President Donald Trump sent radical cleric Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian dictator, an unmistakable message early on Friday in Tehran time after warnings on Thursday: three missiles from a Reaper drone. The projectiles were aimed at Baghdad International Airport and killed a man who has masterminded U.S. military deaths in the region for years, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, General Qassem Soleimani.
The strike was in retaliation for Tuesday’s unsuccessful storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and in deterrence of attacks the U.S. State Department indicated that Soleimani was planning against Americans throughout the area.
Surely Iranian dictator Ayatollah Khamenei must long for the days of the administration of former President Barack Obama — when a billion in cash was sent on a special plane as a going-away present.
There were three immediate reactions to the strike.
The first was from President Trump, speaking for many Americans.
He made sure the world knew the attack was ours and then he simply, eloquently, posted an American flag to his Twitter page.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020
The other reactions, both similar in nature, were from the Iranians and American Democrats.
The president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, vowed on Friday that Iran would “take revenge for this heinous crime.” His statement is a far cry from the former words of his boss, Khamenei, who said this past Tuesday that President Trump could “not do a damned thing” about Iranian moves in Iraq.
Democrats — from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to various presidential hopefuls — condemned the U.S. strike and instead attacked Trump.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said, “I fear this administration has not demonstrated at any turn the discipline or long-term vision necessary — and the stakes could not be higher.”
The different responses and actions in regard to an attack on a U.S. embassy is indicative of a Democratic Party that still bears the blood of Ambassador Chris Stevens on its hands from the tragic sacking of our Libyan embassy in Benghazi in 2012.
Related: A Telling Tale of Two Embassies
That was an attack they could have stopped — and chose not to by refusing to send a requested rescue force.
The opposite and forceful actions of President Trump, who eliminated one of the greatest threats to Americans in the region and likely the world, stand in stark contrast to past and present Democrat moral cowardice.
They seem to have a pathological alliance with U.S. enemies on this and myriad other issues where American lives are at stake.
Join the Discussion
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.