The killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani was an act of war, but the war had begun long ago. Iran, considering its position battling a military superpower, has already won.
Soleimani, assassinated in a Trump-ordered drone strike early Friday morning, was the primary operator who had made Iran so effective in countering American influence in the Middle East. A shadow commander in broad daylight, he was both a member of Iran's official chain of command and liaison to interlocking layers of clients, allies, and strategic partners across the region. Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and various militias in Syria and Iraq: They are more autonomous than proxies, but they all reported to Soleimani, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And in each of those theaters of war, his counterinsurgency strategies tested the U.S. with the stubborn strength of unconventional combat.
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