Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Putting A Target On His Back
https://digbysblog.net/2025/01/28/putting-a-target-on-his-back/Putting A Target On His Back
Published by digby on January 28, 2025
Trump pulled security from John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and his assistant John Hook despite the assassination contract put out by Iran. Just another example of Trump inviting political violence against his enemies:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will announce he is “immediately pulling” retired Gen. Mark Milley’s personal security detail and security clearance, multiple senior administration officials tell Fox News.
The secretary is also directing the new acting Inspector General to conduct a review board to determine if enough evidence exists for Gen. Milley to be stripped of a star in retirement based on his actions to “undermine the chain of command” during President Donald Trump’s first term, officials say.
The Pentagon will also be removing a second portrait of Gen. Milley inside the Pentagon. This one is from the Army’s Marshall Corridor on the third floor honoring his service as chief-of-staff of the Army. Fox is told the removal of this second portrait will take place as soon as tonight. This means there will be no more portraits of Gen. Milley inside the Pentagon.
The secretary is also directing the new acting Inspector General to conduct a review board to determine if enough evidence exists for Gen. Milley to be stripped of a star in retirement based on his actions to “undermine the chain of command” during President Donald Trump’s first term, officials say.
The Pentagon will also be removing a second portrait of Gen. Milley inside the Pentagon. This one is from the Army’s Marshall Corridor on the third floor honoring his service as chief-of-staff of the Army. Fox is told the removal of this second portrait will take place as soon as tonight. This means there will be no more portraits of Gen. Milley inside the Pentagon.
snip//
That misogynist pig Pete Hegseth, friend of war criminals and Tito’s vodka, being in a position to demote someone like Milley is enough to make you scream.
If he manages to evade assassination over the next four years, I would hope that one of the first things a Democratic president will do is to restore his rank and hang his picture.
12 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
He's already said he wouldn't feel any responsibility if harm were to befall Dr. Fauci or John Bolton so I'm sure he feels the same way about General Milley.
You know, to celebrate his confirmation.
US Offers $20M for Details About Iranian Allegedly Behind Plot to Kill John Bolton
The US State Department announced a $20 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the alleged Iranian mastermind behind a plot to assassinate former White House official John Bolton.
In Aug 2022, US officials uncovered a plot by Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), to kill John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to former President Donald Trump.
The move came as Trump (78) who is running for a new White House term, claimed there were "big threats" on his life by Iran.
Bolton, an Islamophobe, is considered a foreign policy hawk and is a fierce critic of Iran. He advocated that Trump unilaterally and recklessly withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
Poursafi allegedly offered an unidentified person inside the US $300,000 to kill Bolton in the capital area. The plan was likely set in motion after the US killing of top IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq on 3 Jan 2020 by a drone strike outside Baghdad Int’l Airport (BIAP). But it never made headway because the ostensible assassin became an informant of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Iranian authorities have dismissed the allegations as "fiction."
General Qasem Soleimani was a popular figure in Iran and an effective combat leader against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. When the US invaded Afghanistan in Oct 2001 after the 11 Sep 2001 attacks, General Soleimani collaborated with the US and led the 2001 uprising in Herat against the Taliban, which included ethnic Hazaras, the Northern Alliance, and the Quds Force which liberated the city before US forces entered. Years later, the QF supported the Shia resistance against US forces in Iraq, particularly with lethal EFPs. (Photo: Public domain)
The United States designated the entire IRGC a "foreign terrorist organization" in 2019, after previously designating its external operation wing, the Quds Force.
On 4 Dec 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12333. Part 2.11 of E.O. 12333 reiterates a proscription on US intelligence agencies sponsoring or carrying out an assassination. It reads:
During a state of war, enemy generals are high value targets (HVTs). The Ukrainian secret services killed a Russian CBRN general last year. Trumpf killing Qasem Soleimani crossed a line with the Iranians as the US was not in a Congressionally-declared war with Tehran. Imagine how upset Americans would have been in 1945 if former members of the Third Reich assassinated General George Patton after the war ended. That's how the Iranians feel today about Soleimani's death.
"Old Blood and Guts." (Photo: Public domain)
Sources:
https://www.state.gov/rewards-for-justice-reward-offer-for-information-on-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-member-shahram-poursafi/
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-offers-20m-for-details-about-iranian-allegedly-behind-plot-to-kill-official-/7800969.html
https://spongobongo.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/iranian-special-forces-reportedly-fight-alongside-us-in-battle-for-herat/
https://www.federalregister.gov/executive-order/12333
The US State Department announced a $20 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the alleged Iranian mastermind behind a plot to assassinate former White House official John Bolton.
In Aug 2022, US officials uncovered a plot by Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), to kill John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to former President Donald Trump.
The move came as Trump (78) who is running for a new White House term, claimed there were "big threats" on his life by Iran.
Bolton, an Islamophobe, is considered a foreign policy hawk and is a fierce critic of Iran. He advocated that Trump unilaterally and recklessly withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
Poursafi allegedly offered an unidentified person inside the US $300,000 to kill Bolton in the capital area. The plan was likely set in motion after the US killing of top IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq on 3 Jan 2020 by a drone strike outside Baghdad Int’l Airport (BIAP). But it never made headway because the ostensible assassin became an informant of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Iranian authorities have dismissed the allegations as "fiction."
General Qasem Soleimani was a popular figure in Iran and an effective combat leader against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. When the US invaded Afghanistan in Oct 2001 after the 11 Sep 2001 attacks, General Soleimani collaborated with the US and led the 2001 uprising in Herat against the Taliban, which included ethnic Hazaras, the Northern Alliance, and the Quds Force which liberated the city before US forces entered. Years later, the QF supported the Shia resistance against US forces in Iraq, particularly with lethal EFPs. (Photo: Public domain)
The United States designated the entire IRGC a "foreign terrorist organization" in 2019, after previously designating its external operation wing, the Quds Force.
On 4 Dec 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12333. Part 2.11 of E.O. 12333 reiterates a proscription on US intelligence agencies sponsoring or carrying out an assassination. It reads:
No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.
During a state of war, enemy generals are high value targets (HVTs). The Ukrainian secret services killed a Russian CBRN general last year. Trumpf killing Qasem Soleimani crossed a line with the Iranians as the US was not in a Congressionally-declared war with Tehran. Imagine how upset Americans would have been in 1945 if former members of the Third Reich assassinated General George Patton after the war ended. That's how the Iranians feel today about Soleimani's death.
"Old Blood and Guts." (Photo: Public domain)
Sources:
https://www.state.gov/rewards-for-justice-reward-offer-for-information-on-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-member-shahram-poursafi/
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-offers-20m-for-details-about-iranian-allegedly-behind-plot-to-kill-official-/7800969.html
https://spongobongo.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/iranian-special-forces-reportedly-fight-alongside-us-in-battle-for-herat/
https://www.federalregister.gov/executive-order/12333