After Soleimani Strike, Kaepernick Condemns 'American Terrorist Attacks'
On Thursday, the United States killed a man who was arguably the world’s most powerful terrorist.
Make no mistake: No matter how Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani may have been qualified as a state actor, he was actually the head of the elite unit of one of the biggest state-sponsored terrorist organizations in the world. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, of which Soleimani’s Quds Force was a part, was responsible for much of the insurgency during the Iraq War and hundreds of American lives were snuffed out before their time thanks to the Quds handiwork.
So naturally, former quarterback Colin Kaepernick thinks the real terrorists are the United States and its military for having killed the prolific terrorist. And apparently, he was killed because of his … race?
Sure, why not?
Kaepernick — now a full-time activist after a November workout for NFL teams didn’t, well, work out — published tweets on Saturday decrying “American imperialism” and “militarism,” which Kaepernick claimed was being used in service of racist goals.
“There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism,” Kaepernick wrote.
There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism.
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) January 4, 2020
If that weren’t enough Howard Zinn-in-280 characters for you, there was more where that came from.
America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non white world.
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) January 4, 2020
“America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non white world.”
Cuban-American music video producer and director Robby Starbuck probably said what we were all thinking best:
You realize the guy we killed, Soleimani, was responsible for killing 600+ Americans including Black & Brown Americans… right? I’m guessing you don’t since you thought Fidel Castro was a good guy despite stealing everything from innocent families like mine. Idiotic & vile take.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) January 4, 2020
There were others with similar views, many focusing on Kaepernick’s role as a pitchman for Nike athletic apparel.
Sooo… stopping actual terrorism from people who want Americans dead is racist… AND the Americans you try to sell shoes to are the “real terrorists” …got it.
I don’t normally go in on boycotts, but I’m done giving Nike money until they fire this clown.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 5, 2020
As a Syrian, did I not have the right to live in my own country, free from the oppression of a dictatorship? And when they did start to oppress my people, did I not have the right to resist? Suleimani’s actions were part of “Khomenism Imperialism”, not American.
— Aboud Dandachi (@abouddandachi) January 4, 2020
I guess Asian people are not included in the expansion of “American Imperialism”? pic.twitter.com/cwtPMannfY
— Brock Lee (@eatmorebrocklee) January 4, 2020
At some point, I assume Kaepernick had to come into contact with some description of who Soleimani was.
He had to know that Soleimani was the commander of a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, one that was responsible for a world of chaos in the Middle East.
He had to know about the IEDs that injured and killed men and women in uniform, many of them black and brown. (This is to say nothing of the Iraqis, whom Kaepernick likely considers “brown,” who were killed by these explosive devices.) He had to have known the terror Soleimani inflicted upon protesters who dared to make their voices heard the way Kaepernick is freely able to.
Qassem Soleimani wasn’t killed because of his color or his nationality. He wasn’t killed because of imperialism or militarism.
The only -ism that played a part in his death was terrorism — the terrorism that Soleimani perpetuated during his time on Earth.
Kaepernick had to know some or all of this, yet he didn’t just consider the attack ill-conceived or one that could end in dangerous blowback. Instead, he called it a racist terrorist action.
One final note: Kaepernick can call the death of Soleimani whatever he wants. He has that luxury.
However, this is a man who’s paid by Nike to endorse sneakers absent any other current qualifications aside from his political activism.
If this is what it considers acceptable conduct, Nike is as morally adrift as the company’s best-known spokesman is. Neither ought to be patronized.
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