Retaliation by Iran not over

THE EDITOR: The assassination of top Iranian military leader Gen Qassem Soleimani, which was recklessly ordered by US President Donald Trump, was an act of war committed in Iraq for which a proper response could not be avoided by any self-respecting people, hence both Iraq and Iran were swift in their response.

The Iraqi Parliament has voted to expel US military forces from that country, a major humiliation for Trump, as well as for the image of US in the world. It is inconceivable that Russian President Putin could ever have acted so foolishly to bring such humiliation to Russia.

The US has no option other than to swallow this humiliation and to eventually exit from Iraq. Indeed, the longer the US prolongs its military presence in Iraq, the greater the danger of further humiliation.

But there is danger, in addition to humiliation, in a US exit from Iraq, since ISIS, which the US covertly created, armed and financed, would now be largely out of its control and may eventually become a force which would turn on the Americans and join in the effort to drive the US out of the rest of the Arab and Islamic world.

Iran’s response, on the other hand, was to launch an attack on US military bases in Iraq with a barrage of missiles, and to then declare that it had “slapped” America on its face.

Trump appears to have wisely accepted the Iranian humiliation, even with his bravado of threats, since it has not provoked the military retaliation which he had foolishly and recklessly threatened. Instead, the US regime now seems to be seeking the high ground of “restraint” in declaring its intention of avoiding an escalation to war with Iran.

I write to suggest that the conflict initiated with Soleimani’s assassination is far from over. The Iranian leadership seems to have wisely calibrated its response to be spread over the time which remains until the US presidential election in November, and then to continue even beyond that when Iran eventually accepts the need for a nuclear deterrent.

I leave it to the military analysts to examine the evidence now presented to the world of the capability and accuracy of Iranian missiles, and the implications of such military capability of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Trump’s foolishness will become evident to him, as it became evident to Jimmy Carter before him, when the American people reject him at the polls in November, and Iranians then celebrate his political demise as they celebrated Carter’s.

Iran has already secured a major victory in the stand-off with the US in the resolution adopted in the Iraqi Parliament. A US withdrawal of troops from Iraq, at a time when the US is already withdrawing troops from Syria, would pave the way for Iran and her allies to further humiliate the US by putting pressure on Qatar, which is now an Iranian ally, to eventually close the giant American military base in that country.

Qatar may then turn to Russia for an alliance that would offer protection. It would also put pressure on Pakistan to eventually break away from its client-state status with US ally Saudi Arabia.

I have previously warned that others, not Iraq or Iran, can also gleefully exploit this grand opportunity to assassinate high-profile Americans with the assurance that they can easily blame it on Iran.

Such assassinations would put a final nail in the Trump coffin in November, and permit the election of a president who could be trusted to lead the West in a nuclear war with Russia and China. They need that war, of course, in order for a Pax Judaica to replace Pax Americana.

And so, it is not as yet over.

IMRAN N HOSEIN

San Fernando