Since Nov. 15, when protests against the Iranian government many violent broke out in 21 Iranian cities, perhaps 1,500 Iranians have been killed by government forces, including by the elite Quds forces commanded until Friday by Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Local reports indicate that over 700 banks and nine Islamic religious centers were attacked, and that demonstrators many of whom were pro-democracy angry over deteriorating economic circumstances and unhappy with theocratic oppression, destroyed posters and statues of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in what are thought to be the most severe anti-government protests since 1979.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Iraq, over 300 Iraqis many of whom were pro-democracy have been killed since October by government forces during protests demanding more employment, more responsive public services and an end to corruption.

At the same time, Iraqi protesters, accusing Iran of interfering in their internal affairs, torched two of Irans Iraqi consulates in November in Najaf and Karbala amid continuing anti-government demonstrations, all while chanting Iran out of Iraq.

Chanting Iran out of Iraq.

Today, many of those protests and grievances have been set aside and many Iranians and Iraqis are together united against what they perceive to be a common enemy: Us!

On Jan. 3, President Donald Trump managed in one unrestrained and dangerous moment to end the Iranian-Iraqi unrest and bond them together in solidarity against the United States of America.

In an overt act of war, recklessly executed on third-country soil, President Donald Trump assassinated Irans Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani who since 1998 led Irans elite Quds Force and who was its second most important political figure by a targeted American strike in Baghdad on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020.

Remember that date.

Remember, too, Aug. 19, 1953, when the CIA overthrew popularly elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.

Remember Jan. 16, 1991, and Operation Desert Storm.

Remember that in 1996, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl asked Ambassador Madeleine Albright: We have heard that half a million (Iraqi) children have died (because of sanctions following Desert Storm.) I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?

Albright answered, I think that is a very hard choice, but the price, we think, the price is worth it.

When is the price not worth it?

Remember March 19, 2003, when the United States invaded Iraq and granted to Iran hegemony over the Persian Gulf region, and remember, too, Trumps 2019 abandonment of Syria.

This week, in perhaps the most overt act of war since President George W. Bushs disastrous, ill-fated and regionally destabilizing invasion of Iraq in 2003, Donald Trump has acted in a most ignominious manner, to both draw America closer to war and to distance it from allies and assets.

Trump, whose intention clearly has been regime change by waging crushing economic warfare against Iran even while risking greater regional destabilization had initially declared war on Iran on May 8, 2018, when he withdrew America from the JCPOA the multilateral nuclear accord within which Iran was in compliance and imposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

When is the price not worth it?

Outside of Iran few tears will be shed for Qassem Soleimani, an odious person and a terrorist with the blood of hundreds of Americans on his hands.

Soleimani, who managed Irans regional covert military operations and intelligence gathering, was seen by some as a possible future leader of Iran.

His brilliance, effectiveness, and commitment to his country have been revered by his allies and denounced by his critics in equal measure, retired U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal wrote in 2019. Soleimani is arguably the most powerful and unconstrained actor in the Middle East today.

Assassinations of the political leaders of sovereign states, especially when executed on the territory of third-party nations, often lead to unpredictable outcomes and dont necessarily make us safer.

Many may feel safer today with Soleimani dead, but Im not convinced. For example, Iraqis may soon vote to have America withdraw all its forces from Iraq, fulfilling one of Soleimanis main objectives and throughout the region and beyond from Lebanon and Syria, from Yemen and Saudi Arabia to communities throughout the world there is heightened concern about how and when Iran will respond.

Be sure they will asymmetrically but they will.

Iran is neither a pariah country nor a modern creation like North Korea. It is a proud nation of 80 million people with a 2,500-year-old history a history marked by fierce nationalism that has never succumbed to threats, oppression or occupation, a history thats the lifeblood of its people.

In response to Soleimanis assassination, Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said a forceful revenge awaits the criminals who have his blood and the blood of the other martyrs last night on their hands.

The assassination of Soleimani followed American airstrikes against some Iran-backed Iraqi militias (killing 45 Iraqis) who had killed an American contractor which resulted in a retaliatory attack by the militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad which resulted in Soleimanis execution.

In its justification of Soleimanis execution the Pentagon said that he was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.

The game has changed and we are prepared to do what is necessary to defend our personnel and our interests and our partners in the region, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said.

The game, as Esper describes it, has indeed changed, and it has become more dangerous. Even as Trump unilaterally deploys more troops to the region belying assertions that he wants to diminish Americas presence in the Middle East globally targets are being painted on the backs of Americans and their assets around the world.

Today, I fear, in this game Iran plays chess while Trump plays checkers.

How, I wonder, is this a game? How is a new war in the Middle East one without allies or partners in Americas strategic interest?

Is the price worth it?

Today, Sunday, in the Christian calendar, is celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the arrival of the Magi who travel from Iran and Iraq bearing wisdom, gifts and insight gifts we all stand in need of, especially after the assassination of Qaseem Soleimani.

That price might be worth it.

(Robert Azzi, a photographer and writer who lives in Exeter, can be reached at theother.azzi@gmail.com. His columns are archived at theotherazzi.wordpress.com.)

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Robert Azzi: Iran and Iraq: Is the price worth it? - Concord Monitor