The assassination attempt on the former U.S. president was a minor affair compared to the treatment that Washington doles out around the world and even against its own people, writes Margaret Kimberley.
Commemoration ceremony of Qasem Soleimani in Tehran, Jan. 3, 2021. (Mohammadreza Abbasi, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)
By Margaret Kimberly
Black Agenda Report
On Jan. 3, 2020, Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and nine other people were killed by a United States drone strike under the orders of President Donald Trump.
Soleimani was in Baghdad, Iraq to meet with Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi in order to broker a peace initiative between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two nations which had been antagonists for many years.
At the time Joe Biden was a presidential candidate and he issued a “statement on the killing.” Biden said,
“No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing. He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos.”
Everything Biden said about Soleimani was untrue. There was no evidence of Iran fighting U.S. troops in Iraq. It is the U.S. that killed thousands of people in the region after its 2003 invasion of that country.
The lies about Soleimani were spread in order to justify killing him and preventing Iran from improving relations with a U.S. ally. It is important to remember this and other examples of state terrorism practiced by the United States now that we are inundated with hypocritical platitudes in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump.
Before the July 13 assassination attempt which killed one person, injured two others, and resulted in the death of the alleged shooter, we were told that Trump posed an existential threat to democracy and was hell bent on dictatorship and the murders of his opponents. Establishment corporate media like The New Republic even portrayed him as a new Adolf Hitler.
We chose the cover image, based on a well-known 1932 Hitler campaign poster, for a precise reason: that anyone transported back to 1932 Germany could very, very easily have explained away Herr Hitler’s excesses and been persuaded that his critics were going overboard. After all,… pic.twitter.com/x79Rkh86O1
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) July 7, 2024
After being harangued by Democratic Party assertions that democracy itself was on the ballot, suddenly we were exhorted to pray for Trump and for his entire family. Not only was the devil suddenly turned into an angel but history itself was rewritten in the process.
Biden informed the public that political violence was to be condemned and also claimed that it doesn’t even exist in this country. “But the idea, the idea that there’s political violence or violence in America like this, is just unheard of, it’s just not appropriate.” Then again, Soleimani was assassinated in Iraq. Perhaps the rejection of violence ends at the U.S. borders.
Of course, that assertion is also untrue. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy were assassinated. Franklin Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt shortly before his inauguration as did Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan while in office.
Mary Ann Moorman’s Polaroid photograph of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, taken an estimated one-sixth of a second after the fatal head shot on Nov. 22, 1963, Elm Street, Dealey Plaza, Dallas. (Wikimedia Commons/Public domain)
Biden was joined by others who were tripping over themselves to offer thoughts, prayers and condemnation of the violence that they usually sign onto. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned political violence and wished Trump a “speedy recovery.”
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries left no stone unturned as he offered thoughts, prayers, wishes for a full recovery and also condemnation of political violence. Democratic pundit Van Jones, once a Maoist and now firmly a member of the political class, expressed happiness that Trump is still alive. “I’m so glad that Donald Trump is alive, I’m so glad, I’m so glad he’s alive, I’m so glad his family is not having to bury a father and a grandfather.”
The crocodile tears were proof that depicting Trump as the embodiment of evil is a desperate attempt to obscure the Democratic Party’s failures and, in the process, stave off a defeat that is looking more likely.
Biden has been struggling in the polls for months, and his debate performance revealed that the party’s leadership has been lying about his health for four years. Biden’s legislative agenda, such as it was, was undone by the greedy capitalist oligarchy that refused to allow even the tiniest crumbs of help for the masses of people. All that was left was demonizing Trump until fate intervened and took that weapon away from them.
Pretend Outrage
Light projection, Washington, D.C., Dec. 31, 2023. (Diane Krauthamer, Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Not only were we awash in nonsense but none of these people now paying homage to Trump mentioned the political violence that took place the same day in Gaza, as Israeli forces killed nearly 100 Palestinians in an effort to assassinate Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif.
Not one member of Congress expressed condolences, condemnation, thoughts, or prayers about this latest Israeli war crime. The atrocity received scant attention in corporate media, and the same officials who regularly vote to give Israel billions of dollars were in all probability relieved that they were not called upon to comment on their handiwork.
[See: Media Ignore Israeli Massacres While Fixating on US Elections]
Perhaps the use of the term “political violence” is an admission that the U.S. is awash in violence perpetrated by its states and by individuals against one another. But no distinctions should be allowed.
Police in the U.S. have killed 704 people this year. They are on track to exceed the 1,352 victims in 2023. Surely that violence is political. Political prisoners languishing in prison for decades are victims of political violence. It can be argued that everyone caught up in the 50-year-long acceleration of the mass incarceration prison state is also victimized by political violence.
Memorial for George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer, in Minneapolis, Aug. 17, 2020. (Fibonacci Blue, Flickr,CC BY 2.0)
Trump was very lucky as he was merely grazed on his ear during the shooting. Qassem Soleimani was quite literally blown to bits on Trump’s orders. He was identified only by a ring on his finger. His body was otherwise unidentifiable.
The U.S. doesn’t play around with its political violence. If a former president is targeted by a would-be assassin or if a seemingly ordinary person decides to shoot up a school or shopping mall we get the same fake concern and pretend bewilderment.
The same country that assassinates foreign leaders or U.S. citizens like Anwar Al-Awlaki and his son Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki, who were killed by drone strikes on the orders of former President Barack Obama, expresses confusion when the violence hits home.
It is not possible for the same country that spends more on the military than any other, that has more than 800 bases around the world and that regularly attacks the sovereignty of other nations in a variety of ways, to be shocked when anyone is shot, whether the victim is a former president or John Q. Public.
