Pompeo says killing of Suleimani is part of 'bigger strategy' to deter US foes
Comments by US secretary of state which also apply to Russia and China contradict earlier assertion that the general posed imminent threat to US
Guardian staff and agencies
Mon 13 Jan 2020 21.10 EST
The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has said Qassem Suleimani was killed as part of a broader strategy of deterring challenges by US foes that also applies to China and Russia, further diluting the assertion that the senior Iranian general was targeted because he was plotting imminent attacks on US assets.
In his speech at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institute, Pompeo made no mention of the threat of imminent attacks planned by Suleimani. It only was in response to a question that he repeated his earlier assertion that pre-empting such plots was the reason for the 3 January US drone strike on Irans second most powerful official.
His speech, The Restoration of Deterrence: The Iranian Example, focused on what he called a Trump administration strategy to establish real deterrence against Iran following earlier Republican and Democratic policies that encouraged Tehrans malign activity.
Democratic and some Republican lawmakers have challenged the administration over the self-defence rationale supported by undisclosed intelligence over imminent attacks. US president Donald Trump has said the potential targets included four US embassies.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/14/pompeo-says-killing-of-suleimani-is-part-of-bigger-strategy-to-deter-us-foes
OAITW r.2.0
(23,813 posts)We are led by the deaf,dumb, and blind.
C_U_L8R
(44,891 posts)but is a short sighted strategy.
Those in charge of atrocities don't end well.
Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)What explanations I've heard from Pompeo have been filled with lies and side-stepping of issues. He has to be the most irritating government official of the Trump administration, and that's quite an achievement considering the competition.
Am I wrong in the belief that he (and his wife) were building toward achieving POTUS and FLOTUS, one day? Really?
Whatever he is paid is too much.
marble falls
(56,358 posts)stick to the wall: the politics of desperation.
atreides1
(16,046 posts)The Russians have been murdering people outside of their borders and making it look like accidents for years...
Pompeo may just end up a target himself...or maybe the Russians or the Chinese will start with Miller, just to send a message...
czarjak
(11,191 posts)Translation: Dominionists believe that by starting WWIII, that will nudge Jesus to come on down. What have you got to lose, indeed.