Revenge: Iran has vowed to avenge the death of its top general killed  in a US airstrike at the Baghdad airport in Iraq last night. The US and Iran are at the brink of war.

  President Trump ordered the strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the leader of the powerful Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps who was believed to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American troops.

  Suleimani arrived at the Baghdad airport last night and got into one of two cars along with several other people. According to the Defense Department, an American MQ-9 Reaper drone fired missiles into the convoy as it was leaving the airport, hitting both cars and killing at least five people, including Suleimani.

  That means US intelligence knew Suleimani’s travel plans and exactly where he was.

  General Suleimani planned nearly every significant operation by Iranian intelligence and military forces over the past 20 years. His killing on Iraqi soil might drive a wedge between the US and the Iraqi government. Iran has been trying to woo Iraq away from American influence.

  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a statement on  Suleimani’s death, saying,  “a forceful revenge awaits the criminals who have his blood and the blood of the other martyrs last night on their hands.”

From the Top: The order to withhold military aid from Ukraine came directly from President Trump, according to unredacted emails reviewed by a firm called Just Security.

  An email from Michael Duffey, associate director of national security programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to Elaine McCusker, the acting Pentagon comptroller, says, “Clear direction from POTUS to continue to hold.”

  Duffey’s Aug. 30^th email was sent while the Trump administration was in turmoil over the President’s decision to hold the aid. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and National Security Adviser John Bolton had all told him it was against US interests. The email is just one of many documents that President Trump has tried to block the public and congressional investigators from seeing. 

  The documents reveal that Pentagon officials were worried that the President was breaking the law by holding Congressional appropriations. They also reveal some serious ass-covering by officials carrying out Trump’s orders.

  Just 90 minutes after Trump had his infamous July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Duffey sent an email to senior defense officials saying, “Based on guidance I have received and in light of the Administration’s plan to review assistance to Ukraine, including the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, please hold off on any additional DOD obligations of these funds, pending direction from that process.”

  One email from a Defense Department official clearly states Trump’s involvement; “OMB noted that the President’s direction via the Chief of Staff in early July was to suspend security assistance to Ukraine.” 

  The Defense Department was approaching a September 30^th fiscal year deadline to spend the money for Ukraine or lose it. The redactions made by the Justice Department in earlier versions of the emails reveal an effort to cover for the President and obscure the worries of officials who thought the law was being broken.

 When the story went public, the chief lawyer at OMB sent around talking points instructing officials to say the hold had not endangered moving the aid on time. Martha McCusker at the Pentagon emailed Duffey that, “I don’t agree to the revised TPs (talking points) — the last one is just not accurate from a financial execution standpoint, something we have been consistently conveying for a few weeks.” 

  Her objection was blacked out in the version of the emails released by the Justice Department.

Up in Vapor: The Trump administration yesterday banned many flavored vaping pods that appeal to kids and teenagers. The ban includes mint and fruit flavored pods. Menthol and tobacco flavors will still be allowed.

  In the US alone, 55 people have died and more than 2,500 have gone to the hospital with vaping-related illness.

  Trump is not cracking down completely because vaping is, after all, a business, he said, “We have to protect our families. At the same time, it’s a big industry. We want to protect the industry.”

The Money Race: Vice President Joe Biden Says He Raised $22.7 million in the 4^th quarter of 2019, far more than the $15.7 million he brought in during the 3^rd quarter, but also far less than Bernie Sanders’ haul of $34.5 million.

  Biden is mysteriously the front-runner in the popularity polls, but not in getting the money to back his campaign. 

The Dwindling Crowd: Texas presidential candidate Julián Castro, the only Latino in the Democratic race, has dropped out. He is the former Housing Secretary and Mayor of San Antonio.

  Castro never broke into the top tier of candidates. “I’ve determined that it simply isn’t our time,” he said in a video announcement.

  Fourteen candidates are left of a field that was once 25. Marianne Williamson, anyone?

Parental Controls: A Twitter user named Mohamad Safa, who bills himself as “Patriotic Vision’s CEO and Permanent Representative at United Nations,” posted the following; “I blocked Fox News with parental controls at my parents’ house and now my mom keeps calling, asking why they can’t watch their news program, and I truly believe this is how we can save our country.”

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