Iranian Military Leader Assassinated By U.S. Forces

(A vehicle burns at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike in early Friday. The Pentagon said Thursday that the U.S. military has killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. AP photo)

The killing by U.S. air forces last night in Baghdad of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds Force and powerful linchpin of Iranian military and political strategy in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, is a quantum leap escalation by the Trump regime following the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in recent days. One observer noted, the killing of Soleimani would be comparable to killing the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of the CIA, and Secretary of Defense. Also killed in the attack was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, leader of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces militia. The killings were done on Trump's direct order.

There's no question Soleimani was a deadly enemy of the United States.  The question now becomes what Iran's response will be, and what unforeseen consequences will flow from this dramatic escalation.  We've gathered some reading for a quick look at what this all means:

--  Accounts of Soleimani's importance here and here;

-- Some questions about the killing and its implications, and what a former CIA official expects will happen;

-- What Iran's leaders are saying;  and

-- Democrats blast the lack of notification of or authorization by Congress and the greater danger the action brings to Americans in the region.

The State Department has already warned U.S. citizens to leave Iraq immediately.

BONUS:  As always, there are Trump tweets from the past to savor.