Additional word needed for Pompeo title

Henceforth we should refer to Mike Pompeo by his more appropriate title...Secretary of State Assassinations.

Soleimani assassinated to prevent peace not terrorism?

President Trump committed the international war crime of state sponsored assassination against a foreign leader when he murdered Iranian General Soleimani along with several Iraqi officials at the Baghdad Airport January 3. Trump casually lied, saying Soleimani was a bad guy responsible for killing many Americans and was planning more at the time of his murder. Of course, Trump offered not an iota of evidence and conveniently omitted the fact Soleimani was in Baghdad at the invite of Iraqi Prime Minister Mahdi. Why? Most likely reason was that Soleimani was delivering Iran’s response to a Saudi Arabia peace offering between Iran and the Saudis who have been locked in a death spiral for years. US signaling they wouldn’t take out Iran for Saudi Arabia’s benefit may have prompted the Saudi peace offering that was being brokered by Iraq’s Mahdi. Soleimani may also have been working on a second diplomatic mission: gaining regional wide support to encourage the long overdue ouster of America from both Iraq and Syria.

Peace breaking out in the Middle East from an Iran – Saudi Arabia detente and removal of US forces defiling both Iraq and Syria, would be bad for the business of America’s Military-Industrial-Congressional-Presidential Complex: perpetual war.

America’s Venezuelan sock puppet peters out

No country lusts for regime change more than America. Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya were accomplished…leading to utterly failed states. Syria was attempted in 2011 but ended in failure, merely prolonging the ghastly Syrian civil war for eight years and adding over a hundred thousand needless deaths had we not intervened. Iran is a work in progress with the chance of success zero and the chance of a catastrophic regional war much higher.

Then there is Venezuela, a US regime change project since socialist Hugo Chavez assumed power in 1999. There is too much oil wealth for US businesses to exploit to let socialists rule Venezuela. Chavez dodged all attempts at ouster, both foreign and domestic, till death removed him in 2013. Enter Vice President Nicolas Madura, whose crime to the US was continuation of Chavez’s socialist policies.

Six years on the US thought they’d found their savior in pro US Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself president one year ago after a disputed election. The US and 50 allies quickly recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s president. The dashing Kennedyesque Guaido was just what Uncle Sam dreamed of for return of US influence there. Only glitch was that elected president Maduro and the Venezuelan people kept outmaneuvering Guaido’s march to power. A year later his opposition social democratic Popular Will party, tired of his year long failure to assume power, has summarily dumped Guaido from party leadership. Popular Will Parliamentarian Jose Brito had this to say about America’s savior for Venezuela: “In 2019 … you were the hope of the country: today you are the biggest disappointment. You were a dream turned into a nightmare”.

Never fear Venezuelan regime change fans. Another decade, another American dream for regime change in Venezuela.

More US bombings in Iraq

Uncle Sam sure has an odd way of showing his respect for its host country Iraq of late. Couple of weeks ago we bombed some Iraqi militia camps killing 25 Iraqi militiamen based on their connection with Iraq's neighbor and ally Iran. Then we launched a smart bomb into an Iraqi delegation meeting a top Iranian general at Baghdad's airport, killing six Iraqi officials and the targeted Iranian general. Oops, sorry about those Iraqis killed. While that attack is getting all the attention as it may stumble America into a Middle East conflagration, Uncle keeps the smart bombs fired by dummies flying, blasting two Iraqi medical vehicles to smithereens just a day later, killing six more Iraqis. Oops again....we were simply trying to assassinate an Iraqi militia leader also connected with Iran. Uncle is really, really sorry about the dead Iraqis. If Iraq would just stop pallin' around with those evil Iranians, Uncle Sam wouldn't have to keep killing Iraqis as well.

An escalation too far

Many have rightly condemned the US assassination of Iranian General Soleimani at the Baghdad Airport in Iran’s ally Iraq as an act of war, the first shot in what could spiral out of control into a devastating shooting war engulfing the entire Middle East.

But the US has been at war with Iran for the three years since President Trump took office January 20, 2017. He pledged that the US would withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Agreement, likely the most peace saving initiative in our lifetime. Trump further imposed crippling economic sanctions designed to so degrade the Iranian economy its 80 million citizens would suffer sufficiently to overthrow the Iranian regime so hated by the Trump administration. They lust to replace the Iranian leaders with a puppet government like the US imposed on Afghanistan and Iraq, but failed to do in Syria.

That is war any way you slice it. If another country would dare try to collapse our economy we’d deem that an act of war and retaliate within hours. Why doesn’t Iran? Simple. They’re essentially powerless against the American bully. Iran’s GDP of $350 billion is 1/45th the US $20 trillion. Iran’s $20 billion defense budget is 1/37th the gargantuan $738 billion US defense spending. The US only attacks pipsqueak nations.

But as weak as Iran is compared to the US juggernaut, it could do immense damage if pushed too far. At some point it may decide to take down the US bully along with itself if facing certain annihilation from strangling sanctions as well as missiles blowing up top leaders and Iranian aligned Iraqi militia groups. There is no upside to America’s perpetual war against Iran. The downside? A bottomless pit.