Let’s see if you can sort the sane from the “other” in the following hot takes on the termination with extreme prejudice of Iran’s terrorist commander Qassem Soleimani at the order of President Trump yesterday.
Rich Lowry comments:
This is an incredibly bold move that shows that Trump’s red line against harming Americans was very real. The conventional wisdom that Trump is just a Twitter tiger, which was driving news and analysis as of a couple of hours ago, is now emphatically OTBE. Soleimani is commonly called a terrorist, obviously true enough, but not only that — he was a major figure in the Iranian regime, a key strategist with unique skills who led the Iranian imperial project in the Middle East. He was also a cold-blooded killer of Americans who deserved to die. His assassination has to be a staggering blow to the regime, which will feel compelled to respond. Trump now may well face the first true foreign-policy crisis of his presidency, although we can, assuming the will, hit the Iranians back harder whatever their next move is (challenging us more forthrightly in Iraq would seem an obvious possibility). Let’s hope we are prepared for whatever comes next, and congratulate all involved in this successful operation to rid the world of a cunning and ruthless killer.
We continue with hot takes via Twitter.
Soleimani killed hundreds of Americans and had designs on killing countless more. His loss is a major blow to Iran. Acting in our defense is never certain, but the good guys won today — and Trump’s approach is better than paying off the bad guys or pretending they’re not so bad.
— Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) January 3, 2020
Thanks for the tip, guys https://t.co/xi0R7wuvc4
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) January 3, 2020
4:30 AM (IQ time): Iraqi protesters at Baghdad’s Tahrir Square are celebrating the death of Qassem Solaimani in a US airstrike. #Iraq pic.twitter.com/Fw5BmQm2yX
— Baxtiyar Goran (@BaxtiyarGoran) January 3, 2020
Trump Middle East policy. Seems sound. https://t.co/Xrevi6wiVV
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) January 3, 2020
Perhaps it would have been a better idea to send him $1.7 billion in unmarked bills, in pallets on planes in the dead of night, so he could kill more Americans? https://t.co/t5Mj2SMyq5
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 3, 2020
Senator Cruz responds to former Obama foreign-policy guru Ben Rhodes. Compare and contrast. Now for a few more representative voices of the Democratic Party, beginning with its media adjunct:
“Most revered” ?????
Soleimani is responsible for shedding blood of US soldiers and terrorizing the globe. @washingtonpost headline is an absolute embarrassment and needs to be immediately retracted. https://t.co/eBQf70uKIE
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 3, 2020
Two days apart. It really is sad what partisanship is doing to people.
First @ChrisMurphyCT complains that we are impotent and just praying for the bad guys to go away, then he declares it was wrong for us to take out the worst bad guy in the region.
Shameless. pic.twitter.com/yrX2UfOswf
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) January 3, 2020
And, finally:
So what if Trump wants war, knows this leads to war and needs the distraction?
Real question is, will those with congressional authority step in and stop him? I know I will. https://t.co/Fj9TMossEW
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 3, 2020
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