&#8220;In both law and politics, I think the essential battle is the meta-battle of framing the narrative. As Sun Tzu said, every battle is won before it’s fought. It’s won by choosing the terrain on which it will be fought.&#8221; – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to The New Yorker&#8217;s Jeffrey Toobin, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/30/the-absolutist-2">June 2014</a>
Although President Donald Trump no doubt prefers to vent his off-the-cuff frustrations in tweet threads and campaign rallies, it is the planned teleprompter format in which he most clearly excels. Since assuming office, Trump&#8217;s State of the Union addresses have consistently been visceral, evocative, rhetorically fine-tune affairs that make brilliant use of audience guests to drive home his substantive agenda.
Last night&#8217;s speech was <a href="https://theresurgent.com/2020/02/04/best-state-of-the-union-ever/">no exception</a>, and the president was tremendously successful in framing the 2020 election as a stark choice between two competing visions of American governance: The economic prosperity, domestic security, and &#8220;peace through strength&#8221; deterrence of the Right, and the socialism, lawlessness, and capitulatory foreign policy of the Left. To borrow from Cruz&#8217;s quoting of Sun Tzu, Trump has &#8220;cho[sen] the terrain on which&#8221; the 2020 election &#8220;will be fought.&#8221;
The president <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/05/president-trump-offers-a-sharp-rebuke-of-socialism-at-precisely-the-right-time/">spoke at length</a> about the revving American economic engine, thus placing on the defensive the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-aocs-squad-will-destroy-democrats-2020-josh-hammer">toxic brand of socialism</a> that has come to dominate the modern Democratic Party. The Democrats are a political party with a <a href="https://www.predictit.org/markets/detail/3633/Who-will-win-the-2020-Democratic-presidential-nomination">statistical frontrunner</a> of a presidential nominee who is a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-bernie-sanders-entire-worldview-grotesquely-josh-hammer">lifelong communist activist</a> — a man who literally honeymooned in the Soviet Union and infamously hung a hammer-and-sickle Soviet flag inside his Burlington, Vermont mayoral office. They are advancing that nominee (and so many others who now mimic his economic illiteracy) in the context of an American electorate that, according to reliable pollster Gallup, is the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americans-are-more-optimistic-about-the-economy-than-they-have-been-in-decades">most optimistic</a> it has been about the economy in decades. Americans <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval_economy-6182.html">currently approve</a> of Trump&#8217;s handling of the economy by over 17%, and Democrats&#8217; solution for that is to stage a presidential primary where one of the leading &#8220;intellectual&#8221; debates among the candidates is whether to literally abolish private health insurance in favor of a government monopoly.
Good luck with that.
The president also spoke about the gruesome horrors of sanctuary cities, the great majority of which are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-why-no-one-pointing-out-sanctuary-cities-josh-hammer">clearly illegal</a> under a straightforward reading of <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1373">8 U.S.C. § 1373(a)</a>: &#8220;Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, the [Department of Homeland Security] information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.&#8221; The president masterfully provided gut-wrenching details of the crimes committed by illegal aliens mollycoddled by sanctuary jurisdictions — thus seemingly borrowing a tactic from Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, each of whom has at times provided vivid details of the underlying murders of those defendants whose capital punishment appeals reach the Court. Trump forced Democrats in the House chamber to retreat to the unenviable position of loudly booing his oratory assaults on criminal aliens and the sanctuary jurisdictions that harbor them. It was a remarkable sight to behold.
The president has thus successfully framed the 2020 election as a referendum about whether the nation will reject the Left&#8217;s two most profoundly ruinous current hobbyhorses: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-a-political-wish-for-2020-less-socialism-more-law-and-order">Socialism and lawlessness</a>. He also spoke directly to the heart and mind of the proverbial <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-who-will-stand-for-the-forgotten-american">forgotten American</a> — the tax-paying, church-attending, law-abiding American who still has an innate love and appreciation for what has always made America great. Say what one might about Trump, but one cannot plausibly deny that he is an &#8220;Americanist,&#8221; properly understood.
The American people will head to the ballot box this November with an exceedingly straightforward choice before them. Here is hoping they make the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-here-are-three-reasons-why-i-plan-vote-josh-hammer">right decision</a>.

President Trump Delivers State Of The Union Address

HAMMER: Trump Successfully Framed The Stark 2020 Election Choice During Last Night’s SOTU Address

2020 Election

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Clarence Thomas

Communism

Democratic Party

Donald Trump

Economy

Law Enforcement

Qassem Soleimani

Radical Islam

Far-left conspiracy network MSNBC promoted a new conspiracy theory on Monday, tying President Donald Trump&#8217;s decision to kill Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qassem Soleimani to testimony that Democrats want in Trump&#8217;s Senate impeachment trial.
Trump authorized a drone strike on Solemani, who was a terrorist responsible for murdering hundreds of American soldiers, as he was leaving Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020, in response to Soleimani&#8217;s involvement in an Iranian terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Former national security adviser John Bolton responded at the time by writing, &#8220;Congratulations to all involved in eliminating Qassem Soleimani. Long in the making, this was a decisive blow against Iran&#8217;s malign Quds Force activities worldwide. Hope this is the first step to regime change in Tehran.&#8221;
On Monday, far-left MSNBC opinion host Lawrence O&#8217;Donnell suggested without evidence that Trump may have authorized Soleimani&#8217;s killing in an effort to dissuade Bolton from testifying against him in the Senate.
O&#8217;Donnell suggested that the proof of his unfounded conspiracy theory was the timing of events, saying that the White House received a manuscript of Bolton&#8217;s book, which alleges that Trump withheld financial assistance from Ukraine until the country would announce an investigation into the Bidens, two days before the strike took out Soleimani.
&#8220;John Bolton is an extreme hawk on Iran,&#8221; O&#8217;Donnell wrote. &#8220;2 days after Bolton submitted his manuscript to the White House, Trump killed Iran&#8217;s General Qassem Soleimani. Coincidence? Or was Trump trying to influence Bolton not to testify to the Senate?&#8221;
O&#8217;Donnell&#8217;s conspiracy theory is completely false as Trump authorized the military to be able to kill Soleimani <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-soleimani-strike-planned-months-ago-trump-waited-for-embassy-attack">seven months ago</a>, which not only predates Democrats&#8217; entire partisan impeachment, but also predates Trump&#8217;s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky which was the catalyst for Democrats&#8217; partisan impeachment.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I guess one good thing about this impeachment hearing is that it will hopefully go late so I don&#39;t have to listen to conspiracy theories like this tonight. <a href="https://t.co/aoOZrDTau3">pic.twitter.com/aoOZrDTau3</a>
&mdash; Cameron Cawthorne (@Cam_Cawthorne) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cam_Cawthorne/status/1221963718000508929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Qasem Soleimani

MSNBC Promotes New Conspiracy Theory Tying Killing Soleimani To Senate Testimony

Impeachment

MSNBC

In an interview with TBN that airs in full Tuesday night, a preview of which has been released exclusively to The Daily Wire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed President Trump’s decision to target Iran’s top military leader, Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. The removal of Soleimani, said the Israeli leader, is a “tremendous achievement” that accomplished two key priorities at once.
Asked how Soleimani’s death will “change the Middle East,” Netanyahu told TBN Television Networks President Matthew Crouch that he believes that, first of all, &#8220;it sends a message of American determination and American strength — it’s a deterrence, a very powerful one.&#8221;
“Secondly, Soleimani himself was the architect and the generator of Iran’s empirical [goals], the Iranian empire,&#8221; Netanyahu continued. &#8220;Iran is predominantly Shiite. [Soleimani] would go into a neighboring country, say Iraq, and he would find Shiites and would create Shiite militias … manned by Iraqi Shiites but commanded by his own officers, Iranian officers. The same he would do in Syria, same he would do in Yemen.&#8221;
“He was beginning to choke the Middle East,” the prime minister stressed. “He wanted to conquer the entire Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula and ultimately destroy Israel. He was beginning to push his forces right next to Israel in Syria — and we responded to them very forcefully, we hit back.”
“But it is important to understand that Iran’s expansion into this horrible empire that brings misery and death to untold numbers of people in the Middle East—by the way, Jews and Arabs alike, Christians Muslims Jews, everyone,” said Netanyahu. “This man was an engine of destruction and conquest and subjugation. And his removal, I think, helps roll back these forces of tyranny.”
“It’s a tremendous achievement,” the prime minister added. “It both strengthens American deterrence but also pushes back Iran’s aggression.”
Video of Netanyahu’s comments below (full interview airs on TBN Tuesday night at 8/7c):
<iframe title="PRAISE | Israel Special Report | Tomorrow Night at 8/7c" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vb-rj7OwANU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
According to a press release issued by TBN Monday, in the 24-minute interview Netanyahu discusses a wide range of topics, including &#8220;Israel’s role as the Middle East’s sole democracy, its determination to aggressively defend itself against Iran and others intent on its destruction, and the important commitment of President Trump and America’s conservative and Christian community to stand in solidarity with Israel and the Jewish people.&#8221;
In response to the Trump-ordered strategic airstrike that took out Soleimani, Iran targeted two Iraqi bases where U.S. personnel were stationed. The next day, President Trump gave a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-addresses-nation-after-attack-no-lives-lost-iran-appears-to-be-standing-down">televised address</a> in which he announced that the strikes resulted in no U.S. or Iraqi deaths and that Iran had signaled that they were “standing down.” In the address, Trump reiterated his commitment to pushing back against Iran’s aggression in the region, particularly as orchestrated by Soleimani.
“As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump declared. “I am pleased to inform you, the American people should be extremely grateful and happy: No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime. We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases. Our great American forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned, and a very good thing for the world.”
“For far too long, all the way back to 1979, to be exact, nations have tolerated Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East. Those days are over,” Trump stated. “Iran has been the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen.”
&#8220;As the head of the Quds Force, Soleimani was personally responsible for some of the absolutely worst atrocities,&#8221; the president explained. &#8220;He trained terrorist armies, including Hezbollah, launching terrorist strikes against civilian targets. He fueled bloody civil wars all across the region. He viciously wounded and murdered thousands of U.S. troops, including the planting of roadside bombs that maim and dismember their victims. Soleimani directed the recent attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq that badly wounded four service members and killed one American, and he orchestrated the violent assault on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. In recent days, he was planning new attacks on American targets, but we stopped him.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-sent-messages-through-three-back-channels-to-u-s-after-attack-to-say-they-were-done">Iran Sent Messages Through ‘Three Back Channels’ To U.S. After Attack To Say They Were Done</a>

