Baghdad and also more recently he has been trying to prevent chaos from erupting in iraq he had nothing to do with killing protesters on the streets of iraq iraq is a is a mess and the mess is because of u. S. Policy the United States destroyed iraq the United States created Saddam Hussein gave them chemical weapons one day then became his enemy another day they impose sanctions on iraq he has killed a 1000000 people then they invaded the country and destroyed the country then the americans helped create extremism in syria with the saudis and others and thats that the those extremists came into iraq because the iraq no longer had infrastructure the iranians came and helped iraqis say that the dog was on the verge of falling and the United States refused to help the Iraqi Government this is something that obama himself admitted so the americans have now assassinated they have murdered an e a senior iraq iranian. Official they violated International Law they outrage the iranian people outrage as we will see the overwhelming majority of the iraqi people and they will have to pay a heavy price for that but. I want to just follow up on iraq the implications for iraq and what were seeing in iraq today because weve seen months of process of people saying they dont want iranian influence in the country and indeed there were reports of people celebrating today in baghdad the killing of so the money what is the future there for iraq given the political instability and clearly in the eyes of some on the ground there an anti iranian feeling well we also saw a huge numbers of people who joined the funeral ceremony for the rockies who were murdered by the americans just a couple of days ago. The overwhelming majority of iraqis support their soldiers and their war heroes and of course there are going to be those who are very hostile towards iran there are there are large numbers of iraqis who are part of the Saddam Hussein regime they are still in iraq there are many iraqis who supported isis which is backed by western governments and regional regimes we know this the documents have come out look at the weekend leaks. Emails of Hillary Clinton look at the u. S. The defense u. S. Defense Intelligence Agency document of 2012 look at general michael flynn. Admission on your own channel on aljazeera when he spoke about the United States taking a willful decision to support the extremists in iraq iraq is remember what the iranians did and how they thought a line on the alongside the iraqi people i think it is a major miscalculation by the americans to think that they can murder iraqis with impunity like they did a few days ago that they can ignore the rocky they can disrespect and you ignore the Iraqi Government and iraqi sovereignty and insult the iraqi people by murdering their war heroes and their soldiers and now by murdering senior Iraqi Military officials and Senior Iranian military officials know out no matter how the western media and western pundits and western regimes try to frame this this was an act of war and this was the end americans are going to pay a heavy price for this and i think that across the region there will be implications and i think that there isnt anywhere where there is an American Military presence american should should leave those countries immediately baba morandi there the head of the American Studies Department the university of tehran joining us there from the iranian capital. Well its just gone 5 g. M. T. Hours on stan grant and of course were bringing you rolling coverage here now which is 0 of a major breaking news story that we bring you the latest as we have at this hour the United States has killed irans most senior military commander kasim sala money was assassinated in an airstrike in the iraqi capital baghdad he was the leader of the elite force a division of revolutionary guards corps which has far reaching influence in iraq shia syria rather live and on and beyond now the pentagon has released a statement confirming the strike was carried out on the orders of the u. S. President donald trump it says the Statement Reads that the direction of the president the u. S. Military has taken decisive defensive action to protect u. S. Personal abroad by killing salomone the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds force a u. S. Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization or donald trump as well after authorizing that strike tweeted simply this no woods just a picture of the american flag. Well it wasnt just so a man who was killed the u. S. Forces of also killed the Deputy Commander of iranian backed coalition of groups in iraq. The hondas and the Popular Mobilisation forces were killed when the airstrike targeted his vehicle on the road to the Baghdad Airport now the u. S. Secretary of state has tweeted a video of iraqis celebrating on the street and he said iraqis iraqis dancing in the street for freedom thankful that general sala money is no more now we have correspondents covering this of course in all parts of the world particularly in iran and iraq and also the United States. Has been bringing us all the response from washington d. C. And joins us now just bring us up to date on what people are saying that. Yeah were normally stone now starting to hear from more of the democrats that are running for president lets remember were an election here in the United States let me just put this into a little bit of broad context and i want to bring you the latest information that we have from a couple lawmakers number one is immediately after it was confirmed that this was a u. S. Strike