Trump administration 'planned killing Soleimani for 18 MONTHS' before the deadly strike and 'devised a cyber attack to cripple Iran's oil industry' in case Tehran retaliated

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

Long title is long.  But self-explanatory. 

Seems to be a mix of background information provided by an assortment of mostly unnamed people, unverified analysis, and opinion.  Still, an interesting read.   

The UK's Daily Mail article is based on a New York Times article, and the NYT makes no secret of its absolute disdain for Trump.  I couldn't even make it past the first few paragraphs of the NYT hit piece article, way too much hysterical Orange Man Bad agenda.  This Daily Mail article is less "nails on chalkboard screeching" than the NYT hit piece article:

Trump administration 'planned killing Soleimani for 18 MONTHS' before the deadly strike and 'devised a cyber attack to cripple Iran's oil industry' in case Tehran retaliated

 

• The US discussed targeting Iranian General Qassem Soleimani for the past 18 months, according to a New York Times report citing officials 
• The 62-year-old was the second most powerful man in Iran and leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
• Surveillance of Soleimani intensified in May under then national security adviser John R Bolton following attacks on oil tankers
• On December 31 Trump was presented with a top secret memo of possible targets in response to attacks on the US embassy in Iraq 
• He chose to target General Soleimani, which shocked some Pentagon officials
• On January 3, Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike after landing in Baghdad 
• US also developed plans to strike Iranian command-and-control ship and carry out cyber attack to partially disable Iran's oil and gas sector if Iran retaliated 

Following an explosive week between the US and Iran, it has been revealed that the Pentagon secretly discussed targeting Iranian General Qassem Soleimani for 18 months before making the decision to strike. 

As tensions escalated between the two nations, the US had a list of targets in mind in case Iran ever attacked the US. When American civilian contractor Nawres Waleed Hamid was killed when rockets hit the K1 military base in Kirkuk, Iraq on December 27, Washington was ready to act. 

After months of tracking Soleimani, the second most powerful man in Iran, the plan to finally strike him was rolled out on January 3, 2020, a move that thrust the US to the brink of war, according to a New York Times report based on interviews with dozens of Trump administration and military officials.    ...