Soleimani

Red flags can signify many things. There is one in particular that reflects the old maxim: Revenge is a dish best served cold. On 4 January the Iranians hoisted their red flag on the top of Jamkaran Mosque, in Qom, Iran in response to the assassination of their favorite son, Major General Qasem Soleimani. He was targeted in what has turned out to be an act of treachery by the Trump administration, which we will examine in due course, and in what will probably come to be known as one of the greatest blunders of foreign policy strategy in recent US history. If this already sounds like an apologist piece, read on, because appearances are often deceptive and as is usually the case, there is more to this than meets the eye.

Soleimani was targeted in his assassination while leaving the Baghdad airport at either 11:00 pm Baghdad time on the 2^nd, or at 1:00 am on the 3^rd, depending on the source. The Wikipedia article gives the 1:00 am time (chart), while Elijah Magnier gives the 11:00 pm time. As always, time is of the essence in astrology. However, in either case, the charts reveal quite important details. We will be using the 11:00 pm chart here.

The reason for using the 11:00 pm chart is as follows: Soleimani left Damascus on a commercial flight the evening of the 2^nd on the last flight out, a direct flight, which arrived in Baghdad (scheduled) at 10:50 pm on the 2^nd. The reason we know this is from a quick look at flights from Damascus to Baghdad. The last one arrives in Baghdad at 10:50. It is doubtful, given security, that Soleimani would have been left loitering at the airport for two hours. He was to meet with Iraqi PM Mahdi at 8:30 the next morning. The chart is below (bigger):

We won’t go into great detail about the chart, save for a few points, as there is too much to cover here. The immediate factors that stand out are the midpoints, seen to the left of the Ascendant. Asc=MC=Mar/Sat=Mar/Plu pretty well describes the event: a precisely targeted strike (Virgo rising), “the desire to face danger” (which Soleimani always exhibited), “the misfortune to face overwhelming force without power, danger through the intervention of Higher Power” – both of these from the Mar/Plu midpoint – the ability to bear the suffering of the soul (with dignity and without complaint), mourning and bereavement (death), from the Mar/Sat midpoint.

Soleimani made no secret of his whereabouts. Otherwise he would not have taken a commercial flight. He had a standard mobile phone, which he called his ‘companion spy’. He expected at some point in his life to be killed, either in war or martyred, in fact inviting it:

According to sources, in Syria, Soleimani “never hesitated to jump inside a truck, ride an ordinary car, take the first helicopter, or travel on a transport or cargo plane as needed. He did not take any security precautions but used his phone (which he called a companion spy) freely because he believed that when the decision came to assassinate him, he would follow his destiny. He looked forward to becoming a martyr because he had already lived long.”

According to the chart and the event, he got his wish. There is a wider view to the chart, though, which fits in with the Saturn/Pluto conjunction and eclipse in a few days. In the chart we see that conjunction square to Eris, which is conjunct the 8^th house cusp from the 7^th, within a degree. This event will lead to sweeping changes in the Middle East, and could be seen as the ‘golden apple’ moment that leads to the destruction of Troy, in this case representing US/Zionist imperial ambitions in the region. Soleimani has just accomplished more with his murder than he was able to do in life. Now we get to the crux of the meaning of his death.

There are several theories floating around as to why he was ‘taken out’, to use Trump’s lingo:

• He was an evil dude, and just needed to go.
• He was planning imminent attacks on Americans and American interests in the region
• The Israelis have dirt on Trump and ordered the hit.
• In some sort of 4-D chess move, Trump ordered the hit to give the US a viable reason to leave the region
• Trump needed a boost in his ratings due to the impeachment proceedings and needed to appear ‘presidential’, shades of what Bill Clinton did with the Balkans during his impeachment. It was the same for Netanyahu.
• The strike was in response to the recent US embassy attacks in Baghdad.
• The ‘deep state’ ordered the hit without Trump’s approval, in order to draw Iran into a war and ruin Trump’s plans at re-election
• Soleimani was making inroads on the way toward brokering rapprochement (peace) between the Saudis and Iranians.

• The first two points are just patently untrue, and most of them are dubious at best. Taking this out of the American conditioning towards the ‘evil Iranians’, Soleimani was a military man, an Iranian patriot,  acting in service his country. He was a brilliant strategist, which is self-evident, much as that chafes on some American sensibilities. He was the main leader in Syria and Iraq that spearheaded the fight against and defeat of Daesh (ISIS). The Pentagon actually liaised with him on that front. His leadership protected Christians in Syria, as well as other faiths while Daesh was dominating the region. There are pictures of him with American troops. CNN even credited him for his actions against Daesh.

