Thread by @sarabiany

The discourse over the past crazy week on #Soleimani has been highly polarized, campist and generally quite absurd.

Here are some thoughts – a recap really to clarify and level set – apologies for the long thread! 1/

#Soleimani might have been the most important man in the region responsible for Iran’s affairs & expansionism in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq & across the ME. As many have said, his killing in many ways is bigger than OBL or Baghdadi. 2/

Considered untouchable by the Obama and previous US administrations, his killing is truly a shock to all as it signifies a clear break with the acceptable boundaries of US-Iranian tensions. 3/

#Soleimani was however a war criminal who orchestrated the defense of the most brutal (Assad) regime in the world & accountable for the siege & expulsion of millions, mass murder of countless 1000s of Syrians. He also was vicious with Iraqi protestors killing 100s recently. 4/

Many have lauded him for confronting ISIS & deploying Iraqi Shia militias loyal to Iran to turnaround the ISIS offensive near Baghdad. This is a laughable rationale for support as EVERYONE fights ISIS – Qaeda fights ISIS – doesn’t mean we should compliment & support them lol 5/

He was also very practical re: ISIS-eg he pushed Assad to cede Palmyra to ISIS & redeploy forces to confront Syrian rebels in Aleppo. Fyi US airpower+Syr/ Iraqi Kurdish fighters are key reasons why ISIS's caliphate was beaten & pushed into insurgency, but that is another story 6/

#Soleimani actually introduced tens of thousands of Shia proxies into Syria (Hezbollah, Iraqis, Afghanis) which further upheld the Assad regime when manpower was needed and fueled further sectarianism through ongoing massacres and sieges. 7/

#Soleimani's crimes are numerous and he is no hero - it is repulsive that his face is being shared in progressive circles, protests, posts. He got what he deserved and died the way he lived. Good riddance - I only wish one of our revolutionaries or a court got to him instead. 8/

Trump is an aspiring war criminal who carries Obama's legacy of justifying the murder of civilians as collateral damage in confronting ISIS (remember Raqqa?). We shouldn’t be championing him rather keeping focus on his impeachment and election defeat. 9/

This assassination seems more like a knee jerk reaction to recent provocations - I can’t imagine a coherent strategy being played out by this administration (still, i'm glad #Soleimani is gone). Trump’s threats against Iranian cultural centers are criminal. 10/

The past decade has made the Iranian regime comfortable with the passive and predictably lax American responses to their actions across the region. Obama appeased them to get his #IranDeal which only emboldened the Iranian regime to expand regional ambitions. 11/

Iranian regime provocations/reactions (thru their proxies) recently have been very brazen–shooting down US drone, attacking Saudi oil facility, killing US contractor, attacking Embassy. The final straw for Trump mightve even been when Khamanie personally mocked him on twitter 12/

#Soleimani’s assassination was a surprise to everyone, and I mean everyone – no one knows how it will truly play out because both US-Iran played by certain rules and within boundaries – neither wants to escalate much more but with this strike the stakes are raised 13/

With that said, all the #wwlll alarmists need to take a seat. Iran is not a world power – not a Russia nor China rather a regional power vested in controlling smaller nations essential to their regional hegemony. /14

#Iran would be no match against a conventional, let alone world power - for example, how many dozens of Israeli airstrikes have hit Iranian proxy targets in #Syria without a response? Can the conflict escalate - of course! But world war, not even close. /15

The war #ww3 alarmists are anticipating has actually unfolded in Syria over past 9 years w dozens of large & small nations battling for influence leading to our Syrian catastrophe: "History will remember that the scribbles of children in #Daraa moved the fleets of the world" /16

The important focus now should be on the Iraqi protestors who are against all foreign intrusion and an end to government corruption – “no to the two occupations – US & Iranian”. 17/

Progressives, ppl of conscience: a reminder that you can be anti-war, not buy into Trump’s escalations, be anti-US imperialism but also anti-Iranian expansionism, autocratic regimes & mass murder. In other words, oppose Trump, needless war w/ out supporting terrible regimes /18

Finally, the Assad regime, with Russia and the Iranian regime continue to murder Syrians daily. On New Years Day they bombed a school in Sarmin, #Idlib killing four kids and a pregnant teacher. Every damn day. /khalas.