Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Claims Killing Soleimani Made Americans Safer, as His Own Department Tells Them to Run
January 4, 2020
By Mark Sumner
On Friday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was out to cheerlead in the wake of U.S. airstrikes that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. The action, said Pompeo, was in response to “imminent threats to American lives”; however, Pompeo would not describe those threats and, as of 1:30 ET, has still not explained those threats to Congress.
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What Pompeo would say is, “The world is a much safer place today. I can assure you that Americans in the region are much safer.” Which is why the State Department has just released a security alert saying, “Due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region,” American citizens are urged to “depart Iraq immediately.” As an even greater example of safety, the instructions are to “depart via airline while possible, and failing that, to other countries via land.“ Depart via airline while possible?
Actually, it may have already been impossible by the time the bulletin was issued. Royal Jordanian Airlines announced early on Friday that it had stopped all service between Amman and Baghdad “in light of the security situation.” And Bahrain’s Gulf Air has also suspended all service to Baghdad “until further notice due to safety.” Taken together, that would be half of the regular daily flights into Baghdad International Airport. At the time of this writing, Qatar Airways and British Airways still have scheduled departures for Friday evening. For those not lucky enough to snag one of the remaining flights, the opportunity to escape “to other countries via land” means a several-hundred-mile journey to Jordan or Saudi Arabia, or about an 80-mile jaunt from Baghdad to Iran.
For Americans who were thinking they might seek shelter at the embassy, think again. The State Department instructs that “U.S. citizens should not approach the Embassy.” Because that’s how much safer things are after Soleimani’s death.
Pompeo also said that the assassination of Soleimani was an attempt to “de-escalate the situation.” So maybe it will all look better if it’s given a little time. A little patience.
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