Benjamin Netanyahu

WATCH: Netanyahu On Trump Taking Out Soleimani: ‘A Tremendous Achievement’ That Accomplished Two Key Goals

Iran

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

Israel

In a rare appearance on Friday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, praised the country&#8217;s missile strike on a U.S. airbase earlier this month while bashing President Trump as an untrustworthy clown and accusing the U.S. of using Iran&#8217;s downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet, which Iran initially tried to cover up, as a distraction.
“The fact that Iran has the power to give such a slap to a world power shows the hand of God,” Khamenei said, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-khamenei/khamenei-says-irans-strikes-at-us-targets-show-hand-of-god-idUSKBN1ZG0O8">Reuters.</a>
“These American clowns who lie and say they are with the Iranian people should see who the Iranian people are,” said the Iranian leader.
Khameini went on to accuse the U.S. of trying to use Iran&#8217;s horrific downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 to shift international attention from the Trump-ordered strike that took out Iran&#8217;s top military leader, Qassem Soleimani, who Khameini claimed was &#8220;mourned&#8221; by &#8220;millions in Iran.&#8221;
&#8220;Khamenei told the crowd Friday that Trump is not to be trusted and only pretends to support the Iranian people,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/irans-supreme-leader-calls-trump-a-clown-praises-missile-attack">Fox News</a> reports. &#8220;He said Western countries are too weak to &#8216;bring Iranians to their knees.&#8217; He said Iran was willing to negotiate, but not with the U.S.&#8221;
Since Khamenei has not addressed Friday prayers in Tehran since 2012, one Middle East scholar told the Washington Post that his address is a &#8220;symbolically significant act.&#8221;
On January 8, the Iranian regime launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq at the Asad airbase in Anbar Province. The attack followed an airstrike in Baghdad ordered by President Trump that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who he described as one of the &#8220;worst terrorists in history and the father of the roadside bomb.&#8221;
Though no Americans or Iraqis were killed or wounded in the blast, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-11-u-s-troops-treated-after-iran-missile-attack-cnn-politicizes-theres-more-to-the-story">recent report</a> shows that at least 11 U.S. troops were treated for injuries like concussions.
“No one was killed or wounded in the five barrages of multiple missiles that night, although several military personnel who were working were checked for concussions,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/world/middleeast/Iran-missile-attack-American-base.html">The New York Times</a> reported. “The absence of casualties seemed to be the result of luck and warnings.”
A spokesman for the U.S. military command in Baghdad also said: “As previously stated, while no U.S. service members were killed in the Jan. 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed.”
Shortly after the missile strike, Iran shot down a Ukranian jetliner that killed 176 people, presumably mistaking the plane for a U.S. counter-attack. Khamenei referred to the tragedy as a &#8220;bitter accident&#8221; that Iranians mourned.
Meeting in London on Thursday, ministers from Afghanistan, Britain, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine – all of which lost citizens in the crash – demanded full-transparency from Iran during the downed-plane investigation as well as compensation.
&#8220;We are here to pursue closure, accountability, transparency and justice for the victims – Ukrainian, Swedish, Afghan, British, Canadian as well as Iranian, through a full complete and transparent international investigation,&#8221; said Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne. &#8220;In the wake of such a horrific tragedy there are many many questions. Families want answers, all of the countries assembled here today want answers, and the international community want answers. The world is waiting for those answers and we will not rest until we get them.&#8221;

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

In Rare Sermon, Iran Leader Praises Missile Attack, Accuses U.S. Of Using Plane Tragedy As Distraction

Ali Khamenei

During a recent interview with Fox News&#8217; Brian Kilmeade, retired U.S. Navy SEAL Jocko Willink — who was a former commander of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-jocko-willink-top-lesson-dont-quit-2018-6">most decorated</a> special operations unit of the entire Iraq War — described President Donald Trump&#8217;s recent ordered strike on top Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Quds Force general Qassem Soleimani as a &#8220;gamble&#8221; that nonetheless clearly &#8220;paid off&#8221; for the president.
&#8220;Retired Navy SEAL and author Jocko Willink applauded the &#8216;gamble&#8217; taken by President Trump in ordering the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, which was followed by anti-regime protests that erupted on the streets of Tehran,&#8221; Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/navy-seal-jocko-willink-trump-iran-soleimani-killing">reported</a>.
“When you look at it from that perspective you could say that this was a brilliant move to kill a person that was an enemy of America and an enemy of the Iranian people,” Willink said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,&#8221; Fox News wrote.
“Was it a risk to do this operation?&#8221; Willink continued. &#8220;Absolutely. And if you were to poll everyone that had knowledge about what the conflict is like over there, &#8216;Hey should we do this or not?&#8217; There would have been mixed feelings.”
Willink then explained how such operations are always a risk, analogizing to the famous Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan to take down 9/11 mastermind jihadist Osama bin Laden of al-Qaeda.
“It was a risk to do this just like it was a risk when Obama sent SEALS in to go kill [Osama] bin Laden. That was huge risk,” Willink continued, as also reported by Fox News. “He’s going into Pakistan, he didn’t tell Pakistan what we’re doing. There was massive risk. You know the whole building could have been bombed. That’s a massive risk to do that operation. Pulled it off. Bravo. Outstanding.”
“We don’t know what could have happened. Trump took a gamble and did this, and you know what? From what it looks like right now the gamble paid off,” Willink said as he wrapped up his remarks.
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">Daily Wire op-ed</a> published the day after President Trump&#8217;s successfully ordered strike of Soleimani, I wrote approvingly of the &#8220;just and proper strike&#8221; of &#8220;mastermind Iranian jihadist&#8221; Qassem Soleimani:
<blockquote>The world has awoken today a safer and more just place. And the unraveling of former President Barack Obama’s pro-Iran regional Middle East realignment, which began with President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-trump-just-shredded-iran-deal-here-are-5-ben-shapiro">thunderous exit</a>from his predecessor’s pro-ayatollah nuclear capitulation, has now reached its logical conclusion.
The Obama Middle East foreign policy legacy is dead. As is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s infamous jihadist mastermind, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-responds-to-u-s-military-killing-2-top-iranian-military-leaders-involved-in-terrorists">Qassem Soleimani</a>.
Good riddance to both. &#8230;
Qassem Soleimani was a monstrous thug. In addition to the hundreds of Americans killed in Iraq via Iranian-supplied roadside IEDs, Soleimani personally oversaw the jihad-led destabilization of all nations within Tehran’s coveted <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/09/03/the-shiite-crescent-and-regional-disaster/">“Shiite crescent”</a> of desired regional hegemony. He likely is responsible, on net, for tens of thousands of deaths. He was a relentless and unceasing foe of Western civilization, more broadly, though he held a special disdain for the mullahs’ “Little Satan” of Israel and “Great Satan” of the United States.</blockquote>
As The Daily Wire&#8217;s Emily Zanotti <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ted-cruz-dares-democrats-offers-senate-resolution-praising-soleimani-mission">reported</a> earlier this month, Iran hawk Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a formal Senate resolution praising the Soleimani strike. &#8220;Senator Ted Cruz wants Democrats to publicly declare their feelings on the Trump Administration’s mission to kill Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani,&#8221; Zanotti wrote.

