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1:20 PM ET, January 3, 2020

Top Items:

Pelosi Statement on Airstrike in Iraq Against High-Level Iranian Military Officials — Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement after the Trump Administration conducted a deadly airstrike targeting Iranians and Iraqis at the Baghdad International Airport:

Discussion: ABC News, Vox, National Review, The Hill, NBC News, NPR, VICE, WND, Breitbart, The American Independent, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, The Week, Daily Sounder and IJR

Mehdi Hasan / The Intercept:

Four Years Ago, Trump Had No Clue Who Iran's Suleimani Was. Now He May Have Kicked Off WWIII. — President Donald Trump makes a video call to the troops stationed worldwide at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 24, 2019. — Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, Associated Press, DNyuz and CNN

U.S. Embassy / U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Iraq:

Security Alert - U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq, January 3, 2020 — Home الصفح ة الرئي سية | Security Alert - U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Iraq, January 3, 2020 — Event: Due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region …

Discussion: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, Talking Points Memo, Gizmodo, KTLA, CNN, WTVR-TV, Sara A. Carter and Task & Purpose

Mohammad Ali Shabani / The Guardian:

Donald Trump's assassination of Qassem Suleimani will come back to haunt him — The Quds force leader had the status of national hero even among secular Iranians. His death could act as a rallying cry — The US has assassinated Qassem Suleimani, the famed leader of Iran's Quds force …

Discussion: DNyuz

New York Times:

U.S. Strike in Iraq Kills Qassim Suleimani, Commander of Iranian Forces — Suleimani was planning attacks on Americans across the region, leading to an airstrike in Baghdad, the Pentagon statement said. Iran's supreme leader called for vengeance. — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. …

Ryan C. Brooks / BuzzFeed News:

Trump's Strike Has Drawn A Sharp Line Between The Democrats Running For President — The Democratic presidential candidates have split into an anti-war camp, led by Bernie Sanders, and a set of more nuanced responses to the killing of a key Iranian official, a rare and sharp contrast inside …

Discussion: IJR and The Week

Michael Doran / New York Times:

Trump's Ground Game Against Iran — The assassination of Qassim Suleimani is a seismic event in the Middle East. — Mr. Doran is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and served in the departments of State and Defense, and on the National Security Council.

Discussion: The Federalist, Instapundit and Washington Post

Axios:

The U.S. takes a war footing against Iran after Soleimani strike — President Trump, after warning three days ago that Iran would pay “a very BIG PRICE,” authorized a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport that killed Iran's top general and second most powerful official, Qasem Soleimani.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, National Review, Summit News, The Week, Breitbart, Reason, Raw Story and No More Mister Nice Blog

Steve Goldstein / MarketWatch:

Why oil could hit $80 even without a ‘full-blown’ U.S.-Iran war — It's always useful to have a sense of Middle Eastern history, as financial markets swirled following the news of the U.S. airstrike that killed a prominent Iranian general in Baghdad. — So let's go way back to...September …

Discussion: The National Interest, CNN and Bloomberg

William Watts / MarketWatch:

Strait of Hormuz, the world's biggest oil chokepoint, in focus as U.S.-Iran tensions flare — The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway in the Middle East that marks the most sensitive transportation choke point for global oil supplies, was back in focus Friday after a U.S. airstrike killed …

Discussion: UPI

Emily Singer / The American Independent:

Trump: Only a ‘weak’ and ‘ineffective’ president would start a war with Iran — Trump's old comments are resurfacing after he ordered an attack on an Iranian leader that could spark more violent conflict in the Middle East. — Before the 2012 presidential election, when former President Barack Obama …

Discussion: HuffPost

Stanley McChrystal / Foreign Policy:

Iran's Deadly Puppet Master — Gen. Stanley McChrystal explains exactly why Qassem Suleimani is so dangerous. — The decision not to act is often the hardest one to make—and it isn't always right. In 2007, I watched a string of vehicles pass from Iran into northern Iraq.

Discussion: New York Times, Defense One and DNyuz

Robin Wright / New Yorker:

The Killing of Qassem Suleimani Is Tantamount to an Act of War — On orders from President Trump, the United States killed Major General Qassem Suleimani, the leader of Iran's élite Quds Force and the mastermind of its military operations across the Middle East, in an overnight air strike at Baghdad's International Airport.

