Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 1-10-20

Political News
U. S. PENTAGON
Iranian Official Tweets Links To Trump's Properties
Pentagon Says Will Not Break Law Of War, Despite Trump Threat
WASHINGTON - U. S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper strongly suggested on Monday that the U. S. mili- tary would not violate the laws of armed conflict by striking Iranian cultural sites, a move threatened by Presi- dent Donald Trump.
Asked whether he was willing to target cultural sites, Esper told Pentagon re- porters: “We will follow the laws of armed conflict.”
Pressed on whether he would then not target such sites, because that would be a war crime, Esper said: “That’s the laws of armed conflict.” He did not elabo- rate.
Targeting cultural sites with military action is consid- ered a war crime under inter- national law, including a U. N. Security Council resolu- tion supported by the Trump administration in 2017 and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property.
The U.S. drone strike on Friday that killed Iranian mil- itary commander Qassem Soleimani has sharply esca- lated tensions with Iran, rais- ing fears of all-out conflict. Washington says it killed Soleimani in self-defense, aiming to disrupt his plans to attack U. S. personnel and in- terests.
The president of the United States decided—on a random-ass Thursday—that he was going to kill a top Iranian military commander who’d been ignored by two former presidents because beefing with Iran is akin to beefing with a young Mike Tyson before he met Robin Givens.
Then, because the presi- dent is a perpetual bitch who can’t stop tweeting, he tweeted out the threat of a war crime, claiming that Iran better not think about retali- ating because he’s already picked out 52 sites, some of which are culturally impor- tant to Iran, as targets.
Because we live in a world where the president of the United States uses Twitter to fan the flames of potential war and because Iran ain’t no punk, a senior Iranian official took to Twitter to say “Oh, word? This is what we are
Iran retaliated for the killing of a top general by fir- ing more than a dozen ballis- tic missiles at two Iraqi air bases housing U. S. forces on Wednesday local time.
Defense Department said there was no question about the source of the missiles, and the Iranian government quickly claimed responsibil- ity.
“It is clear that these mis- siles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel," the Pentagon said in a statement.
It was unclear whether there was any damage to Ain al-Asad air base, which President Donald Trump visited in 2018, or whether there were any deaths or in- juries.
The president said in a tweet that "all is well!" and
MAR-A-LAGO
doing?” before listing Presi- dent Trump’s properties, including Mar-a-Lago in Florida and Trump Tower in Manhattan.
“Hesameddin Ashena, a top adviser to Iranian Pres- ident Hassan Rouhani, tweeted a link to a Forbes magazine profile that listed the properties, none of which is fortified to withstand a mil- itary attack, along with a
quote from the late Ayatol- lah Ruhollah Khomeini,” the New York Post reports.
The tweet also linked to a Business Casual video, which explains Trump’s alleged real estate empire.
“I tell the whole world that if the world wants to stand up to our religion, we will stand up against their whole world,” the quote in the tweet read.
Iran Retaliates For Attack On General By Firing Missiles At U. S. Troops In Iraq
that damages and casualties were being assessed.
"All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casual- ties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military any- where in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning," he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammed Javad Zarif
said the country did not "seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression."
"Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched," Zarif said in a tweet, referring to the killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
IRAN PROTESTORS
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020