that took out solo money and others we started to hear from a couple republican senators primarily marco rubio and as well as Lindsey Graham both strong allies of the President Trump both of them tweeted again this was right after it was confirmed that the u. S. Took out so the money sort of congratulating trump saying that this was the right thing to do and sort of if you will taking a little bit of a victory lap were now starting to see the reaction coming in from other lawmakers that is now a little bit different here in washington we just got a tweet from adam schiff a powerful democrat in the house of representatives he tweeted solo money was responsible for unthinkable violence and the world is better off without him but congress did not authorize and the American People do not want in a war with iran all steps must now be taken to protect our forces against the almost inevitable escalation and increased risk as i mentioned were in an Election Year here so weve heard from so far 3 of the Democratic Candidates for president as i mentioned earlier President Joe Biden former vice President Joe Biden i should say said that these actions by the u. S. Military authorized by trump in his words toss a stick of dynamite into a tinder box and that the American People are owed an explanation on what the american strategy is by the president that was from joe biden weve also heard from Elizabeth Warren she said our priority must be to avoid another cost. A war she called this reckless move that escalates the situation and then also just hearing now from Bernie Sanders as well im just going to get one little line here Bernie Sanders saying trumps dangerous escalation brings us closer to another disastrous war in the middle east that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars so there you have it the latest reaction from lawmakers here in washington its a midnight little after midnight actually here in washington and we have not heard from President Donald Trump he is still at his. Mar a lago resort in the West Palm Beach florida and no word if we plan to hear from the president but again its a little after midnight here on the east coast in washington thank you for that will some other fultons going to join us now live from baghdad of course the day is getting underway this among the now in baghdad what if you could take us through what that Immediate Response has been until its more about what was reported earlier these demonstrators who have been protesting against iranian influence now for months celebrating the death of us alone. Well the moment the deaths of customs for the money and this were announced on Iraqi State Television there was an Immediate Reaction in the squares where basically people have been camping out for months now not just in baghdad but we also spoke to somebody in the Southern City of nasiriya where basically the people who were already sleeping in these squares as part of these months longer antigovernment protests basically when they heard the news of the death they began celebrating because of course they see some sort of money and also this as the embodiment of influence here in iraq and they have been demanding from the government for months now that there is a complete overhaul of the political order that basically the government get rid of any kind of foreign influence and especially it rain and influence but there has not been much response for to get from the government to their demands they have only been talking concessions in terms of for example improving services trying to get a new election law passed there have not been any major changes so for people this represents a huge departure from the status quo some sort of money is somebody that is seen as wielding a lot of power over the Iraqi Government and his departure will certainly met with some relief here and by that but of course also many other people are waking up to do snooze and are extremely shocked and concerned because there is a huge amount of fear that any military escalation will basically have repercussions on iraqi soil and potentially claim iraq he lives we have already seen an escalation over the past weeks between the u. S. And iran weve seen the Popular Mobilization forces which are this Umbrella Group of Paramilitary Forces basically launch rocket attacks against bases where. The u. S. Is based of then senior u. S. Response after one u. S. Contractor was killed in one of those strikes and after that we saw another. Increase in another escalation with the Popular Mobilization of forces basically attacking and besieging the u. S. Embassy here in iraq so of course the death and killing as a result of a u. S. Air strike of kassam sort of money is just basically increases the stakes by a lot and we can expect that there will be a response the question is how iraqis be affected by that response and also learning anything more about what customs of the money was doing inside iraq theres been some speculation that he might have been there during this political vacuum as iran has has nominated or or a candidate has been nominated for Prime Minister who since very close to iran. Well castle in money has been a frequent visitor to the iraqi capital and especially of late since these antigovernment protests began on october 1st hes basically been in close consultations with both the political and military side of iraqi institutions to really craft a response to what has been an unprecedented protest movement here in iraq since the 2003 American Invasion basically challenging the entire political order a political order in which iran has a lot of stake to maintain the status quo so he is seen as somebody who has been very instrumental in basically you know leading the response pressuring the Iraqi Government to not really the demands of protesters for a complete overhaul of the political system but also leading some of the response on the Security Side in the early days of the protests in october he was accused of basically leading a sort of crisis cell outside of the regular command structures of the Security Forces and basically ordering some groups under the Popular Mobilization of forces of attacking protesters and lets remember that the toll as a result of these protests has reached almost 500. 