Is Qasem Soleimani the new Franz Ferdinand?

[sarcasmo]

My brain keeps thinking about Franz Ferdinand. Hope I'm wrong.

[hlthe2b]

1. Just thinking how unlikely it is that Trump or his ilk even know who he was and the implications....

Not to mention, given the diminished emphasis on history in this country, how few younger adults know.

sigh.... I only point to my sigline to show how I feel.

[2naSalit]

2. Shit, I hope not....nt

[dewsgirl]

3. I saw a tweet earlier, that said exactly that.

[sarcasmo]

10. My tweet :) @BillyHendoe

[BigMin28]

4. I thought the same.

I told my 18 year old son that wars start with things like this, and he brought up Franz Ferdinand. Like you, I hope we are wrong.

[braddy]

5. Was Franz Ferdinand on the terrorist list and killing 100s or 1000s of Americans?

[Dennis Donovan]

8. The OP wasn't comparing the character of both

...rather, the effect a political assassination can have on not only regional stability, but world peace.

This is as big as Sarajevo, IMO.

[braddy]

22. Who cares about character? this was a terrorist general killing 100s if not 1000s of Americans and

he was on the terrorist list and was killed in Iraq.

And no, this will not result in World War and the most powerful nations in the world fighting each other.

[CanonRay]

9. Ferdinand had little to do with America

but had he been responsible for killing hundreds of Serbs? Probably. Your comparison is not very apt.

[braddy]

17. As an American, killing this terrorist is apt, your comparison makes zero sense.

[Thomas Hurt]

15. Just how much more suffering, war, death, refugees, disease, poverty will be worth

having killed this terrorist?

What is the trade off? 200K dead a good trade for this a hole's life?

You don't just off these pigs because you can.

Who knows maybe Trump will dodge a bullet here and not have to make a trade of huge numbers of lives.

I certainly hope so.

[hlthe2b]

16. He was the heir apparent to the Austrian-Hungarian throne. And THAT is the issue with

taking out Suleimani-- who unlike Ferdinand, WAS an actual terrorist, but likewise the second in power to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Terrorist or not, he was the equivalent of their Vice President. This is going to have untold implications.

It wasn't like taking out Osama Bin Ladin, though clearly Fox and Trump's ilk are going to try to spin it that way. It is equivalent to a declaration of war. We are going to deal with the aftermath of this for years to come and likely with considerable loss of life.

[braddy]

19. This was far more effective than taking out Bin Laden, this was a powerful, active and effective

terrorist in operation and gaining greater power, including on the list to be president of a nation.

[hlthe2b]

21. Deserved? Yes. Effective? -- You have no idea what is to come. You are cloaked in naivete'

[braddy]

24. No, not naive, just the opposite.

[hlthe2b]

26. Obviously not.

[Renew Deal]

18. You need to think more deeply about this topic

[Dennis Donovan]

6. "World War 3" is trending on twitter...

...if that makes you feel any better.

[LiberalArkie]

7. It may mean the war that Israel has been trying to provoke for quite a while

[Dennis Donovan]

12. Funny how this could play out for Netanyahu and his struggle to remain in power...

[lunasun]

20. Israel has wanted this guy for a long time . The US stopped them from assasinating

soleimani years ago, and we went as far as warning Iran he was a target to make sure it did not happen once, but with trump there was change
This is good timing for Netanyahu

[braddy]

25. We almost took him out in 2007, but the situation was thought poor, and then he slipped away again.

[DAMANgoldberg]

28. The same could be said for Trump...

what I mean by this is both men are willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power in their respective countries. Both have proven to act this way in the past dealings, whether in the political or corporate world.

[FM123]

11. Jonathan Alter (Daily Beast) on MSNBC just said what you were thinking..

[Dennis Donovan]

13. Confirmed. This is a grave situation... n/t

[ProudMNDemocrat]

14. WWIII would not be in our best interests.

Because Iran has ways to make us feel pain in ways we will not be prepared for.

The players are Israel, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Russia, maybe North Korea from the Pacific side because the focus would be shifted as US Military forces diverted to the Middle East.

What the US has done was start a folly that will cost millions of lives before all is said and done. Then factor in the Economic impact of another full scale war on the world.

[Hortensis]

23. Americans around the planet are in new, grave danger.

Regardless of the possibility of war, experts say reprisals are inevitable.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[roamer65]

27. Yes.

War is now inevitable.