Fallout from Soleimani Assassination

Today’s vote of the Iraqi parliament to move to dispel American troops from the country is another sign that Trump is leading us into a boondoggle with Iran. Their decision was the result of President Trump’s order to kill top ranking Iranian General Soleimani and such fallout creates the impression that there was tenuous plan or coordination behind Trump’s decision to assassinate (if any).

The fact that Iraq, one of our closest allies in the region was unaware of Trump’s decision and saw it as a threat to sovereignty is a sign that Trump does not trust others and cannot be trusted himself. Iraq is a nation that we have invested billions of American taxpayer money in; we have put in considerable effort propping them up — their military, their democracy, their nation — and the fact that they are unilaterally moving to cast us out is embarrassing. The optics are shameful and a failure in diplomacy. Trump not only had a responsibility to develop a coalition within Iraq and with our allies in the region, he also had a responsibility to coordinate with Congress and the Democratic party was not apprised of his plans for Soleimani.

So here we are. A nation we once “liberated” wants us out and our executive branch did not seek full advice from Congress when on the precipice of moving to assassinating the General of a recognized nation. From a political perspective, the Democrats need to exploit Trump’s failure. If in fact, Iraq asks America to remove its troop presence in the country, it is not a win for President Trump. He may want to get out of “endless wars” but a good leader would leave under his own volition, plan and timeline. It is definitely not a good look if he is unilaterally asked to leave the country — especially after all of the years of goodwill we have invested in Iraq. The irony is thick and rich if Iraq “fires” America because of Trump’s mistake (has he ever heard those words?).

There is minimal information about the event that triggered where we are. It started with the killing of an American contractor (and other Iraqi soldiers) around December 27, 2019. As of this writing, their identities or purpose in Iraq have not been disclosed. Additionally, Soleimani fought against the ISIS caliphate, but politicians on both sides of the aisle agree he has the blood of Americans on his hands. Nonetheless, the fact is that Soleimani is being mourned by many and the Iraqis themselves are outraged at the United States unilateral action. For these reasons, the intended purpose of this writing is not to examine whether the assassination was justified, rather it is critique of Trump’s recklessness in carrying out an order that was loaded with political and military landmines.