President Donald J. Trump Watches Raid On Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s Compound

Retired SEAL: Trump’s ‘Gamble’ On Soleimani Strike ‘Paid Off’

Al Qaeda

Foreign Policy

Fox News

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Middle East

Military

Osama bin Laden

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is now blaming U.S. &#8220;escalation&#8221; in the Middle East for the death of 57 Canadians, who were killed when Iranian forces shot down a Ukrainian plane, killing all 176 on board.
Trudeau said the Canadians killed would be &#8220;home with their families&#8221; right now if tensions in the Middle East had not risen because of U.S. actions.
&#8220;I think if there were no tensions, if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families,&#8221; Trudeau said in an interview with Global television.
“This is something that happens when you have conflict and war. Innocents bear the brunt of it and it is a reminder why all of us need to work so hard on de-escalation, moving forward to reduce tensions and find a pathway that doesn’t involve further conflict and killing,&#8221; he said.
Trudeau also said the international community has been &#8220;very, very clear about needing to have a non-nuclear Iran,&#8221; but added that it needs to continue &#8220;managing the tensions in the region that are brought about by U.S. actions as well.&#8221;
President Trump this month ordered U.S. forces to take out terrorist and Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani after Iran fired missiles into Baghdad, killing an American. In response, Iran fired more missiles into Iraq, targeting U.S. military bases. In the chaos, Iranian forces shot down the Ukranian plane, which they at first denied but then acknowledged they had &#8220;unintentionally&#8221; downed the plane.
Trudeau&#8217;s comments mirror those of Iran, which blamed the death of those killed by the Iranian surface-to-air missile on &#8220;U.S. adventurism&#8221; that prompted both countries&#8217; militaries to go on high alert.
In the interview, Trudeau said he had spoken with Trump about the incident.
“I have spoken to him and I have talked about the need to de-escalate tensions,” he said. “I’ve talked about the tremendous grief and loss that Canadians are feeling, and the need for clear answers on how this happened and how we’re going to make sure it never happens again.”
Trump has no made no comment on talking with Trudeau.
The two have a rocky relationship. Last month, Trump called the Canadian prime minister &#8220;two-faced&#8221; after Trudeau and other foreign leaders were seen on video ridiculing Trump at a NATO summit near London.
Meanwhile in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday called the shooting down of the Ukrainian plane an &#8220;unforgivable error&#8221; and pledged to punish those responsible.
Rouhani added that &#8220;one person cannot be solely responsible for the plane crash&#8221; and said the country is in the midst of a full investigation. After Iranians protested against the government, Rouhani said his government is &#8220;accountable to Iranians and other nations who lost lives.&#8221;
&#8220;For our people it is very important in this incident that whoever was at fault or negligent at any level&#8221; is prosecuted, he said. &#8220;Anyone who should be punished must be punished. Iranian armed forces admitting their mistake is a good first step &#8230; We should assure people that it will not happen again.&#8221;
An Iranian judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Esmaili, said there have been arrests. &#8220;Clearly, as President Rouhani has said, Iran made a terrible mistake. It is good they have apologized.&#8221;

President Trump And First Lady Welcome Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau And His Wife Gregoire To The White House

Canadian PM Trudeau Blames U.S. ‘Escalation’ In Middle East For Death Of 57 Canadians

Canada

Justin Trudeau

After initially denying responsibility for the tragic crash of a Ukrainian passenger jet last Wednesday that killed all 176 people on board — covering up evidence and accusing the U.S. of conducting a &#8220;psychological operation&#8221; on Iranian citizens — Iran finally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-iran-admits-it-shot-down-passenger-plane-killing-176-people">admitted</a> three days later that it did indeed shoot down the plane, saying the plane was accidentally targeted when it turned toward an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military base.
Amid escalating protests, to which the oppressive Iranian regime has responded with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-opens-fire-on-demonstrators-protesters-chant-our-enemy-is-here-they-lie-to-us-that-its-america">violence</a>, Iran&#8217;s judiciary announced Tuesday that it has made multiple arrests related to the downing of the Boeing 737.
&#8220;Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said &#8216;extensive investigations have taken place and some individuals are arrested,'&#8221; The <a href="https://apnews.com/40f1b9bd475d23bd5d2977ff2e473d7b">Associated Press</a> reports. &#8220;His statement on the judiciary’s website did not say how many individuals had been detained or name them.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed the &#8220;painful and unforgivable&#8221; incident in a speech on state-controlled television Tuesday and called for a special investigation. &#8220;The judiciary should form a special court with a ranking judge and dozens of experts,” said Rouhani, as reported by AP. “This is not an ordinary case. The entire the world will be watching this court.”
“The responsibility falls on more than just one person,” he said, promising punishment for all responsible for the deaths of the 176 passengers aboard the flight.
The president of the terror-sponsoring regime also made a point of trying to blame the U.S. for the tragedy, saying, &#8220;It was the U.S. that made for an agitated environment. It was the U.S. that created an unusual situation. It was the U.S. that threatened and took our beloved (General Qassem Soleimani).&#8221;
Iran shot down the plane shortly after it launched missiles at two Iraqi bases at which U.S. personnel were stationed. The attack, which resulted in no U.S. or Iraqi casualties, was a retaliation for the Trump-ordered airstrike that took out Soleimani, who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers and helped orchestrate Iran-backed terror campaigns for decades.
Iran initially denied culpability for the downing of the plane, accusing the U.S. of spreading a &#8220;big lie&#8221; about Iran&#8217;s role in the tragedy.
&#8220;It is unfortunate that the psychological operation of the U.S. government and those supporting it are adding insult to the injury of the bereaved families and victimizing them for certain goals by propagating such fallacies,” Iranian Government spokesman Ali Rabiei <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7872337/Iran-accuses-big-lie-missile-claims.html">said</a> last week. “No one will assume responsibility for such a big lie once it is known that the claim had been fraudulent.”
Iran also began removing evidence from the crash. Eventually, they could deny the truth no longer and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-iran-admits-it-shot-down-passenger-plane-killing-176-people">admitted</a> three days later to having shot down the plane accidentally.
The incident has sparked <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/death-to-liars-iranians-turn-on-ayatollah-demand-resignation-over-shot-down-plane">massive backlash</a> in at least a dozen cities in Iran, with Iranian protesters shouting &#8220;Death to the Islamic Republic&#8221; and &#8220;Death to the dictator.&#8221; Iran&#8217;s theocratic regime responded by violently suppressing the protests, firing “tear gas, rubber bullets and eventually live ammunition to disperse demonstrators.”
(Top image: An Iranian woman holds a placard reading in Farsi &#8220;Your mistake was unintentional, your lie was intentional&#8221; during a demonstration outside Tehran&#8217;s Amir Kabir University on January 11, 2020. -Getty Images)
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-opens-fire-on-demonstrators-protesters-chant-our-enemy-is-here-they-lie-to-us-that-its-america">Iran Opens Fire On Demonstrators. Protesters Chant: ‘Our Enemy Is Right Here; They Lie To Us That It’s America’</a>

Iranian Protest

Iran Announces Arrests Over Shooting Down Plane Amid Escalating Protests

When and how did President Donald Trump come up with the decision to have Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani killed? That’s the question the media seems to have been asking for the past week &#8212; and so far, they’ve come up with wildly different answers.
Using the oh-so-tired “anonymous sources” trick, media outlets have reported everything from Trump wanted Soleimani dead back in 2017 to suggesting it was actually Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who pushed for the killing. Here are the four completely contradictory narratives the media have “reported,” all based on anonymous officials:
Trump Made The Decision Just Days Before Soleimani’s Death And Officials Were ‘Stunned’
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/us/politics/trump-suleimani.html">The New York Times</a> and others all claimed a day after Soleimani’s death that anonymous “Pentagon officials” were “stunned” by Trump’s decision to kill the Iranian general. Pentagon officials allegedly presented Trump with multiple options in “the chaotic days leading” to Soleimani’s death. One of those options was to kill Soleimani. The anonymous officials said this option was presented as an extreme to make the other choices look better. Trump, according to this narrative, rejected killing Soleimani but days later told officials to go ahead. The officials who allegedly spoke to the Times were not quoted, yet their claims allowed the Times to once again bash Trump.
It Was Pompeo’s Idea
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/killing-of-soleimani-follows-long-push-from-pompeo-for-aggressive-action-against-iran-but-airstrike-brings-serious-risks/2020/01/05/092a8e00-2f7d-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html">reported</a> that anonymous officials said it was Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence who urged Trump to approve Soleimani’s killing, and that the secretary of state had been trying to convince Trump for months to retaliate against Iran using the military.
“Pompeo first spoke with Trump about killing Soleimani months ago, said a senior U.S. official, but neither the president nor Pentagon officials were willing to countenance such an operation,” the Post reported.
Trump Actually Authorized Soleimani’s Killing 7 Months Ago
NBC <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-authorized-soleimani-s-killing-7-months-ago-conditions-n1113271?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma">reported</a> Monday that “five current and former senior administration officials” told the outlet that Trump actually authorized the killing of Soleimani seven months ago. Trump alleged authorized the killing on the condition that he “would have final signoff on any specific operation,” as if that would ever need to be said. The outlet also reported that when Trump authorized the attack – allegedly seven months ago – in the event that Iran’s escalating aggression killed an American.
One of the anonymous officials told NBC that “a number of options presented to the president over the course of time,&#8221; and that it was “some time ago” that Trump’s aides added killing Soleimani to the list of potential responses.
NBC also added in that former national security adviser John Bolton, along with Pompeo, urged Trump to authorize the killing, again, months ago.
Trump Wanted To Kill Soleimani Back In 2017
The Washington Post, who previously reported that Pompeo was the driving force behind the killing of Soleimani, now <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/killing-of-soleimani-reflects-an-aggressive-national-security-team-not-inclined-to-curb-trump/2020/01/12/a83f5346-333c-11ea-898f-eb846b7e9feb_story.html">reported</a> that it was actually Trump who wanted to kill the Iranian general – back in 2017.
“As a presidential candidate in 2015, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9puLBIX48M">Trump in an interview didn’t seem to have heard of Soleimani</a> or the paramilitary Iranian Quds Force he led. But within five months of taking office, Trump was raising the possibility of killing him — an idea he would bring up several times again in the months and years to follow,” the outlet reported.
So, which is it? Maybe it’s all of them.
<a href="https://twitter.com/aghamilton29/status/1216544840533475328?s=11">H/t AG</a>

