There are important debates over whether it was prudent or legal for President Trump to order Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani killed. But an attack 12 years ago explains why the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general invited such personal targeting.

On Jan. 20, 2007, U.S. Army personnel were stationed in the Karbala provincial headquarters in Iraq. Their mission was to liaise with Iraqi officials to protect Shiite Muslims celebrating in the upcoming Ashura commemorations, to be held a week later, in Karbala. At the height of Iraq’s 2006-2007 sectarian bloodletting, the commemorations were a top target for al Qaeda in Iraq. Ashura, after all, remembers Husayn ibn Ali’s martyrdom at the hands of Sunni forces during the 7th century Battle of Karbala.