Was it Assassination or the Killing of a Terrorist?
On Thursday January 2, 2020 the United States of America used a drone missile strike to kill the Lieutenant General Qassem Soliemani of Iran. This article seeks to dive into the history of Soliemani, his military involvement, and the actions taken by the President of the United States, Donald Trump against Soliemani.
This article seeks to present all the facts for the killing of Qassem Soliemani in order to allow those who read to determine if the United States was justified or not in doing so. Along with the events listed above, this article will address Soliemani’s career and military involvement, what evidence was brought forth against the United States for their actions, and what powers the President of the United States possesses in situations like these.
Below is a graphical depiction of both Soliemani’s known military involvements, and the key events leading up to the drone strike on January 2, 2020.
Soliemani’s Background
Qassem Soliemani was considered to be the second in command in Iran, who answered only to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He led the Quds forces and died at the rank of lieutenant general and having earned the Medal of the Order of Dhū al-Faqār, the equivalent to the Medal of Honor in the United States. However his life did not start out that way.
Qassem Soliemani was born on March 11, 1957 and grew up in Kerman province with a poor, rural family in southeast Iran. He grew up working from a young age to help pay off his family’s loans from the modernization program. He joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1979 and was deployed to Mahābād where he helped suppress Kurdish separatists. Throughout the next decade and a half, Soliemani climbed the ranks. From fighting on the front lines, to training battalions, to achieving the rank of brigadier general after the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, Soliemani’s early life as an adult was spent at the forefront of the Iran military. Throughout the rest of the century, Soliemani spent more time in the higher echelons where he soon commanded the Quds Forces and turned them into the Iran elite fighting force.
“When the Battle is over, the warrior clasps his hands sorrowfully for he has lost and the martyr has won” – Qassem Soliemani
During his time as commander of the Quds, Soliemani took several stances politically by how he employed his forces and drove the outcomes of wars within the Middle East and during the Arab Spring. In 2003 during the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Soliemani amassed relations with the Iraqi government when sending aid to the Iraq forces against the U.S. In 2011 during the Syrian uprising, Soliemani sent the Quds to aid the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, which proved vital to suppressing the riots. He also was the key driver in the fight against ISIL / ISIS within Iraq. All of these military achievements culminated in him being awarded the Medal of the Order of Dhū al-Faqār and promotion to Lieutenant General back in March 2019.
In the final weeks of 2019 is where more significant catalysts leading to Soliemani’s death start to occur.
- Friday, December 27,2019 : A militia group attacked U.S. troops in Kirkuk, Iraq with rockets. This attack killed one American contractor and wounded several American and Iraqi personnel
- Sunday, December 29,2019 : President Trump orders several airstrikes on different areas of Iraq and Syria
- Tuesday, December 31,2019 : U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is harassed and stormed by Kataib Hezbollah supporters. U.S. plans to detach an infantry battalion from the 82nd Airborne Division for assistance
- Wednesday, January 1, 2020 : Mike Pompeo, the United States secretary of state, cancels his international travels to Ukraine and four other countries
- Thursday, January 2, 2020 : U.S. releases a statement that they “will not accept continued attacks against our personnel & forces in the region.” Later that night the U.S. initiates more drone strikes, which later is confirmed to have killed Qassem Soliemani.
The fallout of this decision to kill Soliemani and why the U.S. enacted the strikes is outlined by the following paragraph. President Donald Trump issued the strikes on Soliemani because he said “In recent days, he was planning new attacks on American targets. But we stopped him.” The United States Intelligence Agency were claiming to have knowledge in and around Soliemani planning more attacks on Americans. Soliemani is also named by Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, in the “killing of hundreds of Americans and wounding thousands of American Coalition partners.” Coupled together, this was the main driver behind why the U.S. wanted to kill Qassem Soliemani.
Additionally, there were reports of the Quds Forces, of which Soliemani was the commanding general, training and supplying the insurgent group Kataib Hezbollah and others to then fight the Americans and their partners.
The next topic to bring up is what powers the President of the United States has in terms of being able to in affect, kill, another human being. Under the Constitution of the United States there are two ways of recourse. The first is the federal government is granted the power to declare war (through Congress) which thereby allows the military (and President as he is Commander in Chief) to kill the other military of the nation that the war has been declared upon. The second is through what is known as pursuant to due process, or where said person has been properly charged, fairly tried, and then convicted of a capital crime where death is the punishment. For this case, the United States is neither at war with Iran, nor was Soliemani charged with a crime.
The President claims that Soliemani was planning imminent attacks on U.S. soldiers. This brings into play the laws of war, or more specifically the defense of the country. This is enacted when foreign military personnel are engaged in killing Americans or about to do so. General Miley, the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs stated the Soliemani was planning a “significant campaign of violence” and it would be negligent of the United States not to step in.
This article was meant to address the killing of Qassem Soliemani and display the events leading up to his death, the impact of his life and what it entailed, and what the United States laws say about how a President may choose to defend the country. It is up for the reader to decide how to interpret these events. Was the President justified in killing Qassem Soliemani? Should a different recourse have been taken? How will this affect relations globally and more importantly, with the Middle East?
Other Side Disclaimer
The purpose of this article is to attempt unbiased journalism in order to educate the reader on the fundamental facts of a controversial topic, as well as give possible reasoning/background to each side of the argument and key moments during the conflicts. It is not our intent to write on one side or the other, but simply to let the reader hear the facts in order to understand and decide for themselves how they want to address the issue and undertake their stance, if they choose to take one. All sources have been cited for clarity and if you have any questions please feel free to comment below or contact us via our contact page.
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