by Renee Parsons<\/p>\n
The assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was already a national hero in Iran, has now achieved the stature of a world-class martyr.\u00a0 <\/span>Carrying a diplomatic passport on his flight into Baghdad, Soleimani was also carrying the Iranian response\u00a0 <\/span>to a Saudi initiative for peace.<\/p>\n In contrast, President Donald Trump has revealed more about his own inner angst than he ever intended \u2013 or perhaps, being a non-introspective type, what has been revealed may be more than he himself has ever acknowledged.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As events and more of the back story unfold, Trump\u2019s frequently problematic sense of reality may be questioned in view of his astonishing suggestion that he is ‘ready to make<\/a> a new nuclear deal <\/a>with Iran, even as he ordered additional sanction against the country.\u00a0 <\/span>Prior to Soleimani\u2019s assassination, Trump threatened to kill Iraq Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi<\/a>. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is no denying that the nature of the act is right out of the Israel play book of quick and dirty overkill and extermination of humanity as seen in Gaza and Jerusalem on a daily basis.<\/p>\n During a session of the Iraq legislature immediately after the assassination, Mahdi reported that the Americans had \u201cruined his country<\/i>\u201d and were now unwilling to repair Iraq\u2019s electric grid and other infrastructure needs.\u00a0 <\/span>Mahdi did what any self-respecting leader would do; he signed a contract with Trump\u2019s favorite trading partner to make the repairs. \u00a0 <\/span>China already had an international reputation for providing necessary community infrastructure in Africa and elsewhere \u2013 wonder if they might visit Detroit and solve their water quality crisis.<\/p>\n Trump has vehemently opposed Iraq\u2019s deal with China unless Mahdi would guarantee that 50% of Iraq\u2019s oil revenue<\/span> would go to the US.\u00a0 <\/span>Mahdi refused and when he refused to reject the contract, he said that Trump \u201cthreatened to unleash huge demonstrations against me that would end my premiership<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n Mahdi continued \u201cHuge demonstrations against me duly materialized<\/span> and Trump called again to threaten that if I did not comply with his demands<\/span>, then he would have Marine snipers<\/span> on tall buildings target protesters and security personnel alike in order to pressure me.\u00a0 <\/span>I refused again and handed in my resignation<\/span>. To this day the Americans insist on us rescinding our deal with the Chinese.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahdi says he was also \u201cthreatened with false-flag sniper shootings of both protesters and security personnel in order to inflame the situation\u201d like what took place\u00a0 <\/span>in Cairo in 2009, Libya in 2011, and the Maidan in 2014.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter this, when our Minister of Defense publicly stated that a third party<\/span> was targeting both protestors and security personnel alike (just as Trump had threatened he would do), I received a new call from Trump threatening to kill both me and the Minister of Defense if we kept on talking about this \u201cthird party<\/span>\u201d.<\/p>\n Does any precedent exist, outside of a formally declared war, where the leader of one country personally threatens the life of the leader of another country?\u00a0 <\/span>This sounds more serious than just a \u201cbad hair\u201d day but rather that someone was off their meds. As Trump frequently demonstrates a bombastic nature with a non-functioning filter to refine his every whim and thought, he has more recently exhibited a deep dark side that has emerged for many Americans to witness.<\/p>\n The nature of the Act itself, the sheer violence of obliterating another human being beyond recognition, appeared to not be enough to satisfy the President\u2019s inner lustful rage.\u00a0 <\/span>He continued over the weekend to issue a score of irrational threats to Iran and unfounded accusations about Soleimani who is now acknowledged as architect of the successful campaign to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.\u00a0 <\/span>Despite the false bravado, Trump\u2019s media blast was less a show of strength and courage than a horrifying display of one soul\u2019s malevolent nature.<\/p>\n Forty two hours after the assassination, Trump appeared before the VFW\u2019s National Conference where, in a massive disconnect from reality, he suggested: \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI withdrew the US from a horrible one-sided nuclear deal and Iran is not the same country any more; that I can say.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>We\u2019ll see what happens but we\u2019re ready to make a real deal;<\/i><\/b> not a deal that was done by the previous administration which was a disaster<\/i><\/span>\u201c <\/i>\u00a0 <\/span>Is it rational to consider a new nuclear deal with Iran after having just assassinated that country\u2019s most revered military leader?<\/p>\n By Wednesday, in an awkward and somewhat bumbling public appearance<\/a> from\u00a0 <\/span>the White House, Trump appeared short of breath and nervous as he spoke the same belligerent rhetoric but in a more mellow tone. \u00a0 <\/span>He again raised the possibility of a new nuclear deal with Iran:\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe must all work together to make a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place<\/i><\/span>\u201d and \u201cThe US is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it<\/i><\/span>.<\/i>\u201d as if the assassination was a long ago forgotten kerfuffle.<\/p>\n As Trump continued to pound on Soleimani in death about destabilizing the Middle East, every word he uttered about terrorists could be easily applied to the US, to himself or to Barack Obama or GW for their never-ending campaign\u00a0 <\/span>to preserve The Empire.<\/p>\n With a penchant for over-exaggeration, Trump claims that the \u201cUS has achieved energy independence<\/i><\/span>\u201d as if it is a done deal. \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe are now the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>We are independent and\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c<\/i>we do not need Middle East oil<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/span>\u201d So let\u2019s take him at his word that the US has truly achieved\u00a0 <\/span>long-term, reliable energy\u00a0 <\/span>independence;<\/span> then let\u2019s immediately initiate an exit strategy from Afghanistan, Iraq,\u00a0 <\/span>Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and where ever else US troops are protecting pipelines.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Iranians are long-term, big picture thinkers and they might see the wisdom of going through the motions of a new deal with the US but the smart money is on a covert act\u00a0 <\/span>that will claim a fitting justice for Soleimani as it is time for Israel to fight its own battles.<\/p>\n Renee Parsons<\/b> has been a member of the ACLU\u2019s Florida State Board of Directors and President of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. \u00a0 <\/span>She has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist with Friends of the Earth and staff member in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC.\u00a0 <\/span>She can be found on Twitter @reneedove31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Primordial Urge to Slay a Hero<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3895\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}