President Trump

Media, Using Anonymous Sources, Have Presented 4 Separate Narratives Surrounding Trump And Soleimani

Media

Progressives, never known for their sense of epistemological humility, are often fond of boasting that it is they — and only they — who are on the &#8220;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_history">right side of history</a>.&#8221; Never mind that American progressives, going back at least as far as the depths of the Cold War, have evinced a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-bernie-sanders-entire-worldview-grotesquely-josh-hammer">most peculiar obsequiousness</a> toward America&#8217;s totalitarian geopolitical foes.
President Barack Obama, the braggart who taunted then-House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) a mere three days after his first inauguration with, &#8220;<a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/08/13/too_bad_obama_didnt_follow_his_own_advice_123650.html">I won</a>,&#8221; was very fond of gloating how it was he — and not his partisan opposition — who was on the &#8220;<a href="https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/69855/right-side-history-according-president-obama">right side of history</a>.&#8221; Never mind that Barack Obama, who oversaw a most rancid realignment in the Middle East in favor of the world&#8217;s number one state sponsor of jihad, kowtowed to that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">terrorist regime</a> to the tune of $100–150 billion in funding and $1.7 billion in <a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-iran-payment-cash-20160907-snap-story.html">cold, hard pallets of cash</a>.
Because nothing apparently says &#8220;progressive&#8221; like a regime that funds murderous <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">terrorist proxies</a> the <a href="http://www.thetower.org/article/houthis/">world over</a>, brazenly attempts targeted assassinations <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/08/iran-behind-two-assassinations-in-netherlands-minister">all</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/02/france-blames-iran-for-foiled-bomb-attack-near-paris">throughout</a> the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/11/justice/iran-saudi-plot/index.html">West</a>, publicly <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-publicly-hangs-man-on-homosexuality-charges-578758">hangs homosexuals</a> simply because they are homosexuals, and has been found <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-10/iran-told-to-pay-10-5-billion-to-sept-11-kin-insurers">liable by a U.S. federal judge</a> for billions of dollars in damages owed to the families of those killed on 9/11.
In a sane world, Barack Obama and his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-aspiring-novelist-who-became-obamas-foreign-policy-guru.html">failed novelist</a>-centric <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-24/the-secret-history-of-the-iran-deal-echo-chamber">&#8220;echo chamber&#8221;</a> of pro-ayatollah sycophants would be apologizing today to both the American people and the Iranian people. Obama will never actually do so, of course; how very un-&#8220;progressive&#8221; it would be to humbly concede the retrospective error of one&#8217;s ways. As Dennis Prager once <a href="https://www.dennisprager.com/being-on-the-left-means-never-having-to-say-youre-sorry-part-230/">quipped</a>, perhaps the nicest part of being on the Left is never having to say you&#8217;re sorry.
Instead, it is Donald Trump, recent author of the <a href="https://twitter.com/SGhasseminejad/status/1216131659986325504">most liked tweet</a> in the history of the Farsi language, who has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">boldly defended</a> American interests against the Iranian mullocracy and stood in <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216356280933273600">lockstep solidarity</a> with the repressed Persians <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-iranian-protesters-refuse-to-walk-on-u-s-israel-flags-attack-soleimani-posters">bravely protesting in the streets</a> against their Islamic Revolutionary overlords. The mullahs are once again shooting some of their very own in the streets, but the president of the United States has made it exceedingly clear that the eyes of the world are watching. By <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/03/trumps-strike-on-soleimani-is-about-america-first-not-reckless-interventionism/">knifing the Qassem Soleimani jugular</a>, prudently declaring victory and <a href="https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari/status/1216363363510386688">cutting bait</a> at exact right time, and offering moral and rhetorical succor to a subjugated populace, Trump has led by example every step of the way through this most recent flare-up of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-unyielding-iranian-menace">unceasing</a> post-Islamic Revolution <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-the-dispatch-of-soleimani-and-the-escalation-of-the-war">tumor</a>.
Every step of the way.
It is Donald Trump, and not Barack Obama, who is on the &#8220;right side of history&#8221; on the issue of Iran.
You would never know that from our media elites — nor from the other sheltered denizens of our bicoastal <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ruling-Class-Corrupted-America-About/dp/0825305586">ruling class</a> clerisy who barely conceal their dripping disdain for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-who-will-stand-for-the-forgotten-american">rubes and yokels</a> of flyover country. Really, hold aside for a moment the oh-so-predictable pro-Iran apologia of moral midgets like Rep. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ilhan-omar-crippling-sanctions-starve-iran-bds-movement-israel-economic-warfare-measured-response">Ilhan Omar</a> (D-MN). It is our media vanguard, who on cable television and the nation&#8217;s leading broadsheets alike so often take the form — by sheer happenstance, we are assured! — of <a href="https://theresurgent.com/2020/01/10/the-obama-administrations-guerrilla-war/">Obama administration alumni</a>, that have parroted ludicrous <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dan-gainor-anti-trump-media-attack-him-for-killing-of-soleimani-blame-him-for-iran-shooting-down-plane">Iranian regime talking points</a> in a depraved attempt to deny the dreaded orange man of anything that might be viewed as a political &#8220;victory.&#8221;
Cold War-era Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (R-MI) may have <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-democrats-and-iran-11578262553">once said</a> that &#8220;politics stops at the water&#8217;s edge,&#8221; but for today&#8217;s debased media and political Left (I repeat myself), the mantra might as well be &#8220;shilling for a uniquely evil jihadist regime to own the cons.&#8221;
Thankfully, the Iranian people — who, above all else, are the victims of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 — need not care about the American media&#8217;s temper tantrums and self-immolations; Trump&#8217;s Twitter allows him to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-trump-tweets-for-liberty-in-iran">easily speak directly</a> to the American people. The Iranian people need not care about the armchair quarterbacking of those who would question the wisdom of the Soleimani strike. The Iranian people need not care about those who would haphazardly yell &#8220;warmonger!&#8221; at a president who has arguably been the most militarily restrained commander-in-chief since Jimmy Carter. And the Iranian people need not care about an idolatrous political Left that, along with abortion and global warming, has found an additional pagan sacrament in the thuggish Iranian regime.
What the Iranian people quite clearly do care for is Donald Trump&#8217;s Iran policy. The Iranian people, unlike Obama&#8217;s &#8220;echo chamber&#8221; and the leftist/media alliance that has fought so diligently to defend its rotten legacy, know what it means for an American statesman to be on the &#8220;right side of history&#8221; when it comes to their country. Barack Obama and his henchmen will never apologize for their sins, but the history books they seem to care so much about will note how it was his successor who righted his own wrongs on Iran.

John Kerry with Javad Zarif

HAMMER: On Iran, Trump Shows Obama The Real ‘Right Side Of History’

Barack Obama

Nuclear Weapons

Radical Islamic Terror

In the aftermath of the death of Qassem Soleimani last week, the torching of the <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/iraq-protests-iran-consulate-karbala-najaf.html">Iranian consulates in Najaf and Karbala</a>, Iraq, and the Saturday death of Abbas Ali Al-Sa&#8217;edi, the pro-Iranian Hashd Al Sha’abi commander in Karbala, there are clear indications that the Iranian and Iraqi people are losing their fear of the mullahs of Iran. There is a lot of YouTube video of Iranians in the streets of Tehran and elsewhere, and a particularly neat one of Iranian students <a href="https://twitter.com/Imamofpeace/status/1216401446674919424">refusing to walk </a>on an American and an Israeli flag.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Here’s the most beautiful thing you will see today! Students at Beheshti University in Tehran refuse to walk on the US &amp; Israeli flags painted on the ground. They chant, “Basij [the IRGC paramilitary] forces, you are responsible for killing the people.” | <a href="https://t.co/dskKJeDa18">pic.twitter.com/dskKJeDa18</a>
&mdash; Mike (@Doranimated) <a href="https://twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1216328831239360512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This is a prelude to understanding President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216114167108849665">tweet to the Iranian people</a> on Saturday and the sure knowledge that he’s outpaced newspapers, radio, and TV alike in understanding what regular people understand regardless of what language they speak. Then there is the absence of coverage of the event by what has been called the “mainstream media” — although the mainstream appears not to be following them. Google results mid-morning Sunday — in order of appearance, with sources — show you who cared:
<ul>
<li>Trump Persian Tweet to Iranian People: I “Stand with You.” (Heavy.Com)</li>
<li>Trump tweet in Farsi “the most liked Persian tweet’ in history of Twitter (Washington Examiner)</li>
<li>Trump’s support for Iranian protestors breaks a Twitter record, something the MSM ‘will not report’ (TheBlaze)</li>
<li>Trump Persian Tweet to Iranian People: I &#8220;Stand With You…” (Schooltips.com)</li>
<li>Trump tweet in Farsi &#8220;the most liked Persian tweet&#8221; in… (enmnews)</li>
<li>Donald Trump Tweets in Persian to Pump Up Iranian Protests (CNN)</li>
<li>President Trump’s Tweet in Farsi is Most Liked Persian Tweet… (Gateway Pundit)</li>
<li>Trump Tweets Support for Iranian Protesters — in Persian (Legal Insurrection)</li>
<li>Trump Tweets Support for the ‘Brave and Suffering’ of Iran (PJ Media)</li>
</ul>
See a pattern?
With the exception of the snarky CNN headline, most are smaller outlets and all are openly supportive of the president’s decision to tell the Iranian people that we are not their enemy and we support their struggle against their government.
The Iranian people appear to appreciate that.
So where is The New York Times? Where is The Washington Post? The Los Angeles Times?
The Post had a few presidential tweet stories. In May, there was one about how the president’s tweets “put the Middle East <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/05/20/trump-places-middle-east-knife-edge/">on a knife edge</a>.” There were a few  in June and July — specifically, about one tweet the Iranian government called &#8220;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/irans-top-diplomat-says-white-house-statement-on-tehran-attack-is-repugnant/2017/06/08/a7604a62-4c1b-11e7-a186-60c031eab644_story.html">repugnant</a>.&#8221; The New York Times did some “analysis” of Mr. Trump’s tweets: &#8220;<a href="https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrCmnriRBteySUAKhUPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTEycXY1bDdiBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjg0OTJfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1578874210/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.nytimes.com%2f2019%2f11%2f02%2fus%2ftrump-twitter-takeaways.html/RK=2/RS=Ex5huSGSJj_rBkAbLi_kwJBlmas-">Trumps Twitter Presidency</a>&#8221; and an opinion piece that claimed the tweets proved the president to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/14/opinion/trump-twitter-racism.html">a &#8220;raging racist.&#8221;</a>. Those were the nice ones.
You get the point.
And sure, by the time you read this, someone in the MSM will have figured out that the tweet was important — not only for what it said, and not only for the apparent joy it brought to the Iranians who read it, liked it, and retweeted it, but because Donald Trump has figured out a way to talk to people without their government or media intervening.
Oh, wait. That’s what he’s been doing with the American people from the beginning of his presidency — letting people hear directly from the man they elected. Americans have often taken that for granted: After all, most of us have unfettered Internet and we can log onto WhiteHouse.gov if we want to know what the president said last night in Arkansas. But this is why the president has 70 million Twitter followers.
And here, perhaps, is the source of MSM unhappiness with Donald Trump. It isn’t only what he does as president; sometimes they even approve of that. It is resentment that he skips them — and denigrates them — just as much as they skip over his agenda and denigrate him. It has long been the position of newspapers, radio, and television that the American people need a filter for what happens — and that they are the filter. They are the way to understand the world. Walter Cronkite was that for millions of people in the 1960s. Tom Friedman, with fewer than a million followers (even adding the 44 million of his employer, The New York Times), isn’t that.
And no one is likely to be that again. Not in the United States. And not even in a country where the government manages and manipulates the media and the official pronouncements. Not even in Iran.
There’s a new day out there. President Trump gets it.
&nbsp;
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/">The Jewish Policy Center</a> in Washington, and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

