Susan Rice was fried, when the Benghazi talking points she faithfully recited needed to be, and were, corrected one week later. She did not lie. The error did no harm.
The killing of Soleimani is different. Unless, he is totally deranged, Trump knows why he authorized the strike. So every statement from the administration that Soleimani was behind an imminent threat was a lie, damaging our standing in the world. A few Republicans have stepped out of line, but in the main they goose-step behind their lying leader.
The new rationale for the killing of an official of a sovereign state is that he was responsible for the killing of Americans. Yes, we can repeat the litany that Soleimani was a bad man. But the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia ordered the slicing and dicing of a Washington Post correspondent. Are we justified in taking him out?
Trump has made it clear that his main concern in the region is oil. So is Iran so unreasonable, to take the position that the US is an invading force, after the region's resources? From that perspective Soleimani is a general, with inferior forces, using guerrilla, and admittedly terrorist tactics, to repel an occupying army.
Now let us switch to the Kurdish perspective. Imagine you are a young Kurd. Your father died fighting ISIS in support of American interests. Your brother was killed by the Turks as Trump summarily gave away your land and your home. You and your mother now live hand to mouth in a refuge camp. Would you be justified in killing our President, because he was responsible for the death of many of your people, and the loss of your homeland?
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