Discussion: Vox, Associated Press and New York Times

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:
Statement by the Department of Defense

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump's Iran strike demands a serious response from Democrats

Discussion: The Atlantic, Balloon Juice and New York Times

Andrew Exum / The Atlantic:
Iran Loses Its Indispensable Man

Discussion: The Nation, The Week, Vox, Washington Post, The Hill and WGN-TV

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Thinks Attacking Iran Will Get Him Reelected. He's Wrong.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Ray Takeyh / Politico:
Why the Death of an Iranian Commander Won't Mean World War III

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Axios, The Hill, One America News Network and The Miscellanies

John Leicester / Associated Press:
‘A more dangerous world’: Iran killing triggers global alarm

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Week and MyNorthwest.com

Washington Post:
Airstrike at Baghdad airport kills Iran's most revered military leader, Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi state television reports

Discussion: DNyuz, South China Morning Post, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Townhall, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Slate, Fox News, PJ Media Home, Mediaite, Power Line, Eschaton, Patterico's Pontifications and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Trump just made his most consequential decision as president

Discussion: Politico, The Wrap and Algemeiner.com

Tom Rogan / Washington Examiner: What Qassim Soleimani's killing means

HuffPost:
Top Senate Democrat Received No Advance Notice Of U.S. Strike On Iran General

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Root, DNyuz and Mediaite

Qassim Abdul-zahra / Associated Press:
Iran's Gen. Soleimani killed in airstrike at Baghdad airport

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
What Trump said about Obama and war with Iran, and what it means now

Discussion: One America News Network and DNyuz

Fred Kaplan / Slate:
The United States Is Now at War With Iran

Discussion: Vox, Jacobin, The Atlantic and The Hill

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
Trump Calls the Ayatollah's Bluff

Discussion: BizPac Review and Instapundit

Adam Shaw / Fox News:
Soleimani's takedown fuels new partisan warfare on Capitol Hill

Discussion: Axios, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and WND

CNN:
Pompeo: Strike on Soleimani disrupted an ‘imminent attack’ and ‘saved American lives’

Discussion: National Review, Townhall, Politico, The Right Scoop, PJ Media Home, Washington Free Beacon and DNyuz

Steve Hayes / The Dispatch:
The Morning Dispatch: Qassem Suleimani Is Dead

Discussion: Politico, The Editorial Board, NBC News, Disrn and The Daily Caller

Preston Ayres / WCYB:

Roe Retiring: Congressman won't seek another term — Tennessee Congressman Phil Roe is not running for re-election. The six-term Republican announced Friday morning he will not seek a seventh term in 2020. Roe was first elected to Congress in 2008 by defeating incumbent David Davis in the Republican primary.

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Whitley Alexander / U.S. Representative Phil Roe, M.D.:

Congressman Roe: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to represent East Tennessee.” — f t # e — JOHNSON CITY, TENN.- Today, Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) released the following statement after announcing he will retire at the end of the 116th Congress:

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo and IJR

FiveThirtyEight:

Our Poll Finds A Majority Of Americans Think The Evidence Supports Trump's Removal — After the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump on Dec. 18, the president's fate is in the Senate's hands. The process for the trial still isn't clear, but there are signs that it will likely …

Discussion: Raw Story

Lisa Mascaro / Associated Press:
Senate impeachment trial in flux amid Mideast crisis

Discussion: The Hill and The Week

Richard Flanagan / New York Times:

Australia Is Committing Climate Suicide — As record fires rage, the country's leaders seem intent on sending it to its doom. — Mr. Flanagan is an Australian novelist. — BRUNY ISLAND, Tasmania — Australia today is ground zero for the climate catastrophe.

Discussion: Common Dreams, New York Post, The Courier Mail and Raw Story

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Apocalypse Becomes the New Normal

Discussion: Raw Story

Julie Zauzmer / Washington Post:

United Methodist Church is expected to split over gay marriage, fracturing the nation's third-largest denomination — Church leaders said Friday they had agreed to spin off a “traditionalist Methodist” denomination, and allow the remainder of the denomination to permit same-sex marriage …

Discussion: National Review, The Hill and Meduza.io