NEW YORK, NY Jan. 5 (DPI) – Veteran journalist Thomas Friedman yesterday offered several insights on the news that US rockets killed a top Iranian military leader. Friedman didn’t come out and condemn the killing, and instead suggested that the target, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, had engaged in activities across the Middle East that have mostly backfired for Iran.

Readers, at least those motivated to comment, for the most part weren’t impressed. Most comments blamed the US – more than Iran – for the chronic instability and violence in the Middle East, and many criticized Friedman himself for not taking a stronger position against Trump, who apparently made the decision to assassinate Suleimani.

Friedman, who’s written several books on the Middle East and its ever shifting sands, has been considered a moderate, mature, sometimes overly optimistic voice on the region for nearly three decades. His column yesterday – “Trump Kills Iran’s Most Overrated Warrior” – was no different.

The most popular comment (nearly 2,800 recommended) attached to Friedman’s column on NYTimes.com today, followed by two other popular comments:

“Because Trump just ordered the assassination of possibly the dumbest man in Iran and the most overrated strategist in the Middle East: Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani.” Sadly you failed to mention that Trump fills that exact role in OUR country. Trump ordered this illegal killing without a legitimate reason or right.

Fine, Qassim Suleimani was a bad guy but it wasn’t our place to kill him. We were NOT technically at war with his country and there was NO general consensus within the international community asking us to do this. Trump did this because nobody at the White House had the sense enough to stop him.

I know it was a matter of time before Trump went over the line, this was it. Before you get on your righteous horse and say “but this was a bad guy” think about what you will say when some foreign country steps up and does the same thing in OUR country. What WILL you say then? This MURDER of a Iranian was simply ILLEGAL

‘But what they omit is that Suleimani’s, and Iran’s, overreaching in Iraq helped to produce the Islamic State in the first place.’ Actually, it was America’s involvement in Iraq which helped to produce the Islamic State in the first place. Remember all the rationales from the Bush administration? Fighting terrorism. Taking a villainous man from power. Bringing democracy to a land of dictatorship. How did any of those justifications pan out? And why think that Iran would be any better for our interference?

Mr. Friedman, It scares me that you blithely ignore the potentially disastrous consequences of this assassination. Call him dumb, or call him brilliant, Suleimani was Iran’s second most powerful government figure, and Iran is a proud nation. The “rally around the flag” effect — even among many Iranians who didn’t like him — could ignite a regional war. Remember, George Bush the Younger’s approval rating peaked at 92% after the 9/11 attacks. Israel’s brilliant defense strategists – who have carried out “targeted killings” of dozens of enemies over time — would have had every reason to yearn for the death of Mr. Suleimani as much or more than any other living person. Yet, it has been widely reported that they chose not to kill him. If so, Why? Could it be that Israel was worried that killing this man might ignite an unpredictable and uncontrollable war that could engulf the entire Middle East? Not to worry, though, because as President Trump has pronounced: • “…my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart”; • “I know more about ISIS (the Islamic State) than the generals do. Believe me.” • General Mattis is “…the world’s most overrated general”. What could possibly go wrong?