freediver
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At my desk.
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This is the Iranian general America just killed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qasem_Soleimani
Qasem Soleimani (Persian: قاسم سلیمانی, pronounced [ɢɒːˌsem(e) solejmɒːˈniː]; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020), also transliterated as Qassem Suleimani or Qassim Soleimani, was an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and, from 1998 until his death, commander of its Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations.
Soleimani began his military career at the start of the Iran–Iraq War during the 1980s, eventually commanding the 41st Division. He was later involved in extraterritorial operations, providing military assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In 2012, Soleimani helped bolster the government of Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally, during Iran's operations in the Syrian Civil War and helped to plan the Russian military intervention in Syria.[20] Soleimani oversaw the Kurdish and Shia militia forces in Iraq, and assisted the Iraqi forces that advanced against ISIL in 2014–2015.[21][22] Soleimani was one of the first to support Kurdish forces, providing them with arms.[23][24] He maintained a low profile during most of his career.
Soleimani was widely popular among Iranians, where his supporters viewed him as a "selfless hero fighting Iran's enemies",[25] and his status approached that of a national icon.[26] He was designated as a terrorist by the United States[27] and by the European Union.[28] The entity he led, the Quds Force, is part of the IRGC, which is considered a terrorist organization by Canada,[29] Saudi Arabia, Bahrain,[30] and the United States.[31][32]
Soleimani was assassinated[33][34][35][36] in a targeted U.S. drone strike on 3 January 2020 in Baghdad, which was approved by President Donald Trump on the grounds that Soleimani posed an "imminent threat" to American lives.[37]
Regarding the decision to kill Soleimani, the Pentagon focused on both his past actions and a deterrent to his future action.[126] The airstrike followed attacks on the American embassy in Baghdad by supporters of an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militia and the 2019 K-1 Air Base attack.[127] Anonymous officials told The New York Times that Trump had initially decided to strike at the Shia militia, but instead chose the most extreme option proposed - killing Soleimani - after seeing television footage of the attack on the embassy.[128]
The U.S. Defense Department said the strike was carried out "at the direction of the President" and asserted that Soleimani had been planning further attacks on American diplomats and military personnel and had approved the attacks on the American embassy in Baghdad in response to U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on 29 December 2019, and that the strike was meant to deter future attacks.[129][130] The strike was not approved by the U.S. Congress or consented to by the Iraqi government, leading to controversy regarding the legality of killing an Iranian military leader over Iraqi airspace.[131]
On 4 January, a funeral procession for Soleimani was held in Baghdad with thousands of mourners in attendance, waving Iraqi and militia flags[132] and chanting "death to America, death to Israel".
On 6 January, the body of Soleimani and other casualties arrived at the Iranian capital Tehran. Huge crowds, reportedly hundreds of thousands or millions, packed the streets.
On 7 January 2020, a stampede took place at the burial procession for Soleimani in Kerman attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners, killing 56 and injuring 212 more.[146][147]
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