Iraq issues arrest warrant for Trump over Soleimani killing - ABC News

Iraq's judiciary says it has issued an arrest warrant for outgoing President Donald Trump in connection with the killing of an Iranian general and a powerful Iraqi militia leader last year...

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/iraq-court-issues-arrest-warrant-trump-murder-75106778

Top Democrat blasts Trump's 'false' justification for Soleimani killing - POLITICO

The administration highlighted the 2002 authorization passed ahead of the invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/14/eliot-engel-qassem-soleimani-killing-115237

Iraq says U.S.-led coalition has resumed operations against ISIS - The Washington Post

Joint operations were suspended after President Trump ordered the killing of a top Iranian military commander in Baghdad.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iraq-says-us-led-coalition-has-resumed-operations-against-isis/2020/01/30/10fa2d62-437c-11ea-99c7-1dfd4241a2fe_story.html

Audio files reveal that Trump told donors at Mar-a-Lago insider details of Soleimani strike - The Washington Post

The president also discussed not caring about the budget and killing rattlesnakes.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-privately-detailed-the-soleimani-airstrike-to-donors-at-mar-a-lago-fundraiser/2020/01/18/ab0c2414-3a03-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html

U.S. Troops Restart Joint Anti-ISIS Operations With Iraqis

The U.S. military resumed its joint operations with Iraq on Wednesday—less than two weeks after Iraq’s parliament voted to expel all American forces from the country. There was a 10-day pause in operations following President Trump’s decision to assassinate Iran Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-troops-restart-joint-anti-isis-operations-with-iraqis

Joe Biden: What Trump gets dangerously wrong about foreign policy (opinion) - CNN

President Donald Trump's erratic actions have brought us to the brink of conflict with Iran -- and another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need. I'm thankful no one -- either American or Iraqi -- was killed in the Iranian missile strike. Both Trump and Iran's leaders should take the opportunity to de-escalate and take active steps to avert further conflict.....
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/13/opinions/trump-iran-strategy-self-defeating-biden/index.html

Iran plane crash likely caused by violations of international law — by both Tehran and Trump

Would the 176 souls who perished on that plane still be alive had the United States not sought to kill Gen. Qassem  Soleimani?
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/iran-plane-crash-likely-caused-violations-international-law-both-tehran-ncna1113646

Trump Tied Soleimani Hit To Support From GOP Hawks Ahead Of Impeachment Trial: Reports | HuffPost

New motivation emerges after contradictory Trump administration accounts of “imminent” threats justifying airstrike assassination.....
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-soleimani-gop-hawks-impeachment-trial-mar-a-lago_n_5e1a59f3c5b650c621df8fa4

On the day U.S. forces killed Soleimani, they launched another secret operation targeting a senior Iranian official in Yemen - The Washington Post

The attempted strike may indicate the killing of Soleimani was part of a broader U.S. operation to deal a major blow to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.....
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/on-the-day-us-forces-killed-soleimani-they-launched-another-secret-operation-targeting-a-senior-iranian-official-in-yemen/2020/01/10/60f86dbc-3245-11ea-898f-eb846b7e9feb_story.html

Former U.S. Attorney Calls Out Republican Congressman for Saying Dems 'Love' Terrorists: 'You Should Know Better'

In a CNN op-ed, Bharara, a CNN legal analyst, tore into Collins for critical comments the Georgia congressman made about Democrats' response to the drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
https://www.newsweek.com/former-us-attorney-calls-out-republican-congressman-democrats-terrorists-1481582

Dem senators say Iran threat to embassies not mentioned in intelligence briefing | TheHill

President Trump, during a press conference on Thursday, said that Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed last week by a U.S. airstrike, was "looking to blow up our embassy." Democrats, however, appeared caught off guard by Trump's allegation, noting it did not come up during a briefing with top administration officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and CIA Director Gina Haspel. ....
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/477735-dem-senators-say-iran-threat-to-embassies-not-mentioned-in-intelligence

When did it become acceptable to kill a top leader of a country we aren’t even at war with? - The Washington Post

Congressional leadership is culpable, too.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-iran-crisis-isnt-a-failure-of-the-executive-branch-alone/2020/01/09/cc0f3728-3305-11ea-9313-6cba89b1b9fb_story.html

