Killing Suleimani: The US and Iran
I was interviewed by a local paper regarding the killing of Iranian General Suleimani. Below are their questions and my answers. I haven’t seen the paper yet.
1. What was your first reaction when you heard the news of the airstrike yesterday?
I wasn’t surprised. President Trump had been very patient with Iranian provocations. He is not trigger happy as some of his detractors think. He clearly warned the Iranians that if they kill Americans, they will face a heavy retaliation. They kept on attacking American targets through proxies. After the attack that injured and killed Americans, he decided to kill General Suleimani, a man who has been involved in the death of hundreds of Americans. As to his foreign policy, President Trump deserves more credit than he is given.
2. What is your opinion of the air strikes that resulted in the death of the Iranian general?
The Iranians forced America’s hands. There were a number of provocations. The last was attacking the American embassy in Baghdad. The attackers made clear that they are there in the name of Iran and Suleimani. They even wrote his name on the walls of the embassy, held banners with his name and were shouting allegiance to him. By targeting such an important figure, the US sent a clear and loud message. Interesting to note, Ayatollah Khameini had been mocking the US that it would not dare Iran. The air strikes disabused them of that dangerous idea.
3. I’ve been seeing reports that some Iranians actually may be happy about seeing the general dead. Do you buy that or is that just wishful thinking on the part of the Americans?
Iran is a clerical dictatorship. A Shiite Caliphate, a fancier form than the Sunni Caliphate of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi- with embassies and the trappings of as a respectable state. But it is a dictatorship that through corruption and mismanagement of the country’s resources has resulted in 60% of Iranians living in poverty. There are millions of Iranians unhappy with the regime. But the regime suppresses them brutally. The regime is way more vicious than the Shah regime ever was.
4. As we approach the resumption of classes at Murray State, how active do you think the conversations will be in your classes as to this issue, what types of questions do you think your students will ask?
I include current events in class discussions only if they are relevant to that day’s lecture. Students interested in asking questions on topics not part of the course or that day’s lecture are asked to stop by my office.
5. What kind of response, if any, will Iran have?
Iran is in a jam. If they don’t respond, they are seen as a paper tiger that has been feeding its people lies about being an “empire” that dominates the region. If they choose open military confrontation, they will be savaged by the US war machine and they will guarantee the re-election of Mr. Trump, a man they hate. In the past they have used asymmetrical warfare against the US- through their proxies. They push their proxies to act and then volunteer to be useful tot eh US, for a price. For example, we did not kidnap Americans, but we can use our “influence” to free them, we are not responsible for firing the rockets at American bases, but we can use our “influence” to stop them. What is strange is that Iran has not been using tactics that give it plausible deniability- such as when their proxies bombed the American embassy and barracks in Beirut and kidnapped and/or killed Americans. The reason is the economic sanctions imposed on them. They have been the worst thing Iran has ever experienced- even worse to them than the 8 year war with Iraq. And they are under pressure to show their impoverished people that they are pushing back.
6. How worried should Americans be right now, both overseas and here in the U.S.?
Iran has sleeper cells in the whole world- including in the US. It has sympathizers. How many would go beyond sympathy to action? With Trump, though, unlike with other presidents, he considers an American death by an Iranian proxy an act committed by Iran itself. He does not distinguish acts by proxies and acts by Iran itself. But it is possible that Iran would miscalculate. They can- we have seen it and that led to the death of General Suleimani.
7. Wild card question … from what I have seen with the Middle East, a lot of the conflict over the years, one way or another, has to do with Israel. Is Israel involved with this in some way or was this an all-American thing?
Israel is occupying the Palestinians and denying them basic rights and that is wrong. However, dictatorships in the Middle East use the issue of Palestine for propaganda reasons. Regimes that don’t care about the welfare of their own people don’t genuinely carry about Palestine or the Palestinians.
1. What was your first reaction when you heard the news of the airstrike yesterday?
I wasn’t surprised. President Trump had been very patient with Iranian provocations. He is not trigger happy as some of his detractors think. He clearly warned the Iranians that if they kill Americans, they will face a heavy retaliation. They kept on attacking American targets through proxies. After the attack that injured and killed Americans, he decided to kill General Suleimani, a man who has been involved in the death of hundreds of Americans. As to his foreign policy, President Trump deserves more credit than he is given.
2. What is your opinion of the air strikes that resulted in the death of the Iranian general?
The Iranians forced America’s hands. There were a number of provocations. The last was attacking the American embassy in Baghdad. The attackers made clear that they are there in the name of Iran and Suleimani. They even wrote his name on the walls of the embassy, held banners with his name and were shouting allegiance to him. By targeting such an important figure, the US sent a clear and loud message. Interesting to note, Ayatollah Khameini had been mocking the US that it would not dare Iran. The air strikes disabused them of that dangerous idea.
3. I’ve been seeing reports that some Iranians actually may be happy about seeing the general dead. Do you buy that or is that just wishful thinking on the part of the Americans?
Iran is a clerical dictatorship. A Shiite Caliphate, a fancier form than the Sunni Caliphate of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi- with embassies and the trappings of as a respectable state. But it is a dictatorship that through corruption and mismanagement of the country’s resources has resulted in 60% of Iranians living in poverty. There are millions of Iranians unhappy with the regime. But the regime suppresses them brutally. The regime is way more vicious than the Shah regime ever was.
4. As we approach the resumption of classes at Murray State, how active do you think the conversations will be in your classes as to this issue, what types of questions do you think your students will ask?
I include current events in class discussions only if they are relevant to that day’s lecture. Students interested in asking questions on topics not part of the course or that day’s lecture are asked to stop by my office.
5. What kind of response, if any, will Iran have?
Iran is in a jam. If they don’t respond, they are seen as a paper tiger that has been feeding its people lies about being an “empire” that dominates the region. If they choose open military confrontation, they will be savaged by the US war machine and they will guarantee the re-election of Mr. Trump, a man they hate. In the past they have used asymmetrical warfare against the US- through their proxies. They push their proxies to act and then volunteer to be useful tot eh US, for a price. For example, we did not kidnap Americans, but we can use our “influence” to free them, we are not responsible for firing the rockets at American bases, but we can use our “influence” to stop them. What is strange is that Iran has not been using tactics that give it plausible deniability- such as when their proxies bombed the American embassy and barracks in Beirut and kidnapped and/or killed Americans. The reason is the economic sanctions imposed on them. They have been the worst thing Iran has ever experienced- even worse to them than the 8 year war with Iraq. And they are under pressure to show their impoverished people that they are pushing back.
6. How worried should Americans be right now, both overseas and here in the U.S.?
Iran has sleeper cells in the whole world- including in the US. It has sympathizers. How many would go beyond sympathy to action? With Trump, though, unlike with other presidents, he considers an American death by an Iranian proxy an act committed by Iran itself. He does not distinguish acts by proxies and acts by Iran itself. But it is possible that Iran would miscalculate. They can- we have seen it and that led to the death of General Suleimani.
7. Wild card question … from what I have seen with the Middle East, a lot of the conflict over the years, one way or another, has to do with Israel. Is Israel involved with this in some way or was this an all-American thing?
Israel is occupying the Palestinians and denying them basic rights and that is wrong. However, dictatorships in the Middle East use the issue of Palestine for propaganda reasons. Regimes that don’t care about the welfare of their own people don’t genuinely carry about Palestine or the Palestinians.
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