Pretend outrage and pretend political differences go hand-in-hand in the United States. Denial is a running theme in politics, especially in a presidential election year.
While Trump is lauded for heroism for raising his fist after being grazed on his ear, Soleimani’s broken body and those of the 186,000 Palestinians in Gaza are consigned to selective amnesia.
Political violence is the default position in the U.S. and not an aberration.
Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. You can support her work on Patreon and also find it on the Twitter, Bluesky and Telegram platforms. She can be reached via email at [email protected].
This article is from Black Agenda Report.
Views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
Typical. Another American kills or ties to kill one person or many, and the President says this is not the way we act in America for the hundredth time.. Tactical lying is about 9/10ths of the job these days.
I kind of take offense of the George Floyd caption: “who was killed by a police officer,” because that is false information based on the facts. The facts are he died of a drug over dose while being taken in custody. Stop believing the lefts’ false narratives.
The police officer was convicted of murder and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.
The zionist perpetration of genocide must also be a left false narrative. The steps toward immoral reasoning are very few for some humans, Marc.
Trump supporters like to say Trump didn’t start a war when it was Iran who didn’t start that war.
Good to read honest, straight forward commentary from someone willing to stick their neck out. Has never been odd to me, the violence inside this country when you are aware of the level of violence the country uses on others on a regular basis inside and outside the country. Criminality is how the US gets its way in the world and I’m hoping that ends soon. US is really fucking it up for the rest of the world to survive. The West needs to grow up and somehow grasp they are no longer able to rule the world the way they have formerly.
As was stated by a medical examiner during the unjust trial of an innocent police officer, George Floyd died from a self-inflicted drug overdose.
The police officer was convicted of murder and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.
The many of the world who have seen the photo of “innocent police officer” with his knee on the neck and throat of George Floyd have a different view of why George Floyd might have died. Perhaps your innocent police officer might have gotten off with negligence had he not kneed him to death.
Another Zionist? The knee on the neck was taught to U.S. cops by Israeli thugs. And I have never heard of a knee on the neck being used to bring someone back from an overdose.
Spot on!
Sadly true. We can bomb the hell out of any so-called ’third world country’ and it’s OK because we’re ‘protecting democracy’ or some similar noble reason, but if anyone attacks us (ie; think 9/11), then it’s a crime against humanity that will ‘forever change’ the world.
Excellent article. I wish everyone in the US could think as clearly as Margaret. It is far too easy for the politicians and their enabling donor class to confuse and divide people. Trump falsely claimed he wanted to unite America, but he obviously hasn’t changed his rhetoric except to add the false claim of wanting unity, when his entire political career has been about demonizing immigrants, socialists, and anyone of the left end of the political spectrum.
Yep, I’ve always call it the United States of Amnesia…Everyone should read the book “Racket” by Matt Kennard – THAT will give you perspective…
he murdered innocent people for pay and power,a fitting end it would have been,and I will lose no sleep
Are you talking about Obama or Biden? Or both…
I remember when my Grandpa was a skilled machinist in a high-tech factory. One of 25% (earlier 33%) of Americans who worked high-paying careers in US factories. Today, both parties have been stabbing factory workers in the back for 4 decades to pay nations to march in our NATO parade. $21 Trillion Cumulative Yearly Trade Deficit Goods 1960-2023 FRED paid to foreign powers to date. Return to The American System Of Political Economy hxxps://americansystemnow.com instead of this blatantly obvious mad grab at gaining the world. Breathing out threats to nuke Russia (Senator Wicker) and winding up to war against China. Let Americans make the goods that they buy and end violent madness.
Great article by Ms. Kimberley.
Among other things, I really liked how she didn’t get bogged down in silly and time wasting theories that Crooks and the Secret Service were somehow involved in a conspiracy engineered by the deep state. After all, Trump is pretty much giving the MIC, Zionists and intel community most of what they want anyway.
So, bravo to Ms. Kimberley for staying right on target.
It’s certainly possible that this was some random assassination attempt by some random person. But I wouldn’t rule out a “deep state” plot involving a patsy (Crooks) just because Trump is a swamp creature himself. After all, it’s not out of character for the mafia to assassinate one of their own for whatever reason they choose.
I, and many others, don’t think it’s “silly” to consider Deep State involvement, or even not so deep. The questions are staggering, chilling and increasing. A sloped roof was too dangerous for the snipers, but it was so flat that Crooks didn’t roll off it, dead?
After JFK’s murder, LBJ was part of the cover-up. If Trump is elected, he will not want a cover-up of the assassination attempt.
Naomi Wolf sticks her neck out and says Jill Biden must be scrutinized:
hxxps://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/lady-macbiden/comments?utm_source=post&comments=true&utm_medium=web
For a lighter moment amidst all the macabre savagery and stupidity, check out these kids in Uganda play-acting the recent assassination effort.
hxxps://x.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/1813575341664866500
A refreshing and honest outline, connecting the dots of violence at home and abroad. Margaret Kimberley points out that both of our political parties are complicit in atrocities. We are being told by the so-called liberal media, and even some so-called progressive outlets, to vote for JB or whoever the D candidate because we must “stop Trump”. They call the DT “fascist” but so are the authoritarian D/R Bipartisan Consensus. If funding, arming and cheer-leading for genocide is not “fascist”, then nothing is. So go ahead and vote D/R and you will also be complicit in genocide. Not to mention anti-labor, pro-oligarchy, imperialist, racist, warmongering policies that may result in a nuclear war with China and/or Russia