Trump's Soleimani Secrets

Qasem Soleimani

If you didn't know Donald Trump was a compulsive liar, then you probably will believe the lies he has been telling about the killing of the Iranian Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani.  

Trump has been telling America that Soleimani was planning an imminent attack on four American embassies.  Trump says Solemani's death stopped those attacks and saved American lives.  In order for Trump to take military action without the approval of Congress, it would require an imminent threat to American lives.  Without the urgency of an imminent attack, Trump would be abusing his Presidential authority and guilty once again of violating the American Constitution.

But now defense secretary Mark Esper has admitted that there was no intelligence that discussed any immediate threat especially to American embassies.  Esper indicated that he shared Trump's opinion, but it was only a personal opinion and not based on any information from the American intelligence community.  He also said that the gang of eight had been told about the imminent threat.

Adam Schiff, who is chair of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the gang of eight, who are privy to highly classified information, indicated that there was no such intelligence shared with the gang of eight members.

The original story Trump put out to the public was a lie.  

NBC news has reported that Trump, at the insistence of Pompeo and Bolton, authorized the killing of Soleimani months ago but he required final sign-off and only if Iran killed an American.  When a US contractor was killed in Iraq by Iranian proxies, killing Soleimani then qualified as an option for the US to counter the attack.  But the US intelligence agencies indicated that Iran did not intend to escalate, but just keep pressure on the United States.  The intelligence did not support the idea of an imminent threat to other Americans.

After the contractor was killed, Trump ordered strikes that killed dozens of Iran-backed militia members, which led to protesters attack on the Baghdad embassy.  This is when Trump decided to order the killing of Soleimani.  There was no imminent threat.

One of Trump's greatest lies is that he is a stable genius.  In this case as in so many others with this President, Trump's malignant narcissism prevents him from taking the appropriate actions and allows him to carry out actions that support his alternative view of reality.  

We have a mad man running the United States who has been given permission by his party to mold America into the newest Western dictatorship.  If Republicans in Congress won't agree to remove him, then he must be removed from office by American voters before he can accomplish his sinister goal.