Thread by @hxhassan

Such an important & insightful story by @MazMHussain, using internal Iranian documents.

“Secret Iranian spy cables show how Qassim Suleimani wielded his enormous power in Iraq” interc.pt/2FjBW6t

(I’ll post about 5 extracts I think are super interesting)

“While the Iranian-led war against the Islamic State was raging, Iranian spies privately expressed concern that the brutal tactics favored by Suleimani and his Iraqi proxies were laying the groundwork for major blowback against the Iranian presence Iraq.”

theintercept.com/2020/01/05/sec…

This is key, esp. for regime insiders to say it:

“In some documents, intelligence officers criticize Suleimani for alienating Sunni Arab communities and helping to create the circumstances that justified a renewed American military presence in Iraq.”

theintercept.com/2020/01/05/sec…

“A 2014 MOIS document lamented that, partly because Suleimani broadcasted of his role as commander of many of the Iraqi Shia militias fighting ISIS, Iraqi Sunnis blamed the Iranian government for the persecution many were suffering at the hands of these same forces.”

“The militias succeeded in routing the Islamic State, but their victory soon gave way to a generalized slaughter of locals, transforming the sweetness of Iran’s triumph into “bitterness,” in the words of one case officer.”

theintercept.com/2020/01/05/sec…

The Iranian MOIS report continued:

“It is mandatory and necessary to put some limits and borders on the violence being inflicted against innocent Sunni people in Iraq and the things that Mr. Suleimani is doing. Otherwise, the violence between Shia and Sunni will continue.”

You see, the same warnings we’ve long made had been made by Iranian regime insiders out of concern for the regime & the blowback.

Now, consider how a few clueless academics attacked us for making these same assessments. See this imbecile for example: latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/…

An important point made by the Iranian regime Intelegence officers is how the role of Iran perpetuates violence.

Ideologues like @MaxBlumenthal think #QassemSoleimani was killed as a punishment for being so great at rolling back the “Wahhabists.” So embarrassing.