SOLEIMANI’S DEATH, AND THE DEMS WANT WAR

America’s foremost enemies have suffered a devastating defeat. The mullahs in Iran got roughed up too.

To avenge the death of their leader, Qassem Soleimani, killed in a drone strike as he was leaving Baghdad International Airport, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps fired short range ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq where U.S. troops are stationed.

WW3 as kabuki. Fifteen SRBMs were fired. Four failed on launch, the other 11 killed no Americans or Iraqis, did only minor property damage.

It’s statistically improbable to get such poor results by accident. If the IRGC seriously were trying to kill Americans, they’d have fired many more than 15 SRBMs.

But that would have brought about a prompt, smoking end to the regime. The mullahs weren’t escalating. They were pleading for mercy.

Iran warned the missile strikes were coming. Iran’s foreign minister said they would conclude efforts to seek revenge for Soleimani’s death.

Democrats desperately want a war with Iran. They don’t care how many Iranians – or Americans – must be sacrificed to defeat President Trump in November.

In just the last two months, the IRGC murdered 1,500 unarmed protestors in Iran. The mullahs don’t care how many Iranians must die to keep themselves in power.

But the mullahs and their minions don’t want to be among the Iranians sacrificed. They’re not nearly as eager for war as Democrats are.

To save face, the mullahs had to threaten vengeance for the killing of their terror mastermind. But the missile kabuki signals they’re willing to give President Trump the W and move on.

That’s an enormous concession. Gen. David Petraeus, a former CIA director, explained why killing Soleimani is a much bigger deal than killing bin Laden or ISIS chieftain Baghdadi.

President Trump’s speech in response to the missile attack may be the best he’s ever given. Because no Americans were killed, there will be no retaliation for retaliation’s sake.

He’s willing to make a deal, but the mullahs must stop fomenting terror, abandon their pursuit of nuclear weapons. He’s imposing harsher economic sanctions to encourage them to do so.

The president looks strong and resolute while he de-escalates the crisis. A win-win for him.

And a lose-lose for Democrats and the Lying Swine. Far fewer Americans today think Trump is being hyperbolic when he describes them as “enemies of the American people.”

The MSM gave lavish attention to Soleimani’s funeral, treating this bloodthirsty killer as if he were Winston Churchill or Charles De Gaulle.

Soleimani was “a flamboyant former construction worker and body builder with snowy white hair, a dapper beard, and arching salt-and-pepper eyebrows,” said the New Yorker.

A “revered military leader,” said the Washington Post.

A “poet,” and a “national war hero,” said the New York Times.

While Democrats and the Lying Swine mourned the death of the world’s worst terrorist, ordinary people in Iran, Iraq and Syria celebrated his demise.

A massive crowd took to the streets in Idlib in northwestern Syria, chanting: “Gone gone gone Soleimani.”

Here’s the crowd in Baghdad (at 4:30 a.m. local time) expressing their joy.

If celebrants had taken to the streets in Iran, they’d have been arrested, beaten or shot. Iranians on social media expressed happiness and gratitude.

Here’s an Iranian family dancing in their home, chanting “death to dictator.”

“I didn’t expect the overwhelming celebration of the death of Qassem Soleimani in the region,” said Hassan Hassan, a senior analyst at the (left-wing) Center for Global Policy. “I realize he had enemies in some countries, but the support for the operation has truly been overwhelming and across the whole region.”

Americans should worry about the fallout from Soleimani’s demise, say the mullahs, Democrats and Fake Newsers. Celebrations throughout the Middle East suggest the mullahs should be nervous too.

“With ongoing protests that have turned Iran into a powder keg, many believe the death of (Grand Ayatollah) Khameinei’s key player in its regional terrorism strategy has heralded the downfall of the Iranian theocracy in 2020,” said Iran News.

Siding with terrorists is not a good look for Democrats seeking votes in November.

The look will worsen as more is revealed about Iranian involvement in 9/11 and Benghazi, and we learn more about how cozy the Obama administration was with Soleimani.

“Iran’s hostilities substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013,” the president noted in his remarks Wednesday.

Repeating Iranian propaganda verbatim won’t enhance the credibility of the MSM.

There’ll be no war, because President Trump doesn’t want one, and the mullahs know they can’t survive one.

Further Iranian “retaliation,” if it occurs, will be limited to terror attacks by proxies, which is what Soleimani was planning before he bit the green weenie.

But probably not. The killing of Soleimani was the very first time since 1979 they’ve suffered real consequences for their behavior.

The mullahs understandably believed previous presidents were No Action, Talk Only. Boy howdy, do they ever know now that Donald Trump isn’t George W. Bush or Barack Obama!

If the IRGC does resume terror attacks, it won’t be right away, because so much of the leadership has been decapitated.

Killed with Soleimani were the deputy commander of all proxy militias in Iraq, and two senior IRGC officers.

Shortly after Soleimani and al Muhandis were offed, three militia leaders fled to Iran, al Hurra News reported. More have been killed in subsequent air strikes.

The biggest shakeup in the IRGC comes from the frantic search for who ratted out Soleimani. Fifty-six commanders reportedly have been arrested; one of Soleimani’s most trusted lieutenants is missing.

Soleimani was taken out the day after Ayatollah Seyed Khamenei, top dog in Iran, taunted President Trump, telling him “you can’t do anything” about the attack on our embassy in Iraq.

The mullahs know now there’s plenty Trump can do.

Iraq’s parliament voted Sunday (1/5) to ask American troops to leave. Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a columnist for Kuwait’s leading newspaper, explains why this is much ado about not much.

What was passed was a non-binding resolution. Sunni and Kurdish members boycotted the “emergency session.” Iran’s supporters had to fake a quorum. The vote was illegal.

Iraq’s prime minister told parliament it has no role in determining when American troops leave. Adil Abdul-Mahdi is trying to negotiate a deal to disarm Shia militias in exchange for limiting the scope of U.S. troops.

Americans think getting out of Iraq is a swell idea.

Since that’s been President Trump’s goal for lo these many years, if Abdul-Mahdi can disarm the militias, a real timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops could be announced before the election.

The president’s remarks Wednesday about getting NATO involved in the Middle East could permit a draw down of our forces in the region.

If Trump makes a deal with the mullahs, or they are overthrown (odds are better than 50-50 one or the other will happen), and he can bring troops home from Iraq, how much bigger, do you think, will be his landslide in November?

Jack Kelly is a former Marine and Green Beret, and was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force during the Reagan Administration.  Until his retirement in January 2017, he was the national security writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.