Summary of the book "Killing the Killers"-Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Key Insights in this book:

1. Soleimani becomes more well-known.
2. Tikrit was taken by Iranian forces, dealing ISIS a serious strategic and symbolic setback.
3. Although Soleimani is discussed, al-Baghdadi and ISIS take centre stage.
4. The message of Pompeo's letter to Soleimani is plain, yet it is not read.
5. The ISIS leadership perishes.
6. Tensions between the US and Iran significantly increase at the end of 2019.
7. All that is left is a severed hand and a unique ring.

Why should I care? Discover General Qasem Soleimani's life story, from his early years to his tragic demise.

While Killing the Killers by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard covers the battle on terror from 2014 to 2020, it would be difficult for us to cover it all in a single insight. So, for this Insight, we've opted to give an overview of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and a close-up look at its commander, General Qasem Soleimani.

Qasem Soleimani may have been mistaken for any other pious Iranian man during his lifetime. Three boys and two girls, totaling five children, resided with him in Tehran. He got up every morning at 4:00. He struggled with back discomfort and prostate issues, both of which required medicine. He came across as being compassionate and religious, if occasionally gruff and rigid. A non-Iranian would not be able to tell what was really going on if they came across him in Tehran's streets.

In the midst of the 2015 conflict with ISIS at its stronghold in Tikrit, Soleimani emerged from hiding. He stood in the middle of the desert in prayer and for the first time permitted himself to be captured on camera while donning soldier's fatigues and a general's epaulettes. Many people praised his gorgeous, wrinkle-free face on social media. He smiled softly, his dark eyes, black eyebrows, and perfectly trimmed grey beard.

Thousands of deaths had already been caused by Soleimani and his men at the time the photo was shot. His army behaved no better than ISIS, kidnapping and killing civilians, raping women, and torching homes. He had planned terror acts in Somalia, India, and Thailand.

This insight will examine Soleimani's meteoric ascension as well as the circumstances surrounding his murder in 2020.

In this insight, you'll discover how Soleimani grew to hate the US, the details of two letters he received and wrote, and the last horrifying thing he ever heard.

1. Soleimani becomes more well-known.

In 1979, the year of the Iranian Revolution, let's go back in time. Iran's shah has left the country after being pursued by supporters of the Shia Muslim revolutionary Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had spent 15 years in exile. Khomeini needs a military force now that he has returned to Iran in order to hold onto power. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is founded by him. Qasem Soleimani, a fresh-faced 22-year-old with no prior military training, enlists.

He is happy with his life in the IRGC. He demonstrates his abilities as a leader and is immediately accepted into an exclusive training facility, where he flourishes. Even after accidently shooting himself in the arm, he declines sick leave.

Iran is invaded by Iraq in September 1980, starting a bloody conflict. Leading a military company, Soleimani is in the forefront. Eight years into the conflict, Soleimani quickly moves up the ranks. At this point, he starts to think that Iraq should continue to be weak and incapable of posing a threat to Iran in the future. He later applies this theory to all of the regional nations. He also starts to think that the US needs to be destroyed because it sided with the Iraqis. With more than 100,000 troops lost on both sides, the conflict comes to an end in a draw.

In 1997, ten years after the war's end, Soleimani is now in charge of the IRGC's Quds Force, its special intelligence division. Soleimani, who is now a general, uses his position of authority to launch "secret battles" on a number of fronts, including those in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

In the upcoming years, Quds will concentrate on inciting uprising and enlisting and educating terror groups. It will go on to back the Muslim factions engaged in the Bosnian War under Soleimani. In Palestine, it will educate and equip Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Both the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and the Houthi rebels engaged in combat with Saudi Arabian forces in Yemen would get help from it. Additionally, Quds Force will collaborate with the Taliban in Afghanistan to murder Americans.

The US invades Iraq in 2003 with the goal of deposing Saddam Hussein. Soleimani's enmity for the US is intensifying despite his already intense animosity toward Saddam. He is in charge of supplying the Iraqis with the equipment they need to attack US forces. Iranian forces attack US sites and put bombs on roads to damage US vehicles. In the meantime, Soleimani's power increases.

Soleimani is referred to as "the single most powerful operative in the world now" by former CIA officer John Maguire in 2013. "No one has ever heard of him," she continues.

However, Soleimani himself isn't averse to promoting himself. Even yet, he states in a letter to General David Petraeus, head of the US military in Iraq, that "I, Qasem Soleimani, manage the policy for Iran with respect to Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza, and Afghanistan."

