimani of actively working to conduct more attacks on U.S. diplomats and service members.
“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,” the Defense Department revealed. “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. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months – including the attack on December 27th – culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.”
On Friday, Trump delivered a televised statement addressing the strike targeting Soleimani, which he said was carried out in order to “stop a war.”
“The United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the #1 terrorist anywhere in the world, Qassem Soleimani,” said Trump. “Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him.”
“For years the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its ruthless Quds force under Soleimani’s leadership has targeted, injured, and murdered murder hundreds of American civilians and servicemen,” said Trump. “The recent attacks on U.S. Targets in Iraq, including rockets strikes that killed an American and injured four American servicemen very badly as well as a violent assault on our embassy in Baghdad, were carried out at the direction of Soleimani. Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far as way as New Delhi and London.”
“We took action last night to stop a war,” he said. “We did not take action to start a war.”
The president ended by appealing to the people of Iran, saying, “The future belongs to the people of Iran, those that seek peaceful co-existence and cooperation, not the terrorist war lords who that plunder their nation to finance blood shed abroad.”
President Donald Trump speaks for the first time after the targeted, military strike that killed terrorist Qasem Soleimani. pic.twitter.com/FcKbT4UJMO
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) January 3, 2020