Playing All the Cards

For John, BLUF:  Foreign Policy is executed at many different levels, including at the covert level.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Iran Paid Taliban Fighters To Attack US Assets In Afghanistan, Leading To Trump Ordering Killing Of Soleimani

From The Daily Caller, Reporter Christian Datoc, 17 August 2020.

Here is the lede plus three:

Iran reportedly paid bounties to a Taliban-backed Haqqani terrorist network for at least six attacks carried out against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

U.S. intelligence identified the link between Iran and Haqqani following the December 2019 suicide attack at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, which killed two civilians and injured dozens more, CNN reported Monday morning.

Two Trump administration officials said, according to CNN, that the bounties led to President Donald Trump’s decision to kill former Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani by drone strike in January. Trump cited Soleimani and Iran allegedly planning further attacks against U.S. forces in the region as a justification for killing him.

So it appears that President Trump was right to whack Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani.  Iran, and other nations, should not feel free to conduct unconventional attacks on the United States, its Armed Forces and its friends and allies.  Of course our use of military force should be exercised with constraint, but others should know it is there.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff