Quote Originally Posted by WES View Post
He was not an enemy combatant - he was a general in the military of a country which is not at war with the United States. Regardless of what they thought of him and his actions, that has to be respected.

We could play what if scenarios all day and not really get anywhere. My main point is that it is far too early to be considering this a success, it could turn out very badly for everyone and one Iranian general is not worth that risk. Past history suggests strongly that Iran is not going to buckle because of this, quite the opposite. Sanctions are having their impact, an impact which may have just been undone by assassinating someone.

Madness imo.
He was general in the Iranian military who was in a foreign country conducting military operations. He'd just come back from Lebanon, where he was also conducting military operations. So tell me this: why was it OK for him to conduct these operations outside his home country and against the interests and allies of the US, but not for the US to act against him?

Killing him was a way for the US to make emphatically clear that it would not continue to tolerate Iran's (and specifically Suleimani's) actions against it. To show weakness in the face of such provocations would have been disastrous. Iran now knows it cannot act against the US with impunity and that Trump isn't bluffing. That will temper its behaviour.