2. Tikrit was taken by Iranian forces, dealing ISIS a serious strategic and symbolic setback.

Because Shia Muslims make up the majority of Iranian Muslims, Iran has traditionally sought to control Sunni Muslims who reside in Iraq. The Iranians still view the Sunni ISIS terrorists as foes in March 2015. It comes as no surprise that Soleimani launches an assault with 20,000 Shia military fighters since they are not happy about ISIS's success in establishing their caliphate on Iraqi territory.

ISIS has had control over Tikrit since 2014. Although the city is small, it is important from a symbolic and tactical standpoint. Saddam Hussein, a former dictator of Iraq, was born there. Additionally, it is situated on the banks of the Tigris, halfway between Mosel in the north and Baghdad in the south.

The 4,000 ISIS fighters don't stand a chance because the 20,000 Iranians far outnumber them. And then there's even worse news for ISIS: an American drone attack has seriously damaged its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. His deputy has been given control of the operations.

Explosions from rockets launched by Soleimani's soldiers light up the sky as the ISIS militants wait for the Iranians. Al-soldiers Baghdadi's in Tikrit are powerless to halt the Iranian forces' approach.

In the meantime, US forces are working with Turkish Kurdish ground forces to launch an aerial assault on the city of Kirkuk, which is controlled by ISIS, less than 100 kilometres distant. ISIS is currently under attack from two countries that are sworn enemies: the US and Iran. But that's okay. ISIS is relocating.

3. Although Soleimani is discussed, al-Baghdadi and ISIS take centre stage.

Tuesday, December 2, 2015, at 10:09 a.m. In Washington, DC, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs is debating the ISIS danger. ISIS and al-Baghdadi have been introduced to everyone in the room. In terror attacks, they have claimed the lives of more than 1,200 individuals, not counting the countless victims in Iraq and Syria.

The world was stunned by a series of assaults in Paris just three weeks ago. 130 innocent people were killed as a result of the assaults, which occurred at the Stade de France, the Bataclan theatre, and other places throughout the city.

The committee is focused on the IRGC and General Soleimani, who is believed by many to be a far greater threat than ISIS and its commander, even if these attacks are still fresh in their memories. Ed Royce, the chairman of the committee, discusses the IRGC's support for global terrorism, violations of human rights, and nuclear proliferation. He contends that Iran is now a threat because of the IRGC. Another lawmaker claims that although though al-Baghdadi serves as a strong symbolic leader for ISIS, his replacement won't represent a significant step backward. But because of Soleimani's brilliance—"in another lifetime, someone who would run Microsoft"—the loss of his leadership and knowledge will be irreparable.

Even though the deliberations during the committee meeting stretch for two hours overall, Soleimani has only been mentioned twice.

Tikrit has been liberated from ISIS, and Soleimani has vanished back into obscurity. Al-Baghdadi and ISIS are once again in the spotlight as 14 Americans are killed in an attack on a municipal health department building in San Bernardino, California, that same afternoon that was inspired by ISIS and carried out by a Pakistani couple.

4. The message of Pompeo's letter to Soleimani is plain, yet it is not read.

Soleimani writes to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, in November 2017 to declare his strategic triumph over ISIS in Syria. In addition to being a tactical success, it also serves as retaliation for an ISIS attack that left Tehran, the capital of Iran, vulnerable.

The first such attack on Iranian territory, which was carried out by seven ISIS members, left 17 people dead and 43 injured five months ago.

The final ISIS stronghold in Syria, the citadel at Abu Kamal, has now been taken. The media is rife with images of Soleimani ordering his men while remaining composed, professional, and shielded by bodyguards.

In his letter, he complains of young ISIS members who carry out suicide bombings in the name of Islam. Then, however, he changes course and focuses his efforts on Iran's biggest foe: the United States. According to him, "the leaders and groups connected to the US were behind the planning and execution of all of these crimes."

Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo has been closely monitoring the situation from 7,000 miles away. His relationship with Soleimani dates back to the Gulf War. The US "will hold him and Iran accountable for any attacks on American interests in Iraq by troops that are under their control," says Pompeo. He even goes so far as to write Soleimani a letter in which he threatens him with violent retaliation if Iran sponsors any acts of terrorism. Even though Soleimani does not accept or read the letter, it has been delivered.

It is apparent that the US and Soleimani are at war.

Al-Baghdadi, who has vanished as Soleimani moves in, is also missing. He prepares to murder Soleimani.

Trump intends to do away with both. They have received death threats. Under Trump, every single threat from terrorism must be removed.