00 so it has there has been a very violent response by the state and kassam so the money is seen as bearing some of there is about responsibility for that some of the 14 live there for us in baghdad but were getting some reaction outside of iran irans Supreme Leader ali harmonies hoss revenge awaits the criminals in his words who killed saw the body and hes called for 3 days of mourning irans foreign minister has tweeted this just a short while back he says the u. S. Act of International Terrorism and targeting of assassinating general saw the money the capitals most effective force fighting. Al qaeda is extremely dangerous and a foolish escalation the u. S. Base responsibility for all consequences of its wrong adventurism lets go to door he joins us now from tehran will those words from. Leave no room for any doubt. Revenge awaits the criminals what are the potential responses from iran dorset. Well weve been speaking to some sources within the establishment here d and there is a clear indication that there will be a response a military one at some point certainly in iraq that is the scene of this assassination it is seen as a hostile act on a rainy in the general who was not to their unofficial military capacity some solo money was in iraq on an advisory role its not clear exactly what this visit was about but we believe that he was there to the skies various Security Issues and where he was assassinated by a u. S. Airstrike this is the main point the Supreme Leader has said that this glorious grandiose and great fighter is now been martyred then he said he was one of the great followers of the late Ayatollah Khomeini the founder of the Islamic Republic that there is a tough revenge for those criminals who are responsible and that money was a International Symbol of resistance and all his followers will now seek revenge everyone should know that their resistance front will continue with increased motivation after. Death this is the highest ranking official in the Islamic Republic the man who alongside abbas until the money appointed him to the position of the head of the force force in the early ninetys he was a very close friend and confidant of the Supreme Leader and his death is a huge loss not only for the iranian nation but also for the Supreme Leader him self the 2 were very close in the Supreme Leader awarded money with the highest military ranking. Just last year to award him for all the services that hes done across the region to secure irans position in the middle east ordinary iranians are waking up to this news on the weekend that is friday here and theyre just shocked with no matter what. Are where you stand when it comes to what you think of the government or the system in the Islamic Republic this figure is a man that is revered in the Islamic Republic his believed to be the one responsible for securing the borders in iran or preventing the likes of eisel from setting foot on iranian soil and for securing irans Strategic Interests in the middle east now his death by the United States is being seen as an arc to war and it will certainly have a very strong response to it is about joining us live there from tehran where Lawrence Korb is the former u. S. Assistant secretary of defense and he joins us live via skype from washington d. C. Lawrence appreciate you being with us as you have throughout this rolling coverage here on aljazeera we continue to get more information as it comes to head it its always good to balance this information off you but the Supreme Leader ali has been a is now warning of revenge there hes woods ravines what do you take from that. Well he had to do something obviously has been pointed out by several of the commentators so far this was not just another military also this is probably so want to have at the end of the ayatollah the most revered person in iran and i think the Democratic Candidates put it very well is that ok ben if this was all right what comes next are you prepared for a long drawn out conflict with with the ram and did you think that through before you did this how would you respond if that if that happens because right now weve got 5000 troops in the region in iraq and weve got several 1000 more in the in the region all care to use them to start another you know 2003 type of war that we can hide with with iraq and where do we draw the line and the interesting thing is dont want to yell one of our allies of spoken out. Terms of you know commanding us for getting rid of this person who is obviously caused a lot of problems through you know throughout the throughout the region throughout the region and i think thats a real question you know and i raised it a couple of days ago after we talked the bases in iraq and syria killed 24 people ok now what and what is whats going to be our relationship with the air if the Iraqi Government where is a they were opposed to. Attacking the bases did they support this