We’re going to begin in Washington, D.C.,
with Trita Parsi, executive vice president
of the new think tank, the Quincy Institute.
His most recent book, Losing an Enemy: Obama,
Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy, he’s
also the author of A Single Roll of the Dice:
Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Trita Parsi.
Your response to the assassination of Soleimani?
I think a couple of former Obama officials
on TV yesterday put it best when they said
that this is an act of war.
And it’s an act of war that took place without
any consultation with Congress, any approval
from Congress, any authorization from Congress.
It’s fascinating to see that the last couple
of days Pompeo has been spending a lot of
time talking to the foreign ministers and
the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel,
and not until today did he actually start
making phone calls to the Europeans and others.
So, this is something that is going to be
a major point of escalation.
It’s a decision that I think ultimately
has made America less, rather than more, safe.
I think that’s clear from the decision by
the State Department today to urge all Americans
to immediately leave Iraq.
Rather than ending these endless wars, that
Trump promised his base that he would do,
he is sending more troops to the Middle East,
he is doing things that is further destabilizing
the Middle East, and that will probably trap
American servicemen and women in the Middle
East for a longer period of time.
John Bolton, the former national security
adviser, tweeted, “Congratulations to all
involved in eliminating Qassem Soleimani.
Long in the making, this was a decisive blow
against Iran’s malign Quds Force activities
worldwide.
Hope this is the first step to regime change
in Tehran.”
Trita Parsi?
So, it’s clear now that even without John
Bolton in the White House, Trump has surrounded
himself with so many neoconservatives, or
people who are very close in their thinking
to the neoconservatives, that he is continuously
getting advice that is very similar to the
advice that the Bush administration was given
when it came to the invasion of Iraq.
And Bolton has for long urged not only war
with Iran, but regime change in Iran,
and has been pushing the 
United States to go in that direction.
And I think part of the reason why many of
these war hawks are celebrating on Twitter
today is not because they think that this
actually was a decisive blow to Iran
or a decisive blow to the IRGC;
I think it’s because they view this 
as a point of irreversible escalation.
After this, there can only be more escalation
and, ultimately, war.
And that’s what they’re celebrating.
