Given the events of the last few days, and Suleimani’s unique value as a target, you can understand the decision to kill him. Nevertheless, it can only be described as an act of war, and the Iranians will undoubtedly treat it as such. Even if the government doesn’t, the Revolutionary Guards will, and they are perfectly capable of taking action on their own.
You know what happened the last time the world saw an act of political violence of this nature. This has the potential to take our country, and the world, to some very dark places. It could well make our politics uglier, exacerbate our divisions, and even threaten our civil liberties, to say nothing about terrorism and the impact on oil prices.
I desperately hope I’m wrong, and that both the Iranians and Trump–now no longer restrained by any adults in the room–will pull back from the brink. Knowing the nature of both, it’s hard to be optimistic.