what theyve been told about it and and again those are questions that should have been answered before we you know before we did this this is not like killing bin ladin you had already pretty well defeated out kate and it was more symbolic and then with bag adi we had destroyed the caliphate already but you havent destroyed around 9 and theyre pretty formidable long. Lawrence thank you continue to tell me back to you as we get more information at hand we certainly appreciate you lending us some much of your time on so generously here today of this extraordinary breaking news that weve been covering out of iraq iran is now warning of hamas revenge for the killing of kassam sala mahdi now he was a significant figure in the Iranian Military the command of the croods force member of the iranian revolution a significant factor in force inside iraq as well and were going to look back at the life of customs of the mahdi hes a man who is weve heard today has been loved by iranians and the general who the u. S. And israel has called an enemy fees. Major general custom solomon a was a Senior Commander of irans Islamic Revolutionary guard corps and the hit of its elite could force he graduated to the role 20 years ago and was regarded as the mastermind of irans military strategy in the region he really spoken public but gave this interview in october saying irans i. O. C. Had expanded Islamic Resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon on. The codes for us runs a runs Foreign Military and claimed to stein operations the us attributed it to campaigns in iraq lebanon and syria germany kenya bahrain in turkey so money delegated iranian diplomats to meet with u. S. Officials after the september 11th attacks and they briefly worked together against the taliban but the relationship soon deteriorated during the iraq war the us sit around through the could schools and shia militias killed more than 600. 00 American Service members 17 percent of all u. S. Deaths in the war the us and irans priorities aligned once more in the fight against eisel but didnt devolve past the battlefield in april last year the u. S. Designated the Islamic Revolutionary guard corps as a terrorist organization with this designation we are sending a clear signal a clear message to irans leaders including his band of thugs that the United States is bringing all pressure to bear to stop the regimes outlaw behavior we ask that our allies and partners around the world do the same. But salomone had the full support of irans government he received irans highest military award last year as tensions high sions between the u. S. And iran so the money continued to support shia militias including the hezbollah brigades who were targeted in 5 u. S. Is strikes last week after they fired rockets at a us base he survived many attacks on his life inside iran and abroad but it would be in iraq where shia militias trained by his could force killed hundreds of americans that the u. S. Indeed has running age 62 shallow ballasts aljazeera now as we continue our breaking coverage want to go back to iran and get some information out of there what response is being from tehran mustafa is the editor in chief of the Fars News Agency and he joins us from tehran want you if you crewed to read into those comments that weve heard from the Supreme Leader there are the harmony used warning of. Revenge what do you take from that. Well you know the United States targeted assassination of marshall now he is marshall a 4 star general of the Islamic Revolution guards of course. This is been a targeted assassination an act and act the war for sure this has been at the exploration a war on iran theyve attacked iran at the heart and all for show or. Awesome soleimani was admired by all the iranians from across the aisle not just by different camps political camps inside the Islamic Republic but also by some mild opposition of the Islamic Republic it brought. The ones that saw him not just as the top general of the or Islamic Republic but also as commander who brought glory and honor to the nation and to paracha here the point is that you know for example when the when my wife was coming back from a trip last year. She saw him with his family on a plane and she told me even this morning she was reminding me that everyone many iranians even the families that women whose. Show that they dont have much you know vigorous belief in islamic dress code they did were coming to him to have selfies and that they at my new york him and they thanked him for all his and hers and efforts for the american audience this is. Very important to know what would the United States do if the chief of staff of the u. S. Army was assassinated in terror attack lets remember that money was an adviser to the iraq the military the army that were fighting the terrorists. The guy still or die in iraq and he was assassinated at a civilian infrastructure nothing about the field well you know that the United States has long opened war on iran for sure that spin and a war of economy a war in software in softball or warfare as well as in semi. Hard warfare thats economy but technically speaking in the United States where not in a military phase a war now a new chapter has with ramifications and repercussions not just in iran to us relations but all across the region we just dont just come in the Political Class inside iraq could just come in there and just put what the United States a sign youre saying this is what american audiences need to hear he is what the u. S. Is saying the u. S. Is saying it is invited into iraq by the Iraqi