Twitter iPhone

BRYEN: Trump Tweets For Liberty In Iran

Islam

Media Bias

Muslims

President Donald Trump revealed during a Fox News interview that aired on Friday the conversation that he had with the United States military as the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad came under attack last week from Iranian-backed terrorist supporters.
Trump made the remarks when Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked him about his decision to authorize a drone strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qassem Soleimani last week.
&#8220;Today, Mike Pompeo gave a very forceful press conference on the fallout from the Iranian jetliner going down. His concern is that people aren’t understanding the imminent nature of the threat of Soleimani, and he was pressed on that today,&#8221; Ingraham said. &#8220;He said there were large-scale attacks planned on U.S. facilities, but he didn’t go more specific. Don’t the American people have the right to know what specifically was targeted without revealing methods and sources?&#8221;
Trump responded by talking about the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad last Tuesday and documented the conversation that he had with the military about their response to the attack.
&#8220;Well, I don’t think so, but we will tell you that probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;You saw that happening. You saw with all of the men, very few women, circling it and circling it very strongly and very viciously, knocking out windows and trying to get and they were close to getting in, and I called out the military.&#8221;
&#8220;They said we’ll have it there tomorrow,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;I said, nope, you’ll have it there today. We’re not going to have another Benghazi on our hands.&#8221;
&#8220;I think you would have had another Benghazi had we not acted quickly,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;That could have been stopped, and this was stopped. And we had our Apaches going there, the great helicopters, and they were dropping flares all over the place, and a lot of things were happening. They had acted real fast and everybody disappeared.&#8221;
On the morning of the attack, Trump tweeted: &#8220;Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1211981022084128768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump later added, &#8220;The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is, &amp; has been for hours, SAFE! Many of our great Warfighters, together with the most lethal military equipment in the world, was immediately rushed to the site. Thank you to the President &amp; Prime Minister of Iraq for their rapid response upon request. Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&#8230;.Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1212121026072592384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Later that week, Trump authorized a drone strike on Soleimani after receiving intelligence that Soleimani was planning multiple terrorist attacks on U.S. facilities throughout the region, including up to four embassies.

President Trump Presents The Commander In Chief&#8217;s Trophy To The U.S. Military Academy Football Team

‘I SAID, NOPE’: Trump Documents Conversation With Military During Embassy Attack

The U.S. military launched a secret operation to kill a second high-ranking Iranian terrorist last week on the same day that President Donald Trump authorized a drone strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Forces (IRGC-QF) Commander Qassem Soleimani.
&#8220;The disclosure of a second mission indicated that the Trump administration was attempting to target a larger set of Iranian military and paramilitary leaders than was previously known,&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/world/middleeast/trump-iran-yemen.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The unsuccessful airstrike in Yemen was aimed at Abdul Reza Shahlai, an official with Iran’s Quds Force, a potent paramilitary organization. He was known as a key financier for Iran’s proxy wars.&#8221;
The Washington Post reported that U.S. officials said that details of the mission remain &#8220;highly classified&#8221; and suggested that Shahlai could be re-targeted again in the future.
&#8220;Another senior official said the two strikes were authorized around the same time and that the United States did not disclose the Shahlai mission because it did not go according to plan,&#8221; The Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/on-the-day-us-forces-killed-soleimani-they-launched-another-secret-operation-targeting-a-senior-iranian-official-in-yemen/2020/01/10/60f86dbc-3245-11ea-898f-eb846b7e9feb_story.html">reported</a>. &#8220;The official said Shahlai may be targeted in the future, though both countries have signaled an interest in de-escalating the crisis.&#8221;
One top U.S. official told The Post, “If we had killed him, we’d be bragging about it that same night.”
The U.S. State Department announced a $15 million reward last month for information leading to Shahlai and the disruption of the IRGC&#8217;s financial networks.
Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative on Iran, <a href="https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2019/dec/05/state-department-protest-crackdown-intervention-yemen">said</a> last month that &#8220;Shahlai has a long history of attacks Americans and our allies globally.&#8221;
&#8220;He planned multiple assassinations of coalition forces in Iraq, provided weapons and explosives to violent Shia extremist groups, and planned the January 20th, 2007 attack in Karbala that killed five American soldiers and wounded three others,&#8221; Hook continued. &#8220;In 2011, Shahlai funded and directed a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir.  This would have been carried out in a restaurant in Georgetown. Shahlai also aimed to carry out follow-on attacks in the United States and elsewhere. Had this scheme succeeded, as many as 200 innocent civilians in the United States could have been killed.&#8221;
&#8220;Given Shahlai’s track record of terrorism and destabilization in Iraq, we remain gravely concerned by his presence in Yemen and potential role in providing advanced weaponry of the kind that we have interdicted to the Houthis,&#8221; Hook continued. &#8220;Iranian UAVs, missiles, and explosive boats have been used by the Houthis to threaten key civilian and economic interests and otherwise wreak havoc in the region. This designation, together with the recent interdiction in Yemen, underscores our commitment to deny Iran the means to run an expansionist foreign policy.&#8221;
Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-pompeo-release-details-on-terror-attack-soleimani-planned">revealed</a> on Friday details of the terrorist attack that Qassem Soleimani was planning on U.S. interests in the region that led to the president&#8217;s decision to eliminate him.
In an interview on Fox News, Trump said, “I can reveal that I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”
During a press conference, Pompeo said that the attack was targeted “American facilities, including American embassies, military bases. American facilities throughout the region.”

F-35

U.S. Launched Secret Operation To Kill Second Top Iranian Terrorist On Same Day As Soleimani