5. The ISIS leadership perishes.

The 30th of January 2018 is at 9:15 p.m. President Trump is delivering his first State of the Union address in Washington. He has plenty to say. But after 40 minutes, the war on terror comes to the forefront of his thoughts. He vowed "the creation of a new strategy to battle ISIS" a year ago. And it seems like his tough stance is working.

ISIS has actually already lost 95% of its territory. Attacks on American targets have continued in spite of this.

Ismael al-Ethawi, al-top Baghdadi's lieutenant who carried out beheadings, stonings, and rooftop hurlings, is detained in Turkey two weeks after the speech at the age of 55. The Turks gather information, including specifics about al-covert Baghdadi's residences and travels in Syria, which they immediately relay to the CIA and Iraqi government officials.

The CIA prepares a trap using information from al-revelations Ethawi's and his cellphone. In response to texts sent from al-phone, Ethawi's four senior ISIS figures plan a meeting at a "secure location" in Iraq. They are arrested shortly after. Al-Ethawi and all of them are never again visible in public. In actuality, their fate was never made known. ISIS's leadership has been dealt a serious blow.

Al-Baghdadi makes numerous attempts to remain anonymous, but it only takes two lucky events for his whereabouts to be revealed. One of his several wives is first detained, along with a courier who was serving as her bodyguard. They make it known that al-Baghdadi resides in a Barisha complex on a mountaintop. Then, an Arab whose name is kept a secret betrays al-Baghdadi and gives the CIA access to inside information on the structure of the compound. The stage is prepared.

01:10 on October 27, 2019: In Black Hawks and Chinooks, Night Stalkers, some of the best aviators in the US Army, are drawing near al-compound. Baghdadi's They are discovered and attacked. No one is harmed. Machine guns are fired from the Black Hawks as a response. They defeat their ISIS targets.

A ten-person Delta Force unit jumps out of the Black Hawks as they land outside the complex and distributes out. They prepare to enter the buildings by blasting holes in the compound's wall. Ten minutes after landing, a soldier shouts in Arabic, demanding al-surrender. Baghdadi's

Children and women appear. They are quickly searched before being brought to a helicopter that is waiting. They let the forces know that al-Baghdadi and two of his kids are in the compound along with at least four ISIS terrorists.

Inside al-home, Baghdadi's the Arab who betrayed him introduces himself to the approaching soldiers. They move swiftly between spaces. Four ladies were discovered with suicide vests on, two of them are al-wives. Baghdadi's One makes a move to set off her vest. All four are immediately shot in the head. Two ISIS fighters are shot and killed elsewhere while attempting to set off explosives.

Al-Baghdadi is trapped while Conan, a Belgian Malinois military dog, pursues him down escape tunnels. His two youthful companions are dragged to his side by him. Later, he explodes his suicide vest, instantly killing both himself and the kids. His head is still there. This later informs Delta Force that they have found their man, in conjunction with DNA tests.

Back in Washington the following morning, Trump gives a speech from the White House. He declares, "Last night, the United States brought the global terrorist leader to justice." "Abbas al-Baghdadi is no longer alive."

The feedback is favourable everywhere. Even Russia praises the outcome. But Soleimani is not particularly impressed in Iran. And for a while, ISIS steadfastly denies even that its leader has passed away.

6. Tensions between the US and Iran significantly increase at the end of 2019.

2019 December 27 at 7:20 p.m. Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Dinner has just ended at Camp K-1, a joint US-Iraqi military installation. Unexpected five-foot-long Katyusha rocket attacks predominantly target the US side of the camp. Nawres Hamid, an American civilian contractor, is murdered, along with two Iraqi security personnel and four US service members who were also injured.

Since November, there have already been eleven additional rocket incidents, but no one has yet been killed. It is viewed as a war crime. Iranian attacks, as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reminds them, "will be answered with a decisive US response."

One day later, al-Qaeda terrorists with Iranian support detonate a truck bomb at a busy security checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia, which is about 3,000 miles south of Iraq. There are 90 dead. One hundred and twenty people are hurt. The time has come for that forceful response, Pompeo declares.

The US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles drop precision-guided bombs over their preselected targets the following morning at 11:00 a.m. These targets include three Iranian arsenal facilities in Iraq and two in Syria. The attacks result in 25 deaths and 55 injuries.

The four militants responsible for the bombing in Mogadishu are targeted and killed in Somalia by US jets working with the Somali government.

Iran promises harsh retaliation against US forces in Iraq. Pompeo reaffirms that the US will not put up with Iranian acts that endanger American lives.

