{"id":212743,"date":"2020-01-16T22:23:14","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T22:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=212743"},"modified":"2024-03-28T17:09:34","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T16:09:34","slug":"col-thomas-cantwell-irans-top-general-was-an-obstacle-to-both-us-interests-and-iranian-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/uncategorized\/col-thomas-cantwell-irans-top-general-was-an-obstacle-to-both-us-interests-and-iranian-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Col. Thomas Cantwell: Iran\u2019s Top General Was an Obstacle to Both US Interests and Iranian Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Thomas Cantwell, in an article on Townhall, said Qassem Soleimani chief of Quds Force was an Obstacle to Both US Interests and Iranian Democracy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Thomas_Cantwell_in_an_article_on_Townhall_called_elimination_of_Qassem_Soleimani_chief_of_Quds_Force.jpg\" alt=\"Col. Thomas Cantwell: Iran\u2019s Top General Was an Obstacle to Both US Interests and Iranian Democracy \" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><small><strong>Thomas Cantwell, in an article on Townhall, said Qassem Soleimani chief of Quds Force was an Obstacle to Both US Interests and Iranian Democracy<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Written by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/component\/contact\/contact\/6?Itemid=490\">Shahriar Kia<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a016 January 2020.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In an article published on Townhall on Thursday, Col. (ret.) Thomas Cantwell, a former U.S. Army officer who was in charge of protection of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/pmoi-mek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI, Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK)\u00a0<\/a>members in\u00a0 Camp Ashraf, Iraq, called\u00a0eliminated\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-fundamentalism\/27175-who-was-the-vicious-criminal-qassem-soleimani\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Qassem Soleimani<\/a>, chief of\u00a0 the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force \u201can Obstacle to Both US Interests and Iranian Democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe protests in Iran in the past four days directly targeted the regime&#8217;s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Angry about the mullahs&#8217; criminal obfuscation regarding the IRGC&#8217;s downing of a passenger plane, protesters called for a change of the entire regime. Chants of &#8220;Death to Khamenei&#8221; and &#8220;Death to the oppressor, whether the Shah or the [supreme] leader,&#8221; showed that Iran wants to be liberated from tyranny once and for all,\u201d said\u00a0 Cantwell.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Iran?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Iran<\/a>\u2019s Top General Was an Obstacle to Both <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/US?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#US<\/a> Interests and Iranian Democracy <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iQF8o4i9ti\">https:\/\/t.co\/iQF8o4i9ti<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/QassemSoleimani?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#QassemSoleimani<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIran2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIran2020<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1217753833230696449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 16, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While referring to the Iranian people\u2019s abhorrence toward Soleimani as a mass murderer and tearing down his pictures Cantwell wrote, \u201cIn scores of videos, young protesters and especially women, tore down or set fire to publicly displayed portraits and pictures of Qassem Soleimani, the regime&#8217;s Quds Force commander, who was killed in Iraq by U.S. forces on January 3. These acts of bravery completely tarnished the state-orchestrated funeral ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cSoleimani&#8217;s elimination removed one of the clearest threats to American interests and regional stability over the last 30 years,\u201d Cantwell continued, \u201cSoleimani was responsible for countless deaths across the Middle East. These include hundreds of American service members as well as victims of terrorist acts carried out by other Iranian regime outfits in places like Lebanon,\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cSoleimani&#8217;s orchestration of anti-American operations comprised only a small fraction of his crimes. As the leading player in Tehran\u2019s support of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Soleimani enabled a litany of human rights abuses, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of people displaced,\u201d he added, referring to Soleimani\u2019s active role in oppressing Syrian people and their uprising.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In his article, Cantwell also mentioned to the Quds Force various attacks against the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/pmoi-mek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MEK\u00a0<\/a>in Iraq, which was commanded by Soleimani. \u201cAdditionally, Iraqi militias operating at the behest of Soleimani carried out a full-scale assault on exiled Iranian dissidents residing in eastern Iraq. This city, known as Camp Ashraf, had been the home to thousands of members of the main Iranian opposition,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/pmoi-mek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK)<\/a>. In a September 2013 attack, 52 innocent residents were brutally massacred,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe assault was one of the last in a list of 40 terrorist attacks on Camp Ashraf and the temporary\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/pmoi-mek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MEK<\/a>\u00a0settlement at Camp Liberty, which were attributed to Soleimani. Between 2009 and 2016, the Quds Force was ultimately responsible for the killing in Iraq of at least 141\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/pmoi-mek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MEK\u00a0<\/a>members. Yet the overall community\u2019s survival thwarted Tehran\u2019s larger plan to strike a blow against the organized push for regime change in Iran,\u201d\u00a0he added.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cantwell referred to the regime\u2019s devastating role in Iraq which prepared the ground for the Islamic State to emerge and\u00a0wrote, \u201cIt was the Iranian regime&#8217;s meddling in Iraq that crippled a pluralistic government in Iraq and paved the way for the rapid spread of the Islamic State (ISIS).\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In his article, Cantwell also spoke of the regime\u2019s bogus claims of \u201ctaking harsh revenge\u201d after Soleimani\u2019s elimination,\u00a0and wrote, \u201cTehran&#8217;s feeble reaction to the elimination of its No. 2 personality, Soleimani, further revealed its weakness, thanks to widespread popular protests. It fired 15 missiles against U.S. bases in Iraq as \u2018revenge\u2019 for Soleimani&#8217;s elimination. But compared to the 80 missiles launched against Camp Liberty dissidents in Iraq in 2015, this was an insignificant move. It was a pathetic propaganda tool meant to boost the defeated morale of IRGC personnel inside Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While referring to the regime\u2019s institutionalized terrorism Cantwell wrote, \u201cStill, attacks against internal protesters and on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/pmoi-mek\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MEK\u00a0<\/a>and other Iranian dissidents will certainly continue. But Soleimani\u2019s absence creates a new opening for those whose democratic ideals had incurred his wrath in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cantwell also referred to the second wave of the Iran protests and wrote, \u201cAmong the slogans during protests in Tehran and dozens of other cities in January were calls for the wholesale removal of the regime as well as demands for a halt to wasteful expenditures in places like Syria,\u201d he continued, \u201cThe Iranian people have long recognized this regional force projection as a part of the clerical regime\u2019s strategy for holding onto its power in the face of ever-growing popular dissent and diplomatic isolation. That is why they tore down pictures of Soleimani as a symbol of the regime&#8217;s expansionism.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Who Was the Vicious Criminal <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/QassemSoleimani?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#QassemSoleimani<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FnmOfAhen7\">https:\/\/t.co\/FnmOfAhen7<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IRGCTerrorists?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IRGCTerrorists<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IRGC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#IRGC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreeIran2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreeIran2020<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iran_policy\/status\/1213885106819149830?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cFor 25 years,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-fundamentalism\/27179-elimination-of-qassem-soleimani-a-fatal-blow-to-the-iranian-regime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Soleimani\u00a0<\/a>was the leading figure pursuing Tehran\u2019s ominous objective at home and in the region. Although his funeral was widely televised in Western media, the public rejoicing across Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, and the public displays of hatred toward his portraits during recent protests, is a more reliable signal that the ayatollahs\u2019 demise looms on the horizon,\u201d Cantwell concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Cantwell, in an article on Townhall, said Qassem Soleimani chief of Quds Force was an Obstacle to Both US Interests and Iranian Democracy Written by&nbsp;Shahriar Kia&nbsp;on&nbsp;16 January 2020. In [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":212746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[178],"class_list":{"0":"post-212743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-save"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Col. 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