Qasem Suleimani: The most influential "Riddle Man" in the Middle East got killed...Iran and U.S.A. closer to an open war.
Qasem Suleimani, a boy stemming from a poor family, born in the eastern city of Iran called Rabor, started to work early in his life from the age of 13 years, in order to pay his father's debts to the government of the Shah, that ruled Iran, before the 1979 revolution took place. Of course soon after Ayatollah Khomeini became a leader after the Iranian revolution, Qasem Suleimani, was totally devoted to his clerical rule.
Donald Trump ordered early today (Friday 3rd of January 2020), drone strikes, that killed the General Qasem Suleimani, at the airport of Baghdad together with local Iran-backed militias. His death, is not just a harsh fact, considering the balance of the Middle Eastern area, and the relations between Iran and the U.S., but also an abrupt escalation, from the part of the U.S., as General Qasem Suleimani, used to be the most powerful and influential man of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and not only of Iran ofcourse, but all-over the region near Iran, as he was also considered as the architect of the strategic development in the Middle East. Qasem Suleimani, was also number one in popularity inside Iran, and was promoted to be Iran's next president, even though he denied many times his envolvement in the elections, that will take place in Iran in 2021.
He was considered to be even more important than the President of Iran, as he had the ability to speak directly to all the factions of the country, something that doesn't happen with Rouhani, who is the current president.
He was also, the leader of the "Quds force", that is a special unit in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), enforced with powers that allow the operation of intelligence activities and extraterritorial operations, in support of non-state actors such as Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The "Quds force" special unit, reports directly to the supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamanei.
After the 2003 U.S. led invasion in Iraq, Suleimani tried to enforce pro-Iran forces and build a strategic front in the region, from Lebanon in the west to Yemen in the south.
Qasem Suleimani was also responsible in supporting Bashar-al-Assad in Syria. The resistance of Houthi-militia in Yemen against Saudi-Arabian forces and the enforcement of Shia-militia in Iraq, are all actions led by this powerful General.
It is common knowledge that after the U.S. led invasion in Iraq, there has been a shadow war between Suleimani and the U.S., over the new Iraqi leadership., which led to Suleimani passing a notorious message to the U.S., back in 2007, letting know that he was in control of the policy of Iran, concerning Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan.
By the time of the strike early this morning, Donald Trump was in Florida and short after the strike he tweeted the American flag...There is no wonder that an open war beggins!
What Trump has done, is sure not going to pass or be forgotten without retaliation from the part of Iran. Iranians lost the most influential leader they had for years. Qasem Suleimani, used to be so inspiring to their lives, that he also appeared to music video-clips.
Donald Trump with this drone strike early this morning, has reached close to massive deterrence, if one takes into account, the level of influence of the General, who was responsible for the structure of the Middle East for more than 2 decades. But the problem is that in massive deterrence, the agressor should attack in such a way that there is no space from the other part to fight back. And that is definitely not the case with Iran.
Trump just inaugurated an open war and an even more brutal massacre in the forthcoming months in the region of the Middle East. Trump, this way nurtures terrorism and retaliation.
One thing is for sure...the west slowly loses all the arguments that used to legitimize its war actions. We enter an era of total political recession, worst than that of the economic recession we witnessed since years ago. And the problem is that political recessions last longer, and noone trusts anyone. States use to act on their own, without cooperation even in peaceful times...But can anyone imagine this political recession period we entered, through war times? Can anyone imagine, what this political recession means after the U.S. strike in Baghdad, not only for Iran the Middle East and the U.S., but for all the world? One thing is for sure, those consequences will take years to analyze them properly. But, it is the beggining of a period of total lack of trust, of social media wars "through tweets", of an unprecedented collapse of international institutions as they used to be represented by the West, and of a continuous degradation of negotiation as a political tool, giving space from now on to abrupt terrorists acts...
written by Themis Panagiotopoulou, PhD in Political Science