  The other reason the first two points are untrue was alluded to by the Iraqi PM Mahdi on Sunday, when he stated during the emergency parliamentary session that Soleimani was on a diplomatic peace mission to Iraq, at the behest of Washington. And this goes to why the assassination was an act of treachery. Cynical readers might say, “Well, it’s war, mate. He was a bad dude and the ends justify the means.” Really? I have actually heard this sort of talk. If so, it puts the US is a very poor light. People have long memories, and now that this has come out, it only deepens resentment toward Washington and resolve to avenge Soleimani’s death. It also poisons many other diplomatic initiatives into the future. As to the other points, the one that really makes the most sense is the last one.

  Getting back to Eris, though, there was another death in that hit, and it was unforeseen and unintended. An Iraqi general was killed that night, too, one Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Iraqi military commander who headed the PMU. This has enraged the Iraqis perhaps even more than the death of Soleimani. The Americans killed one of theirs, too, and a very respected general at that. Iranians and Iraqis are mourning both men now, and vowing revenge for both. What was the ‘intelligence’ that actually led to the act, then?

  To get an idea of what was going on in the White House leading up to the assassination, there is a Twitter thread that is quite revealing. It describes an administration that has no plan, that flies by the seat of its pants, a president that is easily influenced and who listens to advice that is less than helpful and which is often fabricated to affect the ends desired. The intelligence used to justify the hit on Soleimani was said to be “razor thin” and further taken to be “the far-out option”.

  Trump’s astrology on the day of the assassination is revealing in that regard, which puts pay to the 4^th point, preceding. His chart with transits is below (bigger):

  

  The White House would have been considering its options in the first day of the New Year. Mars was transiting square to Trump’s horizon, from the 4^th house. It was also activating the directions to the horizon, Asc=Ura/Node, giving the following: “The tendency to get excited easily in the presence of others, quarrelling, exercising self-control only with the greatest difficulty. – Disputes accompanied by violence.” The direction to the Ascendant by itself without the Mars transit gives; “The tendency to become stimulated through other persons. – Sudden and new associations.” He certainly has that now.

  We can add to that the transit of the Sun and Jupiter to the transiting south node, with the transiting north node on his Mercury, making him overconfident in his associations and playing to an old playbook (south node). However, that also activated one of the key aspects in his chart – the natal Mercury/Neptune square, which in ordinary circumstances give a dreamy and confused temperament, with an inability to focus thoughts effectively. It is a great aspect for actors, as in reality TV stars, but it is not a great aspect for decision-making.

  In addition, and perhaps more revealing, is the Saturn/Pluto conjunction transiting opposite his Saturn, which will be further activated by the eclipse on the 10^th. This, in turn, is squared by transiting Eris, is on his Vertex (a ‘destiny axis’), with Ceres approaching the conjunction, showing a turning point in his destiny. In effect, we could say that the Soleimani assassination and its results are his moment of destiny, and even the working out of an old karma. It is a very difficult setup, with the Saturn transit opposite its own place being one of the more difficult transits in a person’s life. It is a transit that should mark a turn away from aggressive action. He has chosen an opposite path, and probably as a result of bad advice, or pressure from donors and/or hawks.

  Soleimani’s assassination has all the hallmarks of a decision taken in rashness, by the seat of Trump’s pants and as the result of poor intelligence. Take the latter ‘poor intelligence’ as you like. It is an advisory note in general that one should not make important or rushed decisions, especially in anger, when Mars is making hard aspects to one’s angles.

  The blowback from the assassination has already started. On Sunday the Iraqi parliament voted to expel coalition troops from Iraq, citing the fact they do not want a proxy war on their territory, along with the violation of their sovereignty that Soleimani’s death represents. The Russians have offered to sell the Iraqis their S-400 missile systems. The Chinese Ambassador has expressed China’s willingness to supply military support to Iraq, should something eventuate.

  The Iranians have just launched a small swarm (22) of missiles at two US bases, causing minimal damage and casualties. It was a slap in the face to the US. In effect, they just called Trump’s bluff for his talk of targeting 52 Iranian sites. This has sent a clear message to all parties involved. The strikes were targeted so as to destroy the runways and other infrastructure at the air bases, but not cause casualties. The Iraqis were warned before the strikes, who in turn alerted the Americans, who then scrambled their aircraft out of the area, accounting for the air traffic at the time of the event. The attack was meant for domestic politics and to give the US and its allies something to think about.

  In his address to the nation in the morning after the attacks, he gave a typical neocon address, accusing Iran of all sorts of mischief and still seeking to justify his order to assassinate Soleimani. He said Iran had de-escalated, where in fact it was he who had backed off. There was no interception of Iranian missiles, as they fly under the radar horizon. And in imposing further sanctions, he has escalated the economic war.

