When Pascack Hills students woke up last Friday, the last thing that they expected was the news that our country might very soon be launched into a war that will change lives. 

An airstrike at Bagdad’s International Airport, set in motion by executive order of President Trump, has killed Iran’s top general. Qasem Soleimani was the head of the Quds Force which is responsible for extraterritorial military operations and has been classified as a terrorist organization by the State Department since April 2019. 

Tensions have been high recently within the Middle East, especially with the attack on the American embassy in Baghdad in protest of the deaths of 25 militia fighters. The attack today did nothing to dissuade those tensions. 

“Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks,” said President Trump in a speech given earlier today. “But we caught him in the act and terminated him.” 

Both support and outrage have been expressed at the President’s actions, mostly along the party lines with Republicans backing Trump and Democrats opposing him. People around the country have taken to Twitter, with #WorldWarThree, #WorldWarIII, #wwIII, #TrumpsWar, #NoWarInIran, and #FAFSA all trending. 

Iran’s Supreme Leader has ordered three days of public morning, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says that Iran “will take revenge for this heinous crime.”

The flag of General Soleimani in defense of the country's territorial integrity and the fight against terrorism and extremism in the region will be raised, and the path of resistance to US excesses will continue. The great nation of Iran will take revenge for this heinous crime.

— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 3, 2020

With the threat of war very possible, students are left wondering what’s going to happen and just how much impact the President’s executive order will have for the rest of the world. 

“I think Iran is definitely going to retaliate and when they do innocent civilians will get hurt,” said Miranda Wheeler, Hills junior. “It’s especially scary to think about how people we know might get drafted if there’s a war.” 

Although the memes popping up as a result of this incident are hysterical, the possibility of a war is a real one, and nothing to joke about. Iran has not yet retaliated, but this most certainly isn’t the end.