By Billy Badour
UNIVERSITY CENTER — On Friday, Jan. 3, Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport. President Trump did not notify the “Gang of Eight,” the top four leaders in Congress and the top four lawmakers on the Senate and House Intelligence committees.
Soleimani was an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as well as commander of the Quds Force.
Soleimani was a wildly popular figure–a 2019 survey conducted by Maryland University found him to be the most popular prominent figure in Iran with 82% of Iranians viewing him favorably.
In response to the strike, Iran has vowed to retaliate. On Tuesday, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at the Al-Asad and Erbil bases. These bases both house U.S. troops.
President Trump previously stated on Twitter that, “If Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites […] some at a very high level and important to Iran and the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.”
However, deliberately targeting a cultural site with no military value is a violation of international law and is considered a war crime.
Drew Ornelas, Coordinator of Veteran Services at Delta College, was a Lieutenant Colonel and served 25 years and five deployments.
Ornelas said of the strike on Soleimani, “I back the president and Congress so if it needed to be done to benefit our country’s safety, then I’m all for it.”
When asked about potential retaliation after Iran’s attack on Iraqi air bases housing American troops, Ornelas said, “We should try not to have anyone else die. I hope we can talk it out peacefully before any major conflict. It seems like Iran’s move now, but it sounds like they won’t do anything else. It could certainly still escalate, but I hope for peace.”
Ornelas went on to state about Trump failing to inform Congressional leaders, “He should have told them. We need to make sure everyone is on the same page, and I believe that’s how the government was set up.”
Harley Liberty was a Corporal when she served in the military.
Liberty stated of the initial killing of Soleimani, “I believe it was retaliation for attacking a U.S. embassy. I am indifferent about it, but I understand why it happened.”
However, Liberty was very against the idea of targeting culturally significant locations, stating “I disagree with targeting those sites. We should not be targeting innocent people. That is not good natured, and could be turned around on us.”
When asked if the United States should retaliate for Iran sending missiles at air bases housing U.S. troops, Liberty stated that, “Since there were no American casualties, we should use more political repercussions.”
Since Wednesday morning, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have slowly been deescalating. However, Iran claimed to have mistakenly shot down a Ukranian passenger jet, killing 176 people on Wednesday. Just mere days after avoiding war with the U.S., Iran finds itself in yet another troubling predicament.