Osiris-ODS
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- Jan 22, 2019
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Wanted to provide a bit of direct historical context from a couple of 2015-dated sources for those who are merely taking in the talking points outlined by their partisan news source of choice. Although I'm doubtful it will matter, I figured it was worth a shot to try providing dated source material rather than waiting for an online news source to reference this and then citing that article, which would just result in the predictable attacks on the source vs the content.
Here goes--article is dated July 14, 2015 about the Obama Administration's nuclear discussions with Iran entitled "Obama Strikes a Deal--With Qassem Suleimani."
Here's the part that stands out and bears emphasis:
"Obama likes Suleimani, and admires his work. As the president reportedly told a group of Arab officials in May, the Arabs 'need to learn from Iran’s example.'”
Obama Strikes a Deal--With Qassem Suleimani - by Lee Smith
Here's another article confirming the same position, dated June 2, 2015, entitled "When the U.S. Will Intervene in the Gulf, and Other Notes From the Camp David Summit." Here's the part that stands out from that source:
At a more general level, he observed that Iran has been successfully expanding its influence for years across the region — not directly, but through the use of local proxies. With more than a hint of admiration for the skill and professionalism of Qassem Soleimani and the IRGC’s Qods Force, Obama noted that Iran has consistently excelled at this type of sub-state conflict.
And that’s when he let loose with this little gem: The Arabs [] need to learn from Iran’s example. In fact, they need to take a page out of the playbook of the Qods Force — by which he meant developing their own local proxies capable of going toe-to-toe with Iran’s agents and defeating them. The president seemed to marvel at the fact that from Hezbollah to the Houthis to the Iraqi militias, Iran has such a deep bench of effective proxies willing to advance its interests.
When the U.S. Will Intervene in the Gulf, and Other Notes From the Camp David Summit
Now, with that context (from sources recognized as "HIGH factual reporting" by mediabiasfactcheck), when considering whether to adopt and repeat those media talking points, that Obama's expressions of admiration were for the man whose resume was summarized by NBC today as follows:
Soleimani and the Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and other coalition forces and orchestrated attacks on bases in Iraq within the last several months, including a Dec. 27 attack that killed a U.S. contractor and wounded several service members
Pelosi wants details from Trump after U.S. kills Iranian commander
Trump did the same thing with kim
By making that comparison then you're completely missing the point. The differences are these:
1. Soleimani coordinated a full-board assault on a U.S. Embassy (sovereign American soil), breaching the facility (well fortified, unlike the Embassy in Benghazi) and killing American citizens on U.S. soil,
2. Soleimani was already responsible for the death of approximately 600 American service members, and was “actively developing plans” to implement a series of additional attacks on American diplomats and service members in Iraq,
3. The U.S. responded to the attack on its Embassy (sovereign soil) and killing of American citizens with a swift and decisive airstrike, killing the coordinator of the attack, Soleimani.
4. The media (and many Democrats) are characterizing the response to the attack on sovereign U.S. soil that killed American citizens and service members as the "murder" of a "prominent" foreign official and Iran's “most revered military leader” (the latter from WaPo, fresh off its recent gaff describing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an “austere religious scholar”)
2. Soleimani was already responsible for the death of approximately 600 American service members, and was “actively developing plans” to implement a series of additional attacks on American diplomats and service members in Iraq,
3. The U.S. responded to the attack on its Embassy (sovereign soil) and killing of American citizens with a swift and decisive airstrike, killing the coordinator of the attack, Soleimani.
4. The media (and many Democrats) are characterizing the response to the attack on sovereign U.S. soil that killed American citizens and service members as the "murder" of a "prominent" foreign official and Iran's “most revered military leader” (the latter from WaPo, fresh off its recent gaff describing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an “austere religious scholar”)
In light of these distinctions, do you still believe this is analogous to the Trump/Kim reference you made?
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