After an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump successfully eliminated top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Thursday, the Iranian regime responded with promises for vengeance, while Democrats and leftists in the media fretted of an impending World War III. But not everyone is so upset about the president’s latest victory.
In addition to Trump’s supporters in the U.S., groups across the Middle East are celebrating the death of Soleimani, who Trump has said was “directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people,” according to the Washington Examiner.
The end of an era
As head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its elite Quds Force, Soleimani waged violence against opponents of the Iranian regime, including U.S. allies, in numerous locations around the region for decades.
In addition to being deemed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of U.S. soldiers during the Iraq War, Soleimani was also responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in places like Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, not to mention dissidents within Iran itself, to name just a few.
As such, while Trump’s haters back home sided with the repressive Iranian regime, condemning the president’s decisive action to take out a declared terrorist, thousands of citizens in Middle Eastern nations that had been repressed by Soleimani took to the streets to express their relief over his demise.
Celebrating in the streets
According to the Examiner, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shared a video on Twitter of Iraqi citizens dancing in celebration of Soleimani’s death just hours after the airstrike that killed him near the Baghdad International Airport.
Iraqis — Iraqis — dancing in the street for freedom; thankful that General Soleimani is no more. pic.twitter.com/huFcae3ap4
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 3, 2020
Later, video emerged on social media of a large crowd in the Idlib province of northern Syria cheering the general’s death and not-so-subtly threatening Iran-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad that he would be the next to suffer Soleimani’s fate, according to the Examiner.
Massive crowds in #Idlib northern Syria are celebrating the death of Qasem Suleimani by the American attacks last night.
They’re celebrating the end of that bad guy who caused their displacement and killed their children and the lovely ones… pic.twitter.com/Sjeb79JLFP— Asaad Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) January 3, 2020
A photo also circulated of an artist in Idlib standing next to a mural he painted featuring President Trump standing next to Soleimani’s body, which was depicted in a dumpster, the Examiner noted.
Graffiti in #Idlib city northwest Syria about @realDonaldTrump attack on Soleimani pic.twitter.com/EikOhIfYIs
— Asaad Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) January 3, 2020
Indeed, while Trump’s detractors in America may be complaining about the president’s latest move, it’s clear those who have been directly affected by Soleimani’s heinous acts are not. As Trump said Friday, “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.”
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