There’s a scene in Men In Black where Will Smith’s character “J,” is facing down the film’s primary antagonist, a giant cockroach alien monster. The creature is out to destroy everything, as evil creatures tend to do, but J had just found a weakness in the bug’s gross, tough exterior.

He begins targeting its pride.

Smith goes into a quick monologue.

“See, what I can’t understand is why you gotta come down here bringin’ all this ruckus,” says Smith’s character.

“My attitude is,” continues J as the creature maliciously but slowly approaches him, “don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’!”

The creature then gets into J’s face threateningly, but Smith’s character remains stone-cold and defiant.

“You need ease up out my face before somethin’ bad happen to you,” J says evenly, almost quietly.

The sound of a gun charges up from within the creature’s stomach.

“Too late,” shrugs J as the creature promptly explodes.

For some reason, this scene has been playing in my head ever since the news of the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani broke and it was revealed that it was President Donald Trump who had ordered it.

The fact is, Soleimani was one of the world’s top enemies. Not just of the United States, mind you, but the entire world’s. This man might have been an official general, but his connections and help to terrorists were undeniable.

CNBC itself reveals just how deep Soleimani’s puppet strings went:

Thursday’s hit follows U.S. airstrikes in Iraq last week that killed 25 members of Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group responsible for rocket attacks that killed a U.S. contractor and other U.S. allies in northern Iraq in late December. The last week saw members of that militant group and others attack the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, many of whom chanted “Qasem Soleimani is our leader.”

“This is, I would argue, the most major decapitation strike the U.S. has ever engaged in,” Phillip Smyth, a Shia Islamist militarism expert and senior fellow at the Washington Institute, told CNBC. “It is huge for the history of the Middle East.”

The Quds Force, which Soleimani led, essentially runs the logistics, ideological guidance, and military affairs of numerous Iranian proxy groups across the region. He’s credited for turning the war in Syria in Assad’s favor and directing the September 14 drone and missile attack on Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities, among many other operations.

Soleimani was a big deal in the region…and we wiped him off the map with a wave of our American hand after he attempted to harm even more of us and make a second Benghazi, but this time, during Trump’s presidency.

But this isn’t Barack Obama’s administration, and Hillary Clinton isn’t Secretary of State anymore. This is the Trump administration and Trump himself made it very clear after Soleimani’s slaying that if you behave like him, you’re going to die.

“We will find you. We will eliminate you,” said Trump during the announcement to the press.

TRUMP: Soleimani was planning imminent attacks on diplomats.

Terrorists who harm or intend to harm Americans: “We will find you. We will eliminate you.” pic.twitter.com/jhEHkqx7dX

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) January 3, 2020

Don’t start nothin’. Won’t be nothin’.

I’m not exactly sure why this is such a hard thing to wrap our heads around, and not just for enemies of America.

Soleimani’s death should be a very clear cut message for the world. If you try to harm us, we will kill you. We’re not here to play nice and go on apology tours to show guilt at how powerful we are. That’s not what we’re about.

We want peace and we’re going to achieve it through strength, and if you’re in the business of starting up wars and violence then we’ll show you the violence you’re craving. However, in this case, it’s the people in the western world that are clutching pearls that really seem to be confused.

If you were to go onto RedState’s front page right now and scroll down, my colleagues and I have listed various responses and hot takes from the left in reaction to the death of the terrorist military leader. You’d think that some great tragedy has occurred.

I’ve watched as a New York Times reporter posted something that looks like it’s meant to generate sympathy, portraying Soleimani in a tender light.

Rare personal video of Gen. Suleimani reciting poetry shared by a source in #Iran. About friends departing & him being left behind.#قاسم_سليماني pic.twitter.com/vUX4LrkMQY

— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) January 3, 2020

I watched Geraldo Rivera angrily and furiously respond to it by declaring that things are only going to go downhill from here. Ben Rhodes is trying to make it seem like Trump just pulled a trigger without much forethought and that now our station on the world stage is precarious.

Rose McGowan is out there apologizing to Iran and asking them not to kill us.

https://twitter.com/rosemcgowan/status/1212976832544460801?s=20

CNN felt it prudent to post a story about the fact that when the news came in about Soleimani’s death, Trump was eating meatloaf and ice cream.

Yes, it’s true that there is a risk that Iran will retaliate, although to what capacity isn’t anything that should worry Americans. Rest assured, they do want revenge, but their options are, at best, limited. Even Bloomberg admits this:

While Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told state TV that the Islamic Republic’s response can come “at any time and by any means,” U.S. sanctions have hobbled his nation’s economy. Any action that triggered a conventional war with the U.S. would put the Shiite Muslim power at a severe disadvantage.

Anti-government protests have also challenged the regime’s dominance in Iraq, Lebanon and at home. Now, in Al Quds commander Qassem Soleimani, Iranians have lost the very man they would have relied upon to craft an effective response.

McGowan and her insanity aside, I’m not entirely sure that the left is actually afraid of what will happen to the U.S. in the wake of Soleimani’s death. I think they’re trying to affect Trump’s poll numbers by scaring people into believing that retribution is coming for them because of Trump’s actions.

I don’t think it is. Iran isn’t just facing down the United States military, which far outclasses it by leaps and bounds, it also has Israel to worry about. It’s effectively surrounded by enemies, and Trump just dared it to move.

I’ve yet to see anything that tells me that we’re going to face any consequences save a newfound level of respect from foreign leaders who think they can push around American. Even China, who condemned the attack, still isn’t going to slow down any kind of trade deal negotiations with America.

https://twitter.com/indiatimespost/status/1213205723917803521

Strength is keeping everything in line, and fearing retaliation is the exact opposite of strength.

If a bully continues to push you around, he won’t stop in order to make peace with you. Peace isn’t his intention. Hitting him back and repeatedly if need be, is the quickest way to bring peace between the two of you. It’s a show of strength that brings a simple lesson with it.

If you don’t want consequences, don’t start a fight.