US assassination of Gen. Soleimani an act of state-sponsored terrorism
The Trump regime’s assassination of Iran’s Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit commander Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad was a flagrant breach of international and US constitutional law under its Supremacy Clause.
Claiming jus ad bellum justification, the notion of conditions under which it’s permissible to attack another country, is a nonstarter, a Big Lie fooling no one.
Neither Iran, Iraq, or other nations anywhere threaten US national security.
Claims otherwise by its officials are backed by no corroborating evidence because none exists.
Iran, Iraq, and most other nations are at peace with other states.
The US, NATO, and Israel are waging endless wars on humanity regionally and globally.
The killings of Soleimani and Muhandis by drone or any other means was a US act of aggression against both countries.
At the time, a US war department statement said the following:
“At the direction of the president (Trump), the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad (sic) by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (sic),” adding:
“This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans (sic).”
“The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world (sic).”
The war department statement falsely blamed Soleimani for high crimes in the region — committed by the US and its imperial partners, not the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei denounced Soleimani’s assassination, saying:
He’s “an international figure of the resistance, and all the devotees of resistance are now his avengers,” adding:
“All the friends and foes must know that the path of jihad of the resistance will continue with double motivation, and a definite victory awaits those who fight in this auspicious path.”
“The demise of our selfless and dear general is bitter, but the continued fight and achievement of the final victory will make life bitterer for the murderers and criminals.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his assassination “doubled the determination of the great nation of Iran and other free nations to stand against and resist the excessive demands of the US and to defend the Islamic values,” adding:
“There is no doubt that this cowardly and evil move is another sign of US desperation, inability and failure in the region, and the hatred felt by the regional nations toward this criminal regime.”
“The great nation of Iran and other free nations of the region will take revenge for this heinous crime against the criminal US.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif denounced US “rogue adventurism.”
The Trump regime “bears responsibility for all consequences of its” actions, he stressed.
Separately he tweeted: “The US act of international terrorism, targeting & assassinating General Soleimani—THE most effective force fighting Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, Al Qaeda et al—is extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation.”
Tehran University Professor Mohammad Marandi said Soleimani’s involvement in combating (US-supported) ISIS made him a “national hero (and) martyr” domestically and in other regional countries, adding:
“If it wasn’t for people like him, this region would have seen black flags flying across the” Middle East.
A report issued by UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard was damning in its condemnation of the US assassination of Soleimani and Muhandis, saying:
“Absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the US was unlawful,” a flagrant UN Charter breach, adding:
“The world is at a critical time, and possible tipping point, when it comes to the use of drones…”
“The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent.”
The US and its imperial allies are responsible for endless preemptive wars and other criminal actions by hot and other means against nations unwilling to subordinate their sovereign rights to its interests.
The rage by both right wings of its war party to control planet earth, its resources, and populations poses an unparalleled threat to everyone everywhere.
Stephen Lendman, born in 1934 in Boston, started writing on major world and national issues began in summer 2005. In early 2007, radio hosting followed. Lendman now hosts the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network three times weekly. Distinguished guests are featured. Listen live or archived. Major world and national issues are discussed. Lendman is a 2008 Project Censored winner and 2011 Mexican Journalists Club international journalism award recipient. He wrote this article for Press TV website.
Source: Presstv