  Members of the Saudi royals have fled to Europe in fear of the Iranian retaliation. The Iranians mean business. The Israelis have gone silent. Trump says everything is fine. The American media is now trying to manufacture consent for a full-blown war against Iran, blaming Iran for the escalation. The strikes will not stop there. Iran has vowed to hit Israel and Saudi Arabia if there are counter-strikes in response to the Iranian strike. For now that won’t happen.

  The real aim of the Iranians was recently clearly outlined by Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in a recent speech. His entire speech is worth reading in that regard;

  Response to blood of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis must be expulsion of all U.S, forces from the region. When we accomplish this goal, the liberation of Palestine will become imminent. When US forces leave the region, these Zionists will pack their bags and leave, and might not need a battle with Israel. Trump and the fools with him don’t realize what they’ve done, but time will show them… We’re not angry or worked up. We are saying [Soleimani’s] blood is an opportunity to expel the United States from the region, even if there will be great consequences to this.

  Emphasis added. Again, more cynical readers will say, “Nah. It will never happen. Let them try to force us out. Iran will become a heap of ash.” Well, the Pentagon has analysed what an attack on the region would entail, and they know it is a fool’s errand to try. Watch and see. The expulsion will happen either quickly (probably) or over time. Once American casualties mount, without a renewed invasion of the region, the West will start to clamor for an end to the violence, Americans especially. Now the covert war begins to ramp up on the part of the Axis of Resistance.

  The American public will never support a renewed invasion, save for some cataclysmic event. And neither the Iranians nor the Iraqis will provide them with one. It will be death by a thousand small cuts, and often with plausible deniability. Asymmetric warfare, but war just the same. We will start to see the same sorts of events in Israel, too. But for Americans who fear reprisals against civilian targets, Nasrallah went on to say;

  I want to be very clear, we do not mean American citizens or nationals. There are many Americans in our region. We don’t mean to attack them, and it is wrong to harm them. Attacking US civilians anywhere serves Trump’s interests.

  It is the military that will be targeted, and that has started. The Iraqis have said their piece. Now we will also start to see more attacks on American bases in Iraq, by Iraqis. The Western press will try to paint those as Iranian aggression, but that ignores the fact that Washington killed one of theirs, too, as well as 30+ Iraqis in recent strikes, and then not to mention the 100s of thousands in the 2003 invasion, the million+ killed by sanctions after the first Gulf War, and so on. Perhaps the picture becomes a little clearer now. The Iraqis have had enough.

  There is something else in this saga related to the Iraqis about which we should be aware, which appears to be true. In the same recent parliamentary session where the Iraqis voted to expel the US troops, Mahdi angrily spoke off-mic about how the US had wrecked the country, then refused to fund the rebuilding unless they were paid 50% of Iraqi oil revenue. Further, when Mahdi approached China to rebuild instead and signed contracts for the same in lieu of American support, he was threatened by Trump with the protests we saw there, to the extent that Marines snipers were shooting the protesters and enforcement officials, Maidan-style, and then ultimately threatened with his life. From a tweet by Ibn Riad, 7 Jan 2020:

  So to summarise, & to get this straight, the US has:
  – refused to finish reconstructing the country they destroyed
  – demanded 50% of all oil revenues from Iraq in exchange for finishing this work (gangster-style)
  – lost their mind when Iraq looked to China instead
  – demanded that Iraq rescind the agreement, & upon rejection, fomented mass protests
  – demanded anew, and this time when rejected again, stationed Marines snipers to take out protestors and security men
  – threatened to KILL the caretaker PM and the MoD if word of this got out

  Well, word is out now, but we will not likely hear it in the mainstream press. That is the reason Mahdi resigned. Greeks have had similar experience with this sort of thing with the resignation of their PM Kostas Karamanlis due to the Pythia-1 Plan. If the Iraqi story is true, it shows the depth of their anger, why they voted for the expulsion of America troops, the lengths to which Washington will sink and what is facing Iraqis when they push back against American forces there. And we haven’t even gone into the Iranian response in any depth yet.

  The big question on everyone’s mind, then, is will there be a hot war with Iran? The short answer is probably no. The Pentagon would never go for it. The public at large wouldn’t go for it. The only people who want it are the Washington hawks who want to prevent the greater Eurasian integration and to maintain energy dominance, to prevent peace in the region, and the Israelis, who have their own expansionist agenda. The Saudis also want the war as it would (they think) ruin Iran and enable the House of Saud to remain the dominant energy supplier in the region.

