Lieutenant-General Soleimani & the red flag

The unpardonable criminal act of the terrorist Donald Trump in shedding the innocent blood of a famous Iranian commander has drawn worldwide condemnation and the dire consequences awaiting the U.S. in view of the vowing of vengeance by not just the people of the Islamic Republic but of freedom loving Muslims of various countries.

Stay with us for excerpts from journalist Paul Martin’s thought-provoking article for New Zealand’s ‘scoop.com’, titled: “Lieutenant-General Soleimani & the Red Flag”.

Lieutenant-General Soleimani; commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Qods Force, was, as he himself had expected, assassinated by a United States drone or helicopter rockets on the morning of Friday 3rd January 2020, while leaving Baghdad Airport by car after a civilian flight in to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

Soleimani was revered by many Muslims around the world for his military successes in helping defeat an Israeli invasion of Lebanon (part of Israel's strategy of building a mythic "Greater Israel"), but more importantly, for his work in both Syria and Iraq coordinating the successful battle against al-Qaeda, Daesh and other terrorist outfits.

As Iran has consistently and publicly stated, and the evidence confirms, both al- Qaeda and Daesh, were not only funded and supported by the lunatic Wahhabist Saudis, but also by the United States and other Western countries, particularly the U.K. (long a mercenary supporter of the Wahhabist Saudi tribe since Lawrence of Arabia in the First World War). The Wahhabi sect believes that all other Muslim sects are 'heretics' and should either be forcibly converted or killed. General Soleimani was therefore following the lineage of the great Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt, in protecting all followers – this time from the scourge of Wahhabism.

In collaboration with the Russians, a revitalized Syrian Arab Army, a re-armed Iraqi Army, and militias under his command, Soleimani had at the time of his death succeeded in defeating in Syria and Iraq al-Qaeda, Daesh and other terrorists. The jaws are rapidly closing in on the remnants of al-Qaeda, Daesh, and other Saudi and Western backed militants in Idlib in Syria. There is real fear in Washington “intelligence” circles that mainstream media will finally be forced to expose the direct linkage between Washington and the head-chopping Daesh.

The recent death in Ankara of James Le Mesurier, leader of the White Helmets, supposedly humanitarian aid workers in Syria, but in reality well-funded propaganda units for the extremist groups and their backers, is likely to be directly linked to imminent exposure of the White Helmets as fakes, and the revelation of Western governments’ manipulation and likely bribery of senior staff at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to create a supposedly ‘scientific finding” that the Assad government had gassed civilians. Western governments will consequently be finally forced to acknowledge their appalling collaboration and support of psychopathic killers in West Asia – all in the name of oil and support for the Israeli entity.

American intelligence agencies consequently panicked and reasoned that a decisive provocation against Iran, would ensure that Iran would ‘over-react”, and could thus be seen by the world as the crazed religious pariah state that the United States has always tried to portray Iran as being since the Islamic Revolution.

It might be useful at this point to list just some of the legitimate grievances Iran has against the United States.

The deposing of Iran’s democratic government under Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq in 1953 by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency and the United Kingdom's MI6, and the re-installation of the brutal Shah.

The arming and support for Saddam’s invasion of Iran which many Iranian lives were lost and in which devastating war Soleimani learnt his battle skills.

The West’s providing of poison gas and equipment to Iraq, which resulted in further Iranian deaths in that 8-year war of the 1980s.

The shooting down of a civilian Iranian Airbus A300 by a US warship in the Persian Gulf, with 290 deaths and no apology or compensation from the US.

The depiction of Iran as a pariah state in complicity with other Western states, which resulted in severe sanctions and the deaths of many innocent Iranians.

Unconditional support by the US of the Wahhabist Saudi clan which has funded and managed extremist groups, killing many Shi’a Muslims across the world, but particularly in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

The unconditional US support for the Israeli entity, in the desire to create a “Greater Israel” by the theft and extremely brutal occupation of land from Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians.

Perhaps it might thus be understandable why Iran’s leadership calls the United States, the “Great Satan”.

Iran is, unlike many of the United States’ allies in the West Asia-North Africa region, a democracy, while most Iranians are also fiercely patriotic; proud of their many thousands of year's history.

Soleimani's death was mourned by millions of people in Iraq and Iran. Memorials in Tehran had to be postponed because of the size of the crowds mourning him in other cities in Iran but the most crucial memorial – after Monday’s massive millions-strong rallies in Tehran – was held for him in the Iranian city of Qom.

Qom is considered holy as it is the site of the shrine of Fatemah bint Musa, the sister of Imam Ali ibn Musa Reza (AS) whose holy shrine is in Mashhad. Qom is the largest center for Shi’a Muslim scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage, with around twenty million pilgrims visiting the city every year.

The red flag of the blood of the martyrs and revenge, was raised in Qom at his funeral procession. According to local reports it is the first time in the Jamkaran Mosque’s history - a holy site since the Middle Ages - that the red flag has been raised over the building.

It should be noted that the raising of the red-flag is not simply an Iranian government action, but a religious appeal to all believers around the world to avenge Soleimani's death - one who battled with the forces of evil to save Muslims.

On Sunday night when President Hassan Rouhani consoled Soleimani's family at their home. Zaynab Soleimani, one of the daughters of the martyred General, asked: “Who is going to avenge my father's blood?”

In response, Rouhani promised her that “everyone will take revenge” and assured her as she wept: “We will, we will avenge his blood, you don't worry.”

He later added: “The Americans did not realize what a grave mistake they have made. They will suffer the consequences of such criminal measure not only today, but also throughout the years to come. This crime committed by the US will go down in history as one of their unforgettable crimes against the Iranian nation.”

The Iranian news sources also quoted IRGC Commander Major General Hussein Salami as saying that: “The assassination of martyred General Qassem Soleimani will be followed by a strategic revenge which will definitely put an end to the US presence in the region.”

The questions that arise are: Is it possible that United States intelligence officials were unaware of the paramount importance of Soleimani to hundreds of million people in the Islamic world? Did they not understand that his killing would provoke a desire for revenge against the United States which would be unstoppable?

As stated by Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Sunday, regarding vengeance for Soleiman: “'When the coffins of American soldiers and officers begin to be transported ... to the United States, Donald Trump and his administration will realize that they have really lost the region and will lose the elections...”

No matter whether President Trump carries out his threats to bomb 52 targets in Iran including "cultural sites", which would of course be a war crime, but nothing new to the United States, which has been guilty of horrendous war crimes and genocide in so many parts of the world since the U.S began, the revenge would continue.

The United States’ only option now is to seek forgiveness from the Iranians and negotiate a deal which allows their soldiers to leave safely from their many bases circling Iran.

In just one example, the United States’ main military base in the Persian Gulf s located on the island of Bahrain. Bahrain is ruled by an autocratic and brutal minority regime over a population which predominantly Shi’a Muslim. It would not require any intervention on the part of the Iranians for an uprising to once again boil over to depose the Aal-e Khalifa regime and for Bahrainis to destroy the U.S. base there, along with its occupants.

It would be timely for someone in Washington who is sane, and with more than the level of intelligence currently displayed, to seek the mediation skills of someone who maybe be able to help forestall what currently looks like the inevitable tragedy for United States soldiers as a result of General Soleimani's killing.

SS