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Excellent article by on-the-ground journalist @ejmalrai on one-year anniversary of US assassination of Qassem Soleimani and Iraq general Mohandis. I was very critical. Its purported justification seemed very dubious to me both in international law and recent pretext. https://twitter.com/ejmalrai/status/1345021926201290758
2/ I realize that nearly all of my readers take an opposite view of this event and valued that this particular corner of twitter could disagree without rancor, understanding that the full story of these events was murky, particularly in real time.
3/ Magnier raises an issue about Soleimani's assassination that I hadn't considered at the time. Magnier says that Soleimani was a voice of moderation, seeking to mitigate local attacks on remaining US forces in Iraq, rather than a zealot. People forget that Soleimani was
4/ probably the single most important person in stopping the advance of ISIS towards Baghdad in 2014, organizing anti-ISIS boots on the ground while Obama admin dithered. At the time, he and US military (air power) had de facto cooperation.
