Soleimani managed to weaken US Mideast presence

If you study the military record of the late General Qasem Soleimani, you’ll see why US military and political leaders feared his prowess – yet did not wish him dead. The embodiment of America’s stance was former president George W Bush. In January 2008, Bush was informed that he had a real-time opportunity to kill Soleimani as he attended a meeting in Syria. At the time, Soleimani was known to US intelligence as the commander of Iran’s special forces. He had played a leading role in nurturing the anti-American insurgency that bled US forces in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. Bush was not soft on terrorism or Iran. He knew that upwards of 600 US soldiers had been killed by Iraqi militias sponsored...