Iran retaliates to the Soleimani strike | Pod Save The World

Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes talk about the fallout from Trump’s decision to assassinate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. What do we know about Iran’s ballistic missile strikes on bases hosting U.S. troops in Iraq? How are the Iranian people responding? Why is Trump threatening to commit war crimes? Why does the rationale for the strike keep changing and what can Congress do to stop the war from escalating?
Interview:
https://youtu.be/ntaUXujND5c

Bolton Will Testify; Iran, Soleimani & So Much More (Opening Arguments podcast OA349)

Today’s episode takes on (some of) the two biggest pending news stories right now: (1) the U.S. assassination of Iranian Gen. Soleimani, and (2) the pending impeachment of President Trump. Oh, and we also cover a bunch of other things along the way, including the latest CNN settlement regarding the kid from Covington Catholic, and, well, you’ll just have to listen to find out everything!

We begin with a pre-show grab bag of mini-stories, including the “drain the swamp” news that outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry has joined the board of a holding company that owns a pipeline company. Is this 100% the same scandal as Burisma hiring Hunter Biden? (Hint: yes.)

Then, we delve into some disturbing background information on the Solemani strike and answer the first of many listener questions about it: was the strike arguably justified by the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) against the 9/11 hijackers?

After that, it’s time for some Yodeling! We look at the current state of the House/Senate standoff on articles of impeachment and what the likely way forward will be. You’ll learn that former NSA Director John Bolton is willing to testify; the question is whether two more Republicans care about that at all.

Finally, we cover the latest news that CNN settled the defamation lawsuit brought by Nick Sandmann of Covington Catholic relating to the video shared by CNN nearly a year ago.

After all that, it’s time for a brand-new #T3BE 161 — this one is a constitutional law question regarding anti-discrimination laws. Can Thomas get it right??
Interview:
https://openargs.com/oa349-bolton-will-testify-iran-soleimani-so-much-more/

America is in deep trouble | TheHill

After the declaration by President Trump that the United States joins Iran in refraining from further military actions, the nation now breathes a sigh of relief. But this exhale comes after a week of erratic words and actions that should raise questions about the fundamental competence and goals about the foreign policy of this administration.
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/477570-america-is-in-deep-trouble

Trump Lies About Iran Crisis, Blames Obama: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at President Trump bringing us to the brink of a disastrous war with Iran and then claiming credit for stopping it today.
https://youtu.be/3jKdvMISFrE

Days later, Trump making up new excuses for assassinating Iranian general

Ever since U.S. drones took out Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 2, there have been undefined claims that the action halted some “imminent attack” that was a danger to hundreds, if not thousands of Americans. However, despite multiple appearances by Mike Pompeo, a press briefing held by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and a seemingly stoned speech delivered by Donald Trump, no details on what this imminent threat might be were provided. On Wednesday, Pompeo responded to questions about the threat by pointing to things that had happened in the past, suggesting that that anyone looking for “imminence” should look at a rocket attack that took place on Dec. 27.....
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/1/9/1910466/-Trump-claims-that-assassinated-Iranian-general-was-planning-to-blow-up-U-S-embassy

Cartoon: If Iran had killed our general

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2020/1/8/1910052/-Cartoon-If-Iran-had-killed-our-general

More confusion bursts from the White House as Trump delivers a muddled speech about Iran – Raw Story

Days after assassination of Qassim Suleimani and a would-be Iranian retribution, Donald Trump took to the White House lectern and ducked saying whether we were going to war or standing down. Indeed, he gave us a bigger bunch of questions, not answers. ....
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/more-confusion-bursts-from-the-white-house-as-trump-delivers-a-muddled-speech-about-iran/

Leon Panetta: Obama administration never debated killing Suleimani – Raw Story

Former United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd that it was never a question for President Brack Obama about killing former Maj. Gen. Qasem Suleimani. “It wasn’t debated, Chuck,” Panetta said. “The reason it wasn’t debated is that there was understandable concern that if you try to go after and kill a high ranking general in a country like Iran that you’re going to increase the risk of war with that country. And the decision was made that that risk, frankly, wasn’t worth it.” ....
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/leon-panetta-obama-administration-never-debated-killing-suleimani/