100 days later: Who won the war?

The assassination of Lt. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, which was carried out 100 days ago in a terrorist attack in Baghdad’s international airport, may be considered the biggest miscalculation and security mistake by the United States ever.

However, the assassination was said to be a unilateral and personal decision by Trump and some other officials in the White House and the Pentagon, which revealed Trump and his inner circle’s misunderstanding of the regional events.

Trump made the decision to achieve his desired results. In a rush caused by confusion, the US president sought results that he had imagined could be achieved by the assassination of Lt. Gen. Soleimani.

One of the important driving factors in Trump’s decision-making process and his insane political approach was to achieve his electoral interests. It was assumed that the assassination could affect the 2020 election in his favor. Also, by martyring Lt. Gen. Soleimani the White House had the illusion that it can bring the political situation in Iraq under its control, an issue which was defined by Trump’s domestic goals.  

Of course, the pressure applied by the Zionist regime and its interests played an important role in US decisions. Tel Aviv, meanwhile, was under domestic pressure and failed to form a cabinet. It also was being threatened by the Lebanese Hezbollah and resistance groups in Palestine. 

It was believed that the main reason for failures of the US and Israel in the region was Iran, particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force whose commander enjoyed a charismatic personality.

Numerous political and field achievements and the success of the axis of resistance in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as the repeated failures of Saudi Arabia, as an Israeli-American stooge, are the main reasons that led Trump to make such a decision.

Trump was trying to change the situation in Iran, which had been put under maximum political and economic pressure, in US favor by assassinating commander Soleimani. By looking at the events that followed the assassination and the regional developments, one can see Trump’s miscalculations and wrong decision.

The assassination of the Quds Force commander was opposed by many Americans. The opposition emerged even at the political level and worldwide, as many believed Lt. Gen. Soleimani was an important figure in the fight against terrorism and ISIS. They viewed his assassination in contrast to the US anti-terrorism claims.

According to polls, Trump’s popularity and a chance of winning the next election have even declined a matter that he did not expect. Many Americans are well aware that Trump is, in fact, a tool for implementing the “madman theory”. He has the mission to use American citizens as a means to meet the goal of 3 percent of the American Jewish community, which is political and economic exploitation.

Trump may never have predicted that large crowds in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the countries classified as members of the axis of resistance would attend the funeral processions for commander Soleimani. The funeral, which was attended by millions of people, was actually an anti-US referendum that showed how popular the discourse of the resistance movement is. In fact, the Americans realized that “Martyr Soleimani” is more alive and more dangerous for the enemy than “Qasem Soleimani”.

Evaluations showed that most of those who paid homage to Qasem Soleimani before his martyrdom and looked at him as a hero and legendary commander in the fight against terrorism, now consider him not as a person but a school.

But another issue that the Americans sought to achieve by assassination was to reduce the sphere of the influence of the Iranian Islamic resistance movement in Palestine and Iraq. The Americans assumed by conducting the terrorist attack, they would be able to reduce Iran’s influence in the region and have more chance to carry out their plans in Iraq. Therefore, a little while after the assassination, reducing the Iranian influence in the region becomes a hot button subject for Western media outlets.

This was another huge miscalculation by the Americans. They did not know that in addition to his commanding and charismatic personality, what made Haj Qasem Soleimani a great figure, was his quest for a discourse that is being led by Ayatollah Khamenei. It is a discourse that contains theory and worldview of martyrdom.

Although the martyrdom of Commander Soleimani was a great blow to Iran and the axis of resistance, it did not mean that Iran would remain inactive from now on.  Tehran immediately appointed Gen. Esmail Qaani as commander of the IRGC Quds Force. The US has been worried about the new commander since the outset of his appointment and even spoke of his assassination.

Of course, after a short period of time, the axis of resistance made more achievements, especially in Syria. All these factors show that today all the member countries of the axis of resistance are more determined to achieve their goals with respect to Martyr Soleimani, who has now become a school.

This article was first published in The Tehran Times.