Some context here:<p>This guy was directly responsible for hundreds (maybe over 1,000) U.S. Soldiers killed in Iraq by shaped charge IEDs manufactured by Iran and its Iraqi proxies. He also orchestrated clandestine raids and kidnappings, like the one that happened in Karbala in 2007. [0]<p>He was also responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of civilians in Iraq and Syria at the hands of Shia death squads and Shia militias/paramilitary forces. These are people who kidnapped innocent Sunni civilians off the streets and drilled holes through their skulls to kill them. (Sorry for the graphic description there, but this was ugly war)<p>He was in charge of the Quds Force, which is like the American CIA and Special Forces Command combined. But, he’s far more important than his Major General (2-star) rank implies. He’s probably the second-most powerful person in Iran. Equivalent in strength to a Vice President, but much more behind the scenes. This is huge. Imagine if David Petraeus secretly ran <i>everything</i> that the US did externally and then some nation killed him.<p>More context here: <a href="https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1212913366492016640" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1212913366492016640</a><p>[0] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karbala_provincial_headquarters_raid" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karbala_provincial_headquarter...</a>
I feel very conflicted about this. This man has an insane amount of blood on his hands but I cannot help but feel anxious about what happens next. Iran's paramilitary forces have entanglements in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen... this seems to be the type of thing that could spiral into a regional conflict if cooler heads do not prevail.
Why are both the Guardian and NBC articles flagged? Is anyone actually questioning the content of those articles? It looks like both Iranian and US officials confirm them.
There is something philosophically unsettling about drone strikes. Violence, particularly mortal violence is naturally self-policing in nature. In order to kill something you must be there and risk injury yourself. Technology based distance attacks like drones and missiles remove this doubley: you not only de-risk your person, you are also more emotionally distanced from the attack as well.<p>It is not a trend that bodes well for humanity in the future.