Yemen

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed new disturbing details about the terrorist attack that Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force leader Qassem Soleimani had planned against the United States that ultimately led to Trump authorizing a drone strike that killed Soleimani.
In an interview on Fox News, Trump said, “I can reveal that I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies.”
During a White House press briefing on Friday, Pompeo said, &#8220;We had specific information on an imminent threat, and those threats included attacks on U.S. embassies. Period. Full stop.&#8221;
Pompeo said the only thing that U.S. officials did not know was the exact minute or day that Soleimani was going to launch the attack but that &#8220;it was very clear&#8221; that &#8220;Qassem Soleimani himself was plotting a broad, large-scale attack against American interests. And those attacks were imminent.&#8221;
When asked about what targets Soleimani had designated, Pompeo said, &#8220;American facilities, including American embassies, military bases. American facilities throughout the region.&#8221;
The U.S. State Department released the following fact sheet on Soleimani last week:
<ul>
<li>
<blockquote>Since 1998, Qassem Soleimani commanded Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the terror arm of the Iranian regime. The IRGC-QF is tasked with planning and executing terror and military operations outside Iran’s borders. Under Soleimani’s command, the IRGC-QF has fueled destabilizing sectarian conflicts throughout the Middle East for decades.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>The IRGC-QF continues to wage an illegal campaign of terrorism, assassinations, and violence. At Soleimani’s direction and with his oversight and guidance, the IRGC-QF has planned and conducted terrorist attacks across six continents and inside the United States.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>The United States designated IRGC-QF a Foreign Terrorist Organization for its activities, and the United States designated Soleimani as a Specially-Designated Global Terrorist.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>As the leader of the IRGC-QF, Qassem Soleimani was directly responsible for arming, funding, and training proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Yemen, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Operations carried out by these proxy groups have led to the death and suffering of tens of thousands, including many hundreds of Americans. These proxies routinely target and kill civilians, intensify sectarian conflicts, and prolong the suffering of innocent men, women, and children.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Soleimani personally directed and provided arms to militias in Iraq for more than a decade. These militias undermine the sovereignty of the Iraqi state, threaten the legitimacy of Iraq’s security forces, and target American citizens and forces. With Soleimani’s support and lethal assistance, proxies of the IRGC-QF targeted and killed over 600 Americans between 2003 and 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>We can confirm that in the past several days, General Soleimani had been traveling in the Middle East coordinating further imminent large-scale attacks against U.S. diplomats and service members. These threats were highly credible and the intelligence is sound. General Soleimani’s travel also violated the ban imposed by the United Nations Security Council.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Recent orders given by General Soleimani dramatically escalated Iran’s campaign of violence and terrorism against Americans and American interests in the Middle East. He orchestrated a series of attacks against American forces in Iraq in the past several months, culminating in the rocket attack on December 27, 2019, which resulted in the death of an American citizen, wounded four American service members, and threatened the lives of many more American personnel. General Soleimani also ordered the assault on the American Embassy in Baghdad. General Soleimani continued to command Iranian supported proxies in Iraq, which posed an escalating threat to the lives of Americans.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>For his actions, Soleimani had been designated and sanctioned by the United Nations, European Union, and United States and is banned from international travel by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. In defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, however, Soleimani continued to travel to Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon directing and coordinating lethal actions that pose a threat to regional peace and security.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Some key international and United States designations of Soleimani include:</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated a Tier I terrorist as part of the Department of State designation of the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated under U.S. Executive Order 13224 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated under U.S. EO 13572 for human rights abuses in 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated under U.S. EO 13882 for providing material support to terrorists in 2007.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Sanctioned by the United Nations under UNSCR 1747 for involvement in Iran’s nuclear program in 2007.</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>Designated by the European Union in EU 442/2011 for support to the Syrian regime in 2011.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

Trump Pompeo

Trump, Pompeo Release Details On Terror Attack Soleimani Planned

Mike Pompeo

Following President Donald Trump’s decisive, defensive strike on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-just-and-proper-strike-of-mastermind-iranian-jihadist-qassem-soleimani">arch-terrorist</a> Qassem Soleimani of Iran&#8217;s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (QF), Democrats immediately claimed that the U.S. was on the warpath with Iran.
They didn’t ask for the president’s justification in taking out a man who was responsible for the murder of over 600 U.S. service members in Iraq via roadside IEDs; instead, they immediately labeled the strike “disproportionate” and an “act of war.” They claimed the Trump administration was actively attempting to start a war with Iran, and in taking out the head of the QF (a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization), the administration had done just that.
However, Democrats&#8217; certainty was quickly dashed when the Iranian “retaliation” proved to be symbolic and merely face-saving. There was no aggressive response that would indicate the start of war. Instead, the Iranians effectively bombed the sand, targeting bases in Iraq that had been given prior warning of the strike.
Iran’s response proved not that the mullahs wanted to escalate, but that they understood the cost of a potential full-scale war with the United States. Their feckless strike made it clear that <a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/296604/iran-and-america-are-suddenly-both-naked">Trump’s message was heard and received</a>: You do not mess with the United States. Trump reiterated this message in his address to the nation following the Iranian airstrikes, saying, “we have sent a strong message to terrorists, if you value your own life, you will not threaten the lives of our people.”
The truth is that Trump wasn’t trying to start a war with Iran; he was trying to keep us out of a war with Iran while <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/01/03/trumps-strike-on-soleimani-is-about-america-first-not-reckless-interventionism/">nonetheless asserting American deterrence</a>. Democrats fail to see this because they are seemingly incapable of admitting Trump ever does anything right.
The Obama-Biden doctrine of foreign policy, appeasing our enemies at all costs — and if that doesn’t’ work, also send them pallets of cash — is what got us into the situation into the first place. The Obama administration would set “red lines,” and then regularly allow our enemies to cross those lines without any form of retaliation. And this wasn’t a one-time thing; repeated aggression would go virtually unchecked, other than perhaps a stern finger-wagging speech and a “promise” for retaliation in the future.
Real “red lines” only work if your enemy knows that if they cross that line, there is a high likelihood of retaliation. The Iranians hadn’t seen a real red line in so long that they were shocked when they were actually held to one.
Iran would be aggressive. Obama would allow it. Iran would be aggressive again. Obama would send them pallets of cash. Iran was aggressive under Trump, but Trump eventually drew his own red line. Iran was plotting future aggression that would cross that line. Trump saw a clear and present danger to U.S. troops and personnel, so he launched a decisive, defensive strike.
It’s a lot simpler than what many on the Left would lead you to believe.
President Trump’s red line is clear: You do not lay a hand on Americans. Period.
His willingness to hold to the red lines he sets, coupled with a multitude of comments emphasizing the U.S. doesn’t seek war, is how Trump kept the United States out of a war with Iran. Because sometimes, the enemy doesn’t respect you until you give them a reason to do so. President Trump gave the mullahs just such a reason.
&nbsp;
Ryan Fournier is founder and co-chairman of <a href="https://www.tpaction.com">Turning Point Action</a>.

Trump press conference Iran

FOURNIER: How President Trump Kept Us Out Of A War With Iran

Trump Administration

President Trump held another one of his jam-packed rallies Thursday night — the first of 2020 — this time in the crucial battleground state of Ohio, making clear how much his campaign values securing the state&#8217;s 18 electoral votes he won by eight points in 2016.
During the raucous rally in Toledo, Trump pointed to his decision to order an airstrike on Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani as evidence that he will bring &#8220;<a href="https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/president-trump-ohio-tonight-for-2020-kickoff-campaign/iAPspsmIwCvRhc0eAn80PI/">American justice</a>&#8221; to those who pose a threat to Americans and America&#8217;s interests and taunted Democrats over the standoff with Iran, suggesting he should win the Nobel Peace Prize for his handling of the situation.
In a series of tweets highlighting photos and video from the rally, Trump touted the &#8220;tremendous crowd&#8221; and summed up some of the themes of the night, including his commitment to &#8220;NEVER make excuses for America&#8217;s enemies&#8221; and to &#8220;never hesitate in defending American lives.&#8221; He also offered up a new slogan for the Republicans, along with a withering summary of the Democratic Party&#8217;s platform.
&#8220;Heading to Toledo, Ohio, for first Rally of the year. Tremendous crowd. Here we go for a big 2020 Win!&#8221; Trump wrote in the first of a series of rally-themed tweets Thursday evening (posts below).
&#8220;Under my administration, we will NEVER make excuses for America’s enemies – we will never hesitate in defending American lives – and we will never stop working to defeat Radical Islamic Terrorism!&#8221; he wrote in a tweet showing him on stage in the packed-out Huntington Center in Toledo.
&#8220;After years of rebuilding OTHER nations, we are finally rebuilding OUR nation. We are finally putting AMERICA FIRST!&#8221; the president added in another post featuring a shot of the crowd.
Trump then contrasted the radical policies increasingly embraced by the Democrats with the goals of the Republican Party: &#8220;Democrats are now the party of high taxes, high crime, open borders, late-term abortion, socialism, and blatant corruption. The Republican Party is the party of the American Worker, the American Family, and the American Dream!
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Heading to Toledo, Ohio, for first Rally of the year. Tremendous crowd. Here we go for a big 2020 Win!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1215406817297088512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
THANK YOU TOLEDO, OHIO!<a href="https://t.co/PL96KjQWat">https://t.co/PL96KjQWat</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1215452636260061185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Under my administration, we will NEVER make excuses for America’s enemies – we will never hesitate in defending American lives – and we will never stop working to defeat Radical Islamic Terrorism! <a href="https://t.co/022PjwhHjs">pic.twitter.com/022PjwhHjs</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1215454244519718912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
After years of rebuilding OTHER nations, we are finally rebuilding OUR nation. We are finally putting AMERICA FIRST! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KAG2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KAG2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/azKL54A6BU">pic.twitter.com/azKL54A6BU</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1215455064183230465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Democrats are now the party of high taxes, high crime, open borders, late-term abortion, socialism, and blatant corruption. The Republican Party is the party of the American Worker, the American Family, and the American Dream! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KAG2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KAG2020</a> <a href="https://t.co/05XRX2odxN">pic.twitter.com/05XRX2odxN</a>
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1215457108327571458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Trump&#8217;s rally followed a significant series of events for his presidency. After he ordered an airstrike that took out Iran&#8217;s top military leader and the man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and countless terrorist operations, Iran retaliated Tuesday by firing over a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases at which U.S. and coalition personnel were stationed.
The attack resulted in no American or Iraqi casualties, and Iran quickly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/iran-sent-messages-through-three-back-channels-to-u-s-after-attack-to-say-they-were-done">signaled to the U.S.</a> that it hoped to de-escalate the situation. The next morning, Trump gave a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-addresses-nation-after-attack-no-lives-lost-iran-appears-to-be-standing-down">televised national address</a> announcing that Iran appeared to be &#8220;backing down&#8221; and unveiling new economic sanctions on the terror-sponsoring state.
“Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned, and a very good thing for the world,” said the president. “No American or Iraqi lives were lost because of the precautions taken, the dispersal of forces, and an early warning system that worked very well.”
While Trump was providing Americans the welcome news, the Democrats were preparing to vote on a War Powers Resolution to limit his ability to take military action against Iran, a resolution that passed in the House on Thursday. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists that the resolution is an important check on Trump&#8217;s authority, Republicans have dismissed it as &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-targets-pelosi-ahead-of-vote-on-toothless-war-powers-resolution">toothless.</a>&#8220;

