Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Disclosure

  • Home
  • Your Survival
    • EMP Threat
    • Tucker Explains
    • Newport Gas Outage
    • Water
      • Emergency Water Storage
      • Let There Be Water
    • Get Your Gun and Your Training Now
    • Satellite Phones
    • Navy SEAL Survival Kit
  • Your Money
    • Coronavirus Infects Stock Market
    • Looking for a Better America
    • You Invest, They Win
    • Where to Keep Your Cash
    • Paris
    • How to Buy a Boat
    • Dead or Alive? The Future of Long-Term Investing
    • Is Vanguard too Big?
    • Cryptocosm and Life After Google
    • The Last Intelligence Report
    • The Truth Behind the S&P 500
    • RAGE Gauge
    • How Many “Retirees” Will Keep Working?
    • Your Retirement Life
    • You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life
  • Weapons
    • Self Defense
    • Every Family Should Own at Least One Shotgun: Here Are Three
  • About Me
    • Preparing for Times Like These
    • My Videos/Pics
    • Music
      • RIP Neil Peart: You Will Always Be Remembered as a “Modern-Day Warrior”
  • You
    • Our Cabin on Kodiak, Alaska
    • If You Are in Pain, this May Help. It Helped Me.
    • How to Save for a Grandchild
    • FIRE! Financial Independence, Retire Early
    • Compound Interest
    • Arithmetic of Portfolio Losses
    • Maximum Portfolio Withdrawal Rate
    • An Efficient Frontier
    • Retirement Compounders
    • Counterbalanced Total Returns
  • Survive & Thrive
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • Welcome

Key Figures in U.S. Airstrike that Killed Soleimani

February 8, 2021 By Steve Schneider


UPDATE: Reports are surfacing that the Hellfire’s big brother, the JAGM was used in the Soleimani strike. – Steve Schneider

The key figures in the January 3 U.S. airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani have been identified, most notably Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and commander of Kataeb Hezbollah. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was listed as a terrorist in the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Some security experts are divided on whether Muhandis was specifically targeted or if he was a bonus kill.

Iranian and Iraqi officials have so far confirmed the U.S. attack killed ten people in addition to Soleimani. Rikar Hussein and Mehdi Jedinia of Voice of America give us the full list and their roles here.  They are:

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis – head of Iraq’s powerful anti-American Shiite group, Kataeb Hezbollah, and the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces.

Major General Hossein Pourjafari (IRGC) –  Soleimani’s right-hand man, who played a critical role in the formation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence wing.

Colonel Shahroud Mozaffari Nia (IRGC) – a member of IRGC’s intelligence unit who reportedly worked with pro-Iranian militias in Lebanon and Syria.

Lieutenant Hadi Taremi (IRGC) –  a member of the IRGC security bureau for almost 10 years before his promotion to IRGC’s Quds Force unit.

Lieutenant Vahid Zamanian (IRGC) – reportedly one of the rotating bodyguards of Soleimani and accompanied him in some unofficial international visits. Additionally, he reportedly was involved in the IRGC-Quds Force’s Fatemiyoun Brigade, an all-Afghan militia formed in 2014 and sent to Syria to help the government of Bashar al-Assad in the fight against Sunni rebels.

Muhammad Radha al-Jabri (PMF) – in charge of airport protocol for the Iraqi Shiite militia known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Hassan Abdu al-Hadi, Muhammad al-Shaybani and Haider Ali (PMF) – bodyguards who were members of the Popular Mobilization Forces; theyIraq’sShiite media claim they were also among those killed in the attack.

Deputy Chief Naim Qassem (Hezbollah) – the deputy chief of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah; he was reported among those killed in the U.S. strike in Baghdad, but the media office of the Shiite group has denied his death.

Peter Singer, an expert on future warfare at the New America Foundation, said the strike, “requires a truly immense intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance effort — one which basically no other country in the world can match, and which is vastly expensive, time-consuming and requires lot of expertise.” Ken Dilanian and Courtney Kube of NBC News tells us the intelligence aspect came from Syria via informants, they write:

Armed with a tip from informants at the airport in the Syrian capital of Damascus, the CIA knew exactly when a jet carrying Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani took off en route to Baghdad. Intelligence from Israel helped confirm the details.

Once the Cham Wings Airlines Airbus A320 landed, American spies at Iraq’s main airport, which houses U.S. military personnel, confirmed its exact whereabouts.

Three American drones moved into position overhead, with no fear of challenge in an Iraqi airspace completely dominated by the U.S. military. Each was armed with four Hellfire missiles….

U.S. military officials watched a live feed of the strikes at various locations around the world. Despite the successful operation, the reaction was somber as the gravity of the attack set in and the officials contemplated what response it could unleash.

It was an operation utterly unremarkable for any technical or intelligence wizardry. It’s remarkable, rather, for how routine such lethal actions have become.

The targeted killing is the latest demonstration of how, two decades after the CIA spotted but was unable to kill a man they believed was al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, the U.S. has become adept at hunting and killing its enemies, particularly in the troubled regions of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa.

“In less than a generation, we went from something that was abnormal and maybe even science fiction, to the point where it’s the new normal,” says Peter Singer, an expert on future warfare at the New America Foundation, said.. “Both leaders and the public don’t even blink an eye.”

Targeted strikes like the one that killed Soleimani represent a fundamental change in warfare, said Anthony Cordesman, who studies military trends at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

If you enjoyed this post, email it to a friend:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp

Related Posts

Trending

  • Biden Tax Hikes: I’m Here to Help, But Only if You’re Serious
  • Be Dangerous: Biden’s Progressive Puppeteers’ E.O. Gun Grab
  • One Word Explains the Worth of Your Neighbors’ House
  • Constitutional Carry: Another State Chooses Second Amendment Freedom
  • April RAGE Gauge: Are Your Bond Funds Dead or Alive?
  • You Need To Be Dangerous: Democrats Want You Harmless
  • Your Survival Guy Stock: Witness This Dividend Miracle
  • It’s as Simple as 4%? No, Not Anymore
  • You're Telling Me Friends Ask You This Question
  • Why Your Life Before COVID Isn’t Coming Back

YOUR SURVIVAL GUY MUST READS

  • A Christmas Story: Rich Grandchild, Poor Grandchild
  • Robinhood’s Not Coming to Save You
  • Are You Working with Sound Investment Counsel You Can Trust?
  • Permitless Carry Corridor Expands: Red States Trouncing Blue States on Freedom
  • “I’ve Got Guys Buying Guns/Ammo for Me All Through the Night.”
  • Survive and Thrive December: Disaster Prep in Our Newport Bunker and Your Survival
  • Only You Know How Much Gold You Should Own
  • Can We Still Afford the Riverboat Cruise?
  • Unmasking Heath and Human Services Secretary Nominee Xavier Becerra
  • Disaster Prep in Our Newport Bunker and Your Survival
Only if You’re Serious
See Who's Missing the Boat
Pandemic Creates Virtual Panopticon
Emergency Water Storage
Find Freedom in America
Second Amendment
Smith Family Robinson
Great Reset
Financial Independence, Retire Early
Richard  Young Reports
How You Can Save Money for Your Grandchild
Why Fidelity is Number One
The Best States for Survival
You Invest, They Win
Escape the City
Why Vanguard is Too Big for YOU
Money 101
Island Life

Copyright © 2021 | Terms & Conditions

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.