By DAVID CENCIOTTI -- theaviationist.com -- One year ago, Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed in Baghdad. A somewhat weird memorial erected in Lebanon shows the moment a missile hit the SUV carrying the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force. On Jan. 3, 2020, at 12.47 AM LT, a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, along with members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq’s PMF militias. The attack occurred just outside Baghdad International Airport, in Iraq, where Soleimani had just arrived (from Lebanon or Syria) to bring Iran’s response to a letter that Iraq had sent out on behalf of Saudi Arabia in order to ease tensions between the two countries in the region, according to Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdul Mahdi. The air strike on the convoy made by a Toyota Avalon and Hyundai Starex caused 10 casualties

The details of the drone strike that assassinated Soleimani have never been disclosed and, one year later, there are still different narratives of the whole operation. According to one version, a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, took off from Kuwait and carried out the raid. This version has never been confirmed; quite the contrary actually, as the Kuwaiti Armed Forces denied it. According to another version, as many as three MQ-9 drones took off from al-Asad airbase, the second largest airbase in Iraq, flew in the sky of Baghdad for 20 hours and then returned to al-Asad after the air strike. Serviced by two parallel paved runways and at least 33 hardened aircraft shelters along with secured weapons storage facilities, Al-Asad Airbase was captured from Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces by the coalition Australian Special Air Service Regiment on April 16, 2003 by a special operations raid during the second Persian Gulf War in Iraq. The airbase, along with Irbil, was targeted by more than a dozen ballistic missiles launched by Iran as part of of “Operation Martyr Soleimani”, a retaliatory strike for the assassination of the Iranian General.

by By Brian Trusdell - newsmax.com -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that President Donald Trump will be dead ''in a few days'' during a speech to his Islamic nation’s cabinet as the first anniversary of the killing of a general in the country’s military approached. Rouhani’s Wednesday speech, excerpts of which were posted in English on the Iranian presidential website, called Qasem Soleimani a ''martyr'' and ''moderate leader with tact.'' Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Quds Force — described by military specialists as an unconventional war and clandestine operations unit — was killed in a targeted drone strike on Jan. 3, 2020, that was approved by Trump. The U.S. Department of Defense blamed Soleimani for hundreds of deaths and injuries to Americans; he was purportedly killed while in neighboring Iraq while ''actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.''

Besides Trump, Rouhani referred to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as the ''main perpetrators of this crime.'' "One of the effects of this stupid and disgraceful act was that Trumpism ended and in a few days, the life of this criminal will end and he will go to the dustbin of history, and we are very happy about this and we believe that the period after Trump will be a better condition for regional and global stability," Rouhani said. The remarks come as tensions have intensified approaching the anniversary of Soleimani’s death; his successor has vowed vengeance, and the U.S. has flown B-52s over the region in an act of deterrence.

by middleeasteye.net — New Year celebrations in Lebanon were marred by what local media said was a “horror night”, after celebratory gunfire …

Michel Hayek Prediction 2021 - 2022

by NAJIA HOUSSARI - arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: After a year of financial, political and social turmoil, few in Lebanon believe the crisis-wracked country’s situation will improve in the coming 12 months, while growing numbers fear their plight will worsen dramatically. “Our country is broken,” said Rima Al-Khatib, who works in the banking sector, describing a year in which her father died and the family was unable to pray for him in the mosque because of a nationwide lockdown at the time. Al-Khatib told Arab News that she “is in a state of denial about everything that happened this year.” “I don’t want to reflect on it because it is too painful,” she said.

With university and health studies in recent weeks showing alarming levels of depression and anxiety in young and old alike, it is clear few people have any expectations, let along dreams, for the new year. One mental health survey concluded that up to 16 percent of people aged 18-24 suffer from severe depression, while 41 percent of women still suffer from post-traumatic stress in the wake of the Beirut port blast. Meanwhile, lockdowns imposed to halt the spread of the coronavirus affected the mental health of 41 percent of the participants in another study, with a further survey claiming 9.5 percent of the population risk becoming depressed because of the country’s dire economic situation. Al-Khatib said that she will never forget the day of the port explosion. “I was in my car on the road and a balcony fell from a building in front of me,” she recalled. “I could not understand what happened. My friend narrowly escaped death and the explosion killed two of my work colleagues, leaving two children orphans.”