Today morning I saw a peculiar hashtag trending on Twitter called #WorldWar3.
While I originally thought it might be something related to a video game or some random Twitter trend, it actually ended up being related to a big political event that has recently occurred.
In breaking news, it was revealed that the US military at the direction of US President Donald Trump had killed Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Quds Force commander.
The US military, carried out an airstrike on five facilities in Iraq and Syria on Friday where they believed militia groups who allegedly caused attacks on joint US-Iraq military bases were hiding.
The Iraqi state TV reported that, Soleimani along with Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis were killed in an air strike that happened at the Baghdad International airport road.
What Happened?
President Trump tweeted out a picture of the US flag right after the two leaders were killed.
The Pentagon afterward, released a press statement explaining why this was done:
BREAKING: Pentagon statement from Defense Secretary @EsperDoD on strike against #Iran’s Soleimani in #Iraq pic.twitter.com/YAuLlkid01
— Tara Copp (@TaraCopp) January 3, 2020
They said that, “At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
The statement further said how General Soleimani was planning to “attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”
It mentioned how Soleimani and his “Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.” The statement also said that Soleimani was apparently behind the December 27th attack and the attacks that took place at the U.S. Embassy this week.
The statement ended with an ominous line that said, “This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.”
Iran on the other hand is reportedly extremely angry with act of the US and the Iran Foreign Minister went as far as to term it as “an act of war.”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, was also quoted by state media saying, “Harsh revenge awaits ‘criminals’ who killed General Soleimani.”
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As per a report by The Washington Post, Ilan Goldenberg, who’d previously worked with the Obama administration on the Middle East issues has said that, “Iran will seek revenge. It may escalate in Iraq, Lebanon, the gulf or elsewhere. It may attempt to target senior U.S. officials.”
Goldenberg, who is currently a scholar with the Center for a New American Security also said that, “Unfortunately, I highly doubt the Trump administration has thought out the next step or knows what to do now to avoid a regional war.”
The Twitter Trend
In light of the rising tension between Iran and US, the hashtag #WorldWar3 started trending on Twitter today.
“They’re saying there might be a World War 3… It’s crazy cause ever since we stopped talking I’ve been at war with myself” pic.twitter.com/b5w8dmFQjw
— markbeplaying (@markbeplaying) January 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/El_Ismael701/status/1212997127686836225
We shouldn’t have gone to war with Iraq then. We shouldn’t go to war with Iran now.
— Groundwork Project (@GroundworkProj) January 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/yvonnepiranha/status/1212997721486962688
https://twitter.com/aphro06/status/1213001795565424640
just got off work and i had like 15 notifications about world war 3. tf happened in the span of 8 hours ????
— sexy commie (@cosmicvag) January 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/Tiff_V_/status/1213000713149833216
Can’t be drafted for world war 3 if they can’t see me pic.twitter.com/FZULeXRyhn
— Keegan Murray's Burner Account (@KeegsBurner) January 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/AndrewYang/status/1212920212594610176
https://twitter.com/mmichelle_g/status/1212979166380847104
https://twitter.com/dxnieIit/status/1212980333387407362
https://twitter.com/Asvp_luis10/status/1212974118439702528
Me and the boys after we fake medical conditions and don’t get drafted for world war 3 pic.twitter.com/n55Idu3PRb
— Michael carter (@ItsYoBoiMike_) January 3, 2020
Some believe that this could be just another strategy by the current President Trump to delay his impeachment trial and stay in power longer.
Apparently, former President Bill Clinton had done something similar when he ordered an air strike in Iraq in December of 1998. Clinton was being impeached based on accusations of perjury and his infamous affair with the White House intern, Monica Lewinsky.
Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives on 18th December 2019, on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress especially to help him during his re-election bid for the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
This submission by the House now calls for a Senate trial which is said to be starting sometime second week of January this year.
This could take a very bad turn very quickly and it is quite astonishing how recklessly the US government has acted in all this.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Washington Post, News18
Find the blogger @chirali_08
