The killings of Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leaders of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, were certainly meaningful, but they were also largely symbolic, because their organizations had been mostly destroyed. To see just how significant Mr. Suleimani’s death truly is, it helps to understand the geopolitical game he’d devoted his life to playing. In Lebanon, Mr. Soleimani built Lebanese Hezbollah into the powerful state within a state that we know today. Mr. Suleimani built this empire of militias while betting that America would steer clear of an outright confrontation. Mr. Trump, it seemed, feared getting sucked into a war.

Source: New York Times January 03, 2020 09:56 UTC