Christmas Eve. After three months of Sunni Muslim rallies against the Iranians, tension is building in Baghdad. Counterprotesters with Iranian support are already present. The conflict is now joined by a third group, made up of mourners for the militiamen who died in the US attack two days earlier. They yell "Death to America" and hurl rocks towards the US Embassy. They eventually break through the embassy's outer defences, enter storage spaces, and loot documents. From observation posts on top of the embassy building, US marines point their rifles at the crowd.

Iran is planning an attack on the US embassy in Iraq, tweets Trump. They will be held entirely accountable.

A thousand militiamen encircle the embassy all night long. Americans are in a bind. Iraqis stay out of it. The mob eventually disperses as the US marines fire tear gas and two helicopter gunships descend to threaten them.

As the embassy siege ends, Soleimani prepares for a fresh round of assaults on American soldiers. To go from Damascus to Baghdad, he boards a Syrian aeroplane.

7. All that is left is a severed hand and a unique ring.

The time is January 3, 2020, 12:32. After a one-hour trip from the Syrian capital, General Qasem Soleimani is seated in the front row of an airbus as it lands down at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. Two devoted Quds bodyguards and two senior Iranian officials are with him. Soleimani has complete faith in everyone of them.

When they get off the ship, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, welcomes them. They leave in two SUVs together. Soleimani thinks he is entirely secure. However, at least two MQ-9 Reaper drones are currently following the two automobiles from 20,000 feet.

The CIA's Gina Haspel has been monitoring Soleimani's whereabouts. She is aware that Soleimani is planning assaults on US forces while meeting with militia allies in Iraq. She also realises that Soleimani needs to be dealt with, and Trump has already approved a deadly intervention in response to the attack on the Baghdad embassy. Soleimani has evaded assassination attempts despite being on the US's most wanted terrorists list for years. However, his whereabouts and intent to harm US troops are now undeniable.

Each drone is 36 feet in length, has a 20-meter wingspan, and weighs 5 tonnes total, including fuel and armaments. Each contains a camera that can capture words on a golf ball clearly at a distance of three miles. These cameras are currently focusing on Soleimani's vehicles.

From Creech Air Force Base, 32 miles outside of Las Vegas, air force pilots keep an eye on each Reaper. On video screens, they keep an eye on the two SUVs. They are currently the only two vehicles on the road, but once they arrive in Baghdad, they will merge with the other vehicles.

In Las Vegas, the order is given at 2:55 PM. Baghdad time is 12:55 a.m. Mahdi al-Muhandis is seated next to Soleimani in the SUV's back seat. The sole sound is their talk, which is almost certainly focused on planning the upcoming atrocities against the US.

The last sound Soleimani hears is a quick, scary sound: the brief roar of a Hellfire rocket. His automobile is struck by two missiles. The second car is struck by a third and a fourth. The cars are destroyed, leaving only two blazing piles of metal. Everyone has been charred beyond recognition, but Soleimani's severed hand has managed to escape and can be spotted on the side of the road. It is easily recognised by his unique silver and ruby ring.

Epilogue

He was a mass murderer. Although the Iranians complained, it was barely audible. Soon, protests against the US took the form of indignation and contempt throughout the world. It didn't take long for Trump and the US to be painted as the bad guys.

US news channels broadcast programmes where pundits presented opposing points of view. Would keeping Soleimani alive have been less risky? Are the advantages greater than the risks?

In a speech, Trump asserted that he had launched a preemptive strike to stop more attacks on Americans. In addition to praising the precise strike, he said that Soleimani had been preparing a "very large attack." We located him.

Death to America was screamed by a mob in Iran, and US flags were set ablaze. Iranian officials pledged to respond at a time and location of their choice. The US should be prepared for anything.

Twitter started to see a trend for #WorldWar3.

The world started picking sides. Israel and Saudi Arabia sponsored the assassination, which Russia denounced. The strike, according to the UN, violated its charter. And the entire world awaited Iranian retaliation.

The wait was ended several hours after Soleimani's funeral. Iranian missiles were launched towards a US airbase in Iraq at a quarter after midnight with the intention of killing as many people as possible. However, not a single US soldier was dead when the smoke cleared. "All is well," wrote President Trump in a tweet.

Everyone in Iran was on edge, anticipating more reprisals. Unskilled commander thought an approaching cruise missile was the weird image he observed on the radar. Not at all. A Ukrainian passenger plane was flying to Kiev. It was destroyed three minutes after takeoff from the airport in Tehran, killing all 176 of the onboard passengers and crew.

Although initially denying involvement and saying one of the engines had caught fire, the Iranians subsequently acknowledged human error.

Effectively, General Qassem Soleimani had claimed his last victims.