Opinion: Don't be fooled by terrorists

Iran seemed to intentionally avoid killing Americans in its recent airstrike against our American military bases in Iraq. Reports indicate it was more about "saving face" with its own people after the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Don't be fooled.

Iran does not want to be friends and has proven it over the years by its support of terroristic groups. Look for it to try to utilize some terror group to blindside us with something very destructive. They know they do not want a war with the United States and will try to hide behind someone else.

In 1998, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah were credited with being the masterminds behind the embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed more than 200 people and injured over 5000 more. Twelve Americans were killed in those bombings. The FBI would track 60 phone calls placed on a satellite phone by Osama bin Laden from the small country of Azerbaijan to his associates in the country's capital of Baku. Bin Laden would be placed on the FBI's top 10 wanted list as a result of these attacks on our two African embassies.

In 2000, the USS Cole was bombed in Yemen. Seventeen U.S. Navy sailors were killed and 39 injured in the deadliest attack against a United States naval vessel since the USS Stark incident in 1987. The organization al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attack. Many names and multiple people were involved in this attack. Bin Laden, like Iran, used people to do his dirty work.

Sept. 11, 2001 - The deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history took place when 19 men hijacked four U.S. commercial airliners. The plot was orchestrated by al Qaeda leader bin Laden. A total of 2,977 people were killed at the World Trade Center in New York; at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Soleimani led the elite Quds Force, part of Iran's Revolutionary Guard that reports to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Soleimani was also accused of controlling proxy militias across the Middle East including ones in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. He has been called a murderer by several of our U.S. officials.

The Pentagon blamed Soleimani for a series of attacks on allied bases in Iraq in recent months, including a rocket strike that killed a U.S. contractor and wounded four other service members. The Pentagon also has said Soleimani had been actively developing plans to attack U.S. diplomats and service members in Iraq and elsewhere throughout the region.

The Quds, which he led, were designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. and were considered the most powerful intelligence operative in the Middle East for many years.

While none of us want killing, President Donald Trump did the right thing. If bin Laden could have been taken out before the African bombings or before Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of lives could have been saved. Soleimani was on the move to see who, how and what he could organize to strike again.

Contact Glenn Mollette at GMollette@aol.com and learn more about him at www.glennmollette.com.