President Donald Trump

Trump Holds Packed-Out Rally In Ohio, Taunts Dems Over Iran, Tests Out New Slogan For GOP

Republican Party

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) told Fox News&#8217;s Shannon Bream on Thursday night that he was not upset with the Trump administration&#8217;s decision to eliminate Iranian terrorist leader Qassem Soleimani last week and that his only frustration was over the lack of details that Senators were given about next steps.
&#8220;I’ve spoken to the president, we’re on great terms,&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;He understands my position. He understands that I support him, I support the fact that he, more than any other president in my lifetime and in your lifetime, has shown great respect and restraint in exercising his commander in chief power. I respect it.&#8221;
&#8220;My frustration there was that the briefers paid inadequate attention to giving us the details necessary to assess the situation and where it goes,&#8221; Lee continued. &#8220;And more importantly, on the next steps, on what level of authorization they need to obtain from Congress and under what circles. They were completely refusing to engage on that issue.&#8221;
&#8220;Okay, so on the next step, it wasn’t about necessarily, your frustration wasn’t necessarily about the intelligence that you were given about the Soleimani strike, it was about the next step and what role Congress should be playing?&#8221; Bream asked.
&#8220;Yes, yes exactly. I’ve never said that their attack on Soleimani was wrong. Never once,&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;In fact, I’ve acknowledged — I’m willing to accept the proposition that it was good for the American people, that it was safe, that it enhanced their safety. And I’ve never challenged their basis for doing it.&#8221;
&#8220;But they should have given us more information on it so we could assess it. And more importantly, they should have engaged on the topic of where we go from here,&#8221; Lee continued. &#8220;Instead they refused even to acknowledge that we had an appropriate role and that was shameful. It was unconstitutional. It was wrong of them to do that.&#8221;
&#8220;The House today has passed a non-binding resolution essentially taking a swipe at the president, what he can and can’t do moving forward without congressional action,&#8221; Bream responded. &#8220;Nancy Pelosi defended that and she said, ‘this is not toothless, this is Congress making a statement,’ but it really has no binding effect on the president.&#8221;
&#8220;I know you’re more interested on the Senate side getting involved in what Tim Kaine, a Democrat, has proposed moving forward,&#8221; Bream continued. &#8220;What is that? Why would you sign on?&#8221;
&#8220;The Kaine resolution, as he’s agreed to amend it for me, is completely non-controversial,&#8221; Lee responded. &#8220;All it says is that moving forward, setting aside what happened with Soleimani, it doesn’t address that at all, moving forward, if we were to engage in more hostilities between the U.S. Military and the government of Iran, the executive branch needs to go to Congress and get authorization from Congress to do that. I don’t think anyone disagrees with that. We also make a carve out there for any attack that is necessary to repel an attack on the United States. And that’s well understood that — that’s established in the constitutional law. No one should fear that.&#8221;

Mike Lee

Mike Lee Details Why He Was Upset With Intel Briefing; New Resolution With Democrat

Tim Kaine

Congressional Democrats, who seemed <del>willfully naive</del> blissfully unaware of then-President Barack Obama&#8217;s rather expansive interpretation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 during his strategically disastrous 2011 operation to oust Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi, suddenly seem to care an awful lot about constitutional norms and separation of powers principles again.
Intellectual inconsistency much?
Specifically, Speaker Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s House of Representatives is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/politics/war-powers-act-explainer-iran/index.html">debating today</a> whether to congressionally impose War Powers Resolution limitations upon President Donald Trump&#8217;s unilateral ability to ratchet up militancy with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In their crusade to hamstring the president&#8217;s conduct of his foreign policy vis-à-vis the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-iranian-revolution-forty-years-old-stand-josh-hammer">jihadist</a> Iranian regime, House Democrats have even found some libertarian-leaning <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-lee-senator-utah-lambasts-trump-briefing-soleimani-strike-worst-hes-received-on-military-issue/">Republican allies</a>.
But this exercise is misguided, because the War Powers Resolution is, and always has been, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304186404576389474268093278">unconstitutional</a>.
Let&#8217;s start with what the War Powers Resolution, which was passed during the closing stanzas of the Vietnam War, actually does. The <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/93/hjres542/text">statute</a> requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces abroad, and it precludes deployed U.S. forces from remaining engaged in &#8220;hostilities&#8221; abroad for more than 60 days without an affirmative authorization for the use of military force that has passed through Congress. At the time, President Richard Nixon vetoed the bill on constitutional grounds, <a href="https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/artifact/president-richard-nixons-letter-house-representatives-regarding-his-veto-war">arguing</a> that the measure would define presidential war powers &#8220;in ways which would strictly limit his constitutional authority.&#8221; Nonetheless, a two-thirds majority in each congressional chamber overrode the veto.
Nixon&#8217;s veto was correct.
The Constitution famously divides foreign affairs powers between the legislative and executive branches. Among other enumerated powers in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlei#section8">Article I, Section 8</a>, Congress has the ability to &#8220;declare War,&#8221; &#8220;raise and support Armies,&#8221; &#8220;provide and maintain a Navy,&#8221; &#8220;make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces,&#8221; &#8220;provide for calling forth the Militia,&#8221; and &#8220;provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia.&#8221;
By contrast, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleii">Article II</a> of the Constitution provides that &#8220;[t]he President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.&#8221; The very first clause of Article II also vests the president with &#8220;[t]he executive Power&#8221; — meaning a &#8220;residual&#8221; foreign affairs power that encompasses all those powers not expressly delegated to Congress in Article I, Section 8. As legal scholars Saikrishna B. Prakash and Michael D. Ramsey <a href="https://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/the-executive-power-over-foreign-affairs">persuasively argued</a> in a 2001 Yale Law Journal article, 18th century English common law had an &#8220;ordinary &#8230; meaning of executive power&#8221; that &#8220;included foreign affairs power.&#8221;
A careful, line-by-line overview of Congress&#8217;s enumerated powers does not actually provide a legislative means that could feasibly justify the War Powers Resolution. The most likely candidate is the Declare War Clause, but that provision happens to be woefully misunderstood by many lawyers and politicians across the ideological spectrum. As John Yoo <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=426862">compellingly laid out</a> in a 2003 University of Chicago Law Review article, &#8220;[t]he Declare War Clause simply confers on Congress juridical power to both define the United States&#8217;s legal relations with other countries and trigger domestic constitutional authorities during wartime.&#8221; It is the president of the United States, under Article II&#8217;s Commander in Chief Clause, who is actually responsible for initiating and conducting hostilities. Congress can then intervene to halt a president it views as a reckless warmonger using the manifold tools it does have at its disposal: Decreasing the size of the Pentagon&#8217;s budget, going line item-by-line item and removing various offensive-oriented materiel from the Department of Defense&#8217;s arsenal, or using its more general power of the purse to defund a war effort in its entirety (as eventually happened with Vietnam).
This interpretation of the Declare War Clause should not be nearly as controversial as it is. At the 1787 constitutional convention, the Framers actually conscientiously substituted out &#8220;make War&#8221; with &#8220;declare War.&#8221; In so doing, James Madison <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/01/qasem-soleimani-strike-president-trump-has-constitution-precedent-on-his-side/">famously explained</a> to Elbridge Gerry that it was imperative to leave to the president the &#8220;<a href="http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_11s4.html">power to repel sudden attacks</a>.&#8221; This ought to make a great deal of sense; as Alexander Hamilton would explain only six months after the constitutional convention in <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed70.asp">The Federalist No. 70</a>, &#8220;[d]ecision, activity, secrecy, and despatch will generally characterize the proceedings of one man in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number.&#8221;
Finally, in Article I, Section 10, the Constitution precludes a state from &#8220;engag[ing] in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.&#8221; The Framers were therefore aware of multiple verbs — &#8220;make&#8221; and &#8220;engage&#8221; — that could have clearly conveyed the meaning of an initiation of hostilities. But they didn&#8217;t use those words, and they didn&#8217;t use them for a reason. The Framers understood that there was great merit to leaving decisions such as the commencement of hostilities to one man, and not to a fractious Congress.
To reiterate, Congress already has a number of tools at its disposal to push back against a crusading commander-in-chief. As Andrew McCarthy <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/war-powers-resolution-vote-trump-andrew-mccarthy">wrote</a> this week at Fox News, &#8220;No statute is needed to provide Congress with the power to frustrate unauthorized presidential war-making. The Constitution empowers the legislature to do so by simply refusing to appropriate funds for military action.&#8221; But the Declare War Clause means something fundamentally different than what many believe it does.
The War Powers Resolution may or may not be good policy. But it does not matter, because it runs afoul of the Constitution&#8217;s carefully calibrated separation of powers.