  Trump says he does not want war, either, yet he has waged economic war against Iran since pulling out of the JCPOA. His talk of targeting 52 Iranian sites is predictable in his predicament, full of bluster and empty threats which will never really find fulfilment. He is actually quite transparent. When he feels threatened he lashes out and becomes threatening. There was a recent comment in a blog post that described him. His main interests are his name (his ‘brand’) and energy dominance. Only now is it sinking in to him and the administration as to what he has allowed or ordered to happen, and he sees Iraq probably slipping away. And it will be blamed on him.

  Trump is now between a rock and a very hard place. The Iranians have forced his hand, as he has forced theirs. The Iranians have shown their allies they are ready to act and to face any eventuality, which will embolden the Axis of Resistance. If he fails to respond to the attacks on the two military bases, he will be lambasted in the press as weak, as bowing to the Iranians and he will lose face with more hawkish Americans, donors and allies. If he does act with a large force, it would probably cost him the election and earn him the scorn of much of the world.

  So, as to what Iran is likely to do if their present attacks fail to produce results, firstly they will allow Daesh to become active again in areas controlled by the US, whereas until now the local militias have controlled them. That will result in American casualties and a resurgent Daesh in an election year, and Trump will have to explain away how a defeated Daesh is now resurgent under his watch. It has been described thus:

  …they will erode Trump’s political base by embarrassing him in Iraq and with ISIS. Iran will respond, that much can be assured. But the time and place will be of their choosing, when the U.S. expects it least.

  The plan overall might well be long and drawn out, aimed at draining American resources, domestic support and money, exhausting and demoralizing troops, and sabotaging infrastructure in nations allied with the US, again in an election year. And then there are the other members of the Axis of Resistance, who also have vowed revenge for Soleimani’s and al-Muhandis’ deaths.

  We will know when the Iranians have exacted their revenge for the loss of their favorite general. The red flag will be lowered from the Jamkaran Mosque. Do not look for a large, hot war. Instead, the actions will be cold and calculated to produce the most drawn-out pain on the people responsible. American civilians will be spared on the whole, but the military will remain in a state of continuous alert, which will be wearing.

  The Iranians know better than to play tit-for-tat, to escalate things too far. Their present action has been calculated to send a message at many levels. We can see this in the nature of lancing a festering boil. Parties involved will now have to sit around the table and hash this out, otherwise we are looking at a terrible world situation. The Iranians are patient, prepared for any eventuality, and will not play into the hands of the hawks in Washington and Israel. They also know that Bibi in Israel wants to be re-elected, too, so look for increased low-level activity in Israel, aimed at eroding support for him in the lead-up to March elections there.

  Trump has instigated what is about to take place. And even if he didn’t, he bears ultimate responsibility. Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that said, “The buck stops here.” The meaning is clear. As the Chief Executive, Trump bears ultimate responsibility. He may well become known as ‘the President who lost the Middle East’. Any escalation now falls on his head, and it started when he pulled out of the JCPOA and re-imposed sanctions, which was also an act of war.

  There are few events, perhaps one or two in a generation, that have the capacity to dramatically shape world events. The last one, arguably, was the fall of the Soviet Union, followed a little over a decade later by 9/11. Soleimani’s assassination is just such an event. Time will bear this out. If the US is forced out of the region the consequences will be great, as follows:

  • • • • • The loss of control by the West over the oil in the Middle East
          • The consolidation of the greater Eurasian unification, guaranteeing a multipolar world order
          • The loss of the US of its military supremacy, and in an embarrassing fashion
          • The eventual collapse of Israel as a regional power and the resolution of the Palestinian situation, in favour of the Palestinians
          • The end of Zionist ambitions, which will be a blessing to the world at large
          • A period of great introspection for the US, and that will start this year, also a blessing for the world at large. That will not be easy.

  These points are taken from my analyses of events over several years now. They may seem to be a bit over the top at the moment, but these are a long-term view for the coming few years. There will be many twists and turns in the evolving saga in the months ahead.

  The Israelis and Arab states will in time have to make peace with their neighbors as a result of what is taking place. If they do not do so quickly the results for them will be painful and swift. The Shiite world has been galvanized to action and they will not wait long to act. There are many old scores to settle here. As Iran has shown, there is no turning back now. What is emerging and rather quickly will resolve itself in the coming years. But if clear heads prevail, it will result in a more peaceful Middle East, and thus a more peaceful world. Expect China and Russia to be key players in the long term here, too. These are days of great importance and opportunity. Let us hold that thought that peace can and will prevail, with greater goodwill between nations eventuating in the long term.

  Featured pic from The Scottish Sun