[…] The Pentagon said the general had been “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”

On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Soleimani was planning a “big action” that would have “put dozens if not hundreds of American lives at risk.”

“We know it was imminent,” Pompeo told CNN. “This was an intelligence-based assessment that drove our decision-making process.”

On Thursday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned that Washington would not hesitate to take “pre-emptive action” if it had information that attacks were being planned.

He said last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on a base in Kirkuk, reportedly by a pro-Iranian group, meant “the game had changed.”

yahoo.com/news/us-killing-soleimani-know-

Jokes about today’s face of the day:

Qassem Soleimani is so popular today.
I mean he just blew up overnight.

He was caught between Iraq and a hard place

Reddit

A contribution from The BFD staff.