United States Constitution

HAMMER: The War Powers Resolution Is, And Always Has Been, Unconstitutional

Congress

Constitution

Federalist

Libya

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said on Thursday that U.S. intelligence community officials appeared to withhold sensitive information that they possessed involving the information that President Donald Trump was given when he decided to take out top Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani.
In a tweet, Brooks wrote: &#8220;USA kills Sulaimani. Kudos! After 40 years, about time USA fights back against Iran terrorists. In classified briefing, it appeared defense &amp; intelligence reps held back info out of concern too many Congressmen can&#8217;t be trusted to keep classified info from USA enemies. Sad! Mo.&#8221;
In an interview with The Daily Wire, Brooks described the meeting that Congress had with U.S. officials where Congress was briefed on the strike.
Brooks said, &#8220;There were questions asked for specific information and the people on the dais simply did everything they could to get around providing the specific information, which allowed the inference that they had reservations about sharing that classified information with Congress in that kind of setting — which in turn leads to the inference that they had a reasonable amount of distrust as to whether shared classified information would in turn be shared by members of Congress with the news media or our enemies.&#8221;
Brooks pointed to a statement that Vice President Mike Pence gave to Fox News on Thursday as further evidence that U.S. officials wanted to withhold information because they were worried about protecting sources and methods.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
USA kills Sulaimani. Kudos! After 40 years, about time USA fights back against Iran terrorists.
In classified briefing, it appeared defense &amp; intelligence reps held back info out of concern too many Congressmen can&#39;t be trusted to keep classified info from USA enemies.
Sad!
Mo <a href="https://t.co/NONrDmpEa6">pic.twitter.com/NONrDmpEa6</a>
&mdash; Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMoBrooks/status/1215332545308565504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;To protect sources and methods, we&#8217;re simply not able to share with every member of the House and Senate the intelligence that supported the president&#8217;s decision to take out Qassem Soleimani,&#8221; Pence told Fox News. &#8220;I can assure your viewers that there was a threat of an imminent attack.&#8221;
Responding to Pence&#8217;s statement, Brooks said, &#8220;That’s very consistent with the concern that Congress cannot be trusted to keep classified information classified.&#8221;
&#8220;[It&#8217;s] also consistent with that concern is what you just got done seeing with Adam Schiff’s Intelligence Committee during the impeachment proceedings wherein that information that was collected in a SCIF was invariably leaked to the news media,&#8221; Brooks continued. &#8220;So if you just had that experience where members of Congress are quite clearly leaking information that was collected in a SCIF environment, how can you trust them not to leak classified information regarding Iran that could lead to the deaths of our intelligence sources, or empower terrorist organizations to avoid American retribution for the killing that they have done?&#8221;
Brooks concluded by telling The Daily Wire, “Quite clearly, there are some more visible members of Congress that caused greater concerns that others, but I’ll leave to you and the general public to figure out which ones those are.”
During a press conference on Thursday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-reveals-attack-that-soleimani-was-planning-that-led-to-drone-strike">told</a> reporters: “We caught a total monster and we took him out and that should have happened a long time ago. We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy.”
“We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious, somebody died, one of our military people died, people badly wounded, just a week before, and we did it,” Trump continued. “And we had a shot at him and I took it and that shot was pinpoint accurate and that was the end of a monster. Really, that was the second attack. We didn’t start it, they started it by killing one of our people and wounding badly other of our people. That you call retribution.&#8221;

Mo Brooks

Mo Brooks: Officials Appeared To Withhold Soleimani Intel Due To Concern Some Might Leak To Enemies

Iraq

President Donald Trump revealed during a press conference on Thursday some details surrounding his decision to kill Iranian terrorist Qassem Soleimani last week, saying that Soleimani was planning to blow up a U.S. embassy.
&#8220;We killed a man who killed many, many Americans and many, many people, thousands and thousands of people,&#8221; Trump said during a press conference at the White House. &#8220;We caught a total monster and we took him out and that should have happened a long time ago. We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy.&#8221;
&#8220;We also did it for other reasons that were very obvious, somebody died, one of our military people died, people badly wounded, just a week before, and we did it,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;And we had a shot at him and I took it and that shot was pinpoint accurate and that was the end of a monster. Really, that was the second attack. We didn’t start it, they started it by killing one of our people and wounding badly other of our people. That you call retribution.
&#8220;Iran went in and they hit us with missiles. Shouldn’t have done that,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;Fortunately for them, nobody was hurt, nobody was killed, nothing happened. They landed. Very little damage, even, to the base. They landed. But we had a chance to take out a monster, we took him out and it should have been done a long time ago.&#8221;
When asked about whether he would go to Congress to seek approval if further military action is needed, Trump responded, &#8220;It would all depend on the circumstance. I don’t have to and you shouldn&#8217;t have to because you have to able to make split second decisions. Sometimes you have to move very, very quickly. In certain cases, I wouldn’t mind doing it.&#8221;
&#8220;You know what bothers me? When I see a Nancy Pelosi trying to defend this monster from Iran whose killed so many people,&#8221; Trump continued. &#8220;So many people are walking around now without legs and without arms because he was the big roadside bomb guy. He was the one that sent them to Afghanistan, he send them to Iraq. That was his favorite thing. He thought it was wonderful. He doesn’t think it’s so wonderful anymore. When Nancy Pelosi of the Democrats wanted to defend him, I think that’s a bad thing for the country. I think it’s a big losing argument politically, too.&#8221;
Trump concluded his remarks about ongoing tensions with Iran by noting that the Iran nuclear deal was about to expire, so criticisms that his withdrawal from the deal sparked Iran&#8217;s aggression are not accurate.
&#8220;The JCPOA is close to expiring,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;In other words, if I didn&#8217;t terminate it, it expires in a very short period of time. One of the problems, of which there was many, there was $150 billion, $1.8 billion in cash, all that money, and then that money was used for terror. If you look at Iran, it wasn’t so bad until they got all that money. They used that money for terror. That’s when it became really bad. Take a look, it really got bad when they $150 billion, $1.8 billion in cash.&#8221;

President Donald J. Trump

Trump Reveals Attack That Soleimani Was Planning That Led To Drone Strike

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More details have begun to emerge about Iran&#8217;s ballistic missile attack on two Iraqi bases Tuesday, including what was reportedly going on behind the scenes almost immediately after the strikes. According to CNN&#8217;s sources, soon after the strikes were over, Iran reached out to the U.S. &#8220;through at least three back channels&#8221; to make clear that their &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/irans-foreign-minister-we-do-not-seek-escalation-or-war-irans-supreme-leader-military-actions-not-enough">fierce revenge</a>&#8221; for the killing of Iran&#8217;s top military leader was over.
&#8220;Iran initiated contact through at least three back channels starting late Tuesday, including through Switzerland and other countries,&#8221; <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/politics/iran-messages-us-response/index.html">CNN</a> reports. &#8220;There were &#8216;multiple messages and they were all the same,&#8217; a person familiar with the matter said. Iran wanted to convey their retaliatory action had ended — and was waiting to see how the US would respond.&#8221;
&#8220;The back-and-forth communication came as American officials were still determining the extent of the Iranian attacks, and were formulating plans for a response,&#8221; the network explains. &#8220;In response, the US sought to communicate to Iran that its proxies in the region were of equal concern as the activities of the Iranian state, the person familiar said.&#8221;
The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed in a statement that its diplomatic channel has been used multiple times prior to the incident Tuesday to exchange messages between the U.S. and Iran and urged &#8220;maximum restraint&#8221; from both sides.
&#8220;Switzerland is deeply concerned about the heavy tensions between the U.S. and Iran and the latest cycle of violent confrontations in Iraq,&#8221; the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement reported by CNN. &#8220;We call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid any further escalation. Switzerland stands ready to support initiatives of the international community that seek de-escalation in the region.&#8221;
Along with reportedly communicating through back channels that it sought to de-escalate, Iran&#8217;s foreign minister issued a public statement Tuesday night indicating that the strikes would be the only military actions the regime undertook for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
“Iran took &amp; concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens &amp; senior officials were launched,” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif <a href="https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1214736614217469953?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tweeted</a> after the attack Tuesday night. “We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”
As CNN notes, some Trump administration officials increasingly believe that Iran deliberately missed areas populated by U.S. personnel.
Trump revealed in his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-addresses-nation-after-attack-no-lives-lost-iran-appears-to-be-standing-down">televised statement</a> Wednesday that &#8220;no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime.&#8221;
&#8220;We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases,&#8221; said the president, adding later, &#8220;No American or Iraqi lives were lost because of the precautions taken, the dispersal of forces, and an early warning system that worked very well.&#8221;
Trump also announced that Iran appeared to be &#8220;standing down,&#8221; which he described as &#8220;a good thing for all parties concerned, and a very good thing for the world.&#8221;
In the address, the president announced new economic sanctions on Iran that would be imposed &#8220;immediately.&#8221; He also made clear that the status quo from Iran in the region was unacceptable.
&#8220;For far too long, all the way back to 1979, to be exact, nations have tolerated Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East. Those days are over,&#8221; Trump asserted. &#8220;Iran has been the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and their pursuit of nuclear weapons threatens the civilized world. We will never let that happen.&#8221;
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Iran Sent Messages Through ‘Three Back Channels’ To U.S. After Attack To Say They Were Done

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