Government considered. So the money to be a terrorist who is threatening american interests and that therefore this was a preemptive attack thats what america says right now about tearing out this strike today. Well lets remember something i dont think that donald trump has had the congregational approval for this because this is an act the war and i need to reiterate and repeat that this has been a targeted assassination of a top Iranian Military official not in the battlefield but at a time when the 2 sides were not technically at war at the civilian infrastructure and the u. S. Would surely you know take revenge for the revenge from iran if it was their iran that assassinated their chief of staff or centcom command there in the region for sure these are just excuses that the United States has long been you know. Mentioning to the a western audience into the american audience but this is not the case lets remember in the 2001 invasion of afghanistan its no secret that there were trivial in partial. You know agreements between iran and the United States of course. But instead of improving the ties and giving up animosity towards iran george w. Bush did then president put irans name in the axis of evil so this shows that it doesnt make any difference what kind of situation it is in with regard to iran this is premeditate that attack a terrorist attack on iran and for sure iran has lots of options to reciprocate and i believe its in the offing i kept going to look at some of those options now from the u. S. Perspective as well question thank you so much for giving us your thoughts lets get back to mark kimmitt now who is the former assistant secretary of state for Political Military Affairs under president george w. Bush he was also Deputy Director of plans and strategies cent com he joins us from washington d. C. We were discussing earlier and weve been. Fortunate to have had used throughout our coverage here today and you are hoping for diplomacy to provide here rather than an escalation of military action or military threat but what were hearing from iran is that there will be haass revenge for these criminals who carried out this attack im its being described inside iran as a terrorist action from the United States thats not the diplomacy that you are wishing for what phase are we entering here. Well 1st of all i want to address some of the comments that have been made up to this point about cost some sort of money simply being and military adviser. Lets be clear as one of your other correspondents said he was responsible for the deaths of over 600 american soldiers brought in along with his forces some of the most deadly i. E. D. S. That have been seen on the battlefield i question whether we really should consider him a. Military official or if we should consider him a combatant on the battlefield it was clear that the United States had intelligence that he was planning further attack on military interests and most likely american soldiers there so i think one could argue the law all day and all night but i think most people need to be comfortable with the fact that cost some sort of money was military combat and have been fighting the United States and killing american soldiers for at least a decade. And so i just dont understand this question about whether this was a targeted assassination or if this was a battlefield that its not its not a straight forward is that is that i mean even if you look at. The groups that are aligned to iran inside iraq it wasnt that long ago that those groups were working with Iraqi Military and indeed by extension with the United States in the fight against. That an action such as this doesnt just have implications for iran or the United States but has implications and potentially deadly ones for people inside iraq which is dealing with a political vacuum and who. And where a significant number of people are protesting against iran involvement so its not just a simple as saying one person is killed here this is what it means for these 2 countries it taps into a mosaic of issues in the region that is so complex and in twine doesnt. No in fact im glad you brought up the issue of iraq because i think thats whats being neglected in this entire conversation of whats happening between the United States and iran but iran for iraq for years and years has chafed under the influence of iran and some would say its chafed under the influence of the United States as well both the political elite inside of iraq and the religious elite inside of iraq have always said let us maintain our own sovereignty in so many words if you all have a fight dont do it here and iraq we are a relatively young democracy we need to develop we need to. Increase our economy our infrastructure we need to rid corruption out of our government which is all the things that the protesters are protesting for but if iraq is truly going to be what the americans have wanted to be since 2003 a strong stable and independent country then we cant turn this into a battleground between the United States and iran and thats why great is fear. As we say in sports or take this off the field and work it out somewhere else because i think right now iraq is that a very very tenuous position and what were doing right now between the United States and iran especially with this talk of revenge and we will go after you wherever you are its simply destabilizing a country such as destabilizing the country of iraq which is only going to at the instability throughout the region we do appreciate you being with us
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