January 4, 2020

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Life is a Celebration Saturday

January 4, 2020 T: 582-7800 www.arubatoday.com facebook.com/arubatoday instagram.com/arubatoday

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Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper

Trump declares an Iranian's general's 'reign of terror' over By ZEKE MILLER, ROBERT BURNS and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared Friday that a "reign of terror is over" as he marked the death of an Iranian general killed in a U.S. strike and as the Pentagon scrambled to reinforce the American military presence in the Middle East in preparation for reprisals. Gen. Qassem Soleimani "made the death of innocent people his sick passion," Trump said from his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, adding "a lot of lives would have been saved" if he'd been hunted down years ago. The United States is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast in the volatile aftermath of the killing ordered by Trump, defense officials said. Also Friday, the Pentagon placed an Army brigade in Italy on alert to fly into Lebanon if needed to protect the American Embassy there, part of a series of military moves to protect U.S. interests in the Middle East. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official said the U.S. could send 130 to more than 700 troops to Beirut from Italy. The official was not authorized to be

President Donald Trump delivers remarks on Iran, at his Mar-a-Lago property, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, in Palm Beach, Fla. Associated Press

identified. Reinforcements were ordered as U.S. officials said they had compelling intelligence that Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force who was killed in the U.S. strike, was planning a significant campaign of violence against the United

States. Officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet announced by the Pentagon, said the new contingent of troops is from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They are in addition

to about 700 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earlier this week after the storming of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iranbacked militiamen and their supporters. Trump said of Soleimani: “We take comfort in know-

ing that his reign of terror is over.” But the dispatching of extra troops reflects concern about potential Iranian retaliatory action for the killing. Continued on Next Page


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