The death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani won’t stop attacks on Americans by militias in Iraq, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Monday.
"Soleimani himself didn't plant IEDs," Clapper said in an interview with CNN. "He didn't himself launch rocket attacks against American personnel or facilities. So to me it is a bit of a stretch that by doing this they thwarted an imminent attack, because attacks are carried out—typically under Soleimani — by proxies, that is Shia militias in Iraq. So that's hard to believe."
Soleimani led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, and has been succeeded by Esmail Ghaani, who has vowed revenge for the general’s killing.
"There is a little bit history that people should remember, about 17 years ago when the administration then made assurances about intelligence pertaining to Iraq, which of course was the occasion for an invasion," added Clapper. "Skepticism is in order here."
He went on to say that the ongoing argument over the intelligence on Soleimani shows the Trump administration’s “credibility issue,” adding that "the president has spent the last three years discrediting the very intelligence community that produced this intelligence. The discrediting of the intelligence community is going to come back to haunt and this may be a case in point."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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