For Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a strong response is essential.  Susan E. Rice, National Security Adviser under President Obama, shortly before Khamenei’s conciliatory response.

“Well, opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one.” Harry Callahan in Dead Pool.

I hate being in a position of defending Trump, I dislike the man – not that I have actually met him, but I dislike the image I’m constantly fed – I dislike his casual nastiness and his constant thin-skinned self-promotion. He is a kiss-up, punch down kind of guy. But he is not always wrong and taking out Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani was the right thing to do despite the knee jerk condemnation of experts from other regimes.

OK, to back up, it was a bad idea to walk out on the nuclear treaty with Iran partially because it shows we can’t be trusted to keep an agreement and partially because we also walked out on the other signers; the UK, France, Germany, and the European Union as well as Russia and China. It makes us seem feckless and weakens us on the global stage. But given that we are there – and it seems all these experts think we should be there – what is our plan? If it is to win whatever we want to call it – war seems too grand, maybe struggle would fit – and they attacked us, which they did on Dec. 27 when they fired several rockets into a base in Northeast Iraq that killed an American mercenary and wounded four U.S. military people then wouldn’t attacking their command and control structure – in this case, their top general – be a good idea? That’s what we tried to do when both Bush the Elder and Bush the Younger attacked Iraq.

People talk about a measured response, why? That just prolongs the conflict (I like conflict). It seems to me that Trump did two things with this targetted assassination: he said: “Don’t mess with me; I’m not going to play the usual games, if you slap at me, I’ll beat the shit out of you.” and “We know where you are, we are watching.” I think it will be a lot longer before Iran hits back directly because of Trump’s killing their top terrorist rather than the measured response of killing a couple of Privates and a Sargeant guarding a supply dump. It is almost as if the Political Establishment – especially the Corporate Democrats – doesn’t want to end these conflicts. I guess they are good for business.