BELGRADE, THURSDAY

IT WAS SAID of Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Iran’s recently deceased Supreme Ruler, that he ruled with an iron fist; and now America has decided that, following on his assassination, the land of the free and home of the brave should have that iron fist.

“A trophy for President Trump maybe, or an exhibit for the Smithsonian, perhaps even a totem of power to put some spine back in the Congress; whatever, the boys in Delta Force have been told to go full Chuck Norris and find the damn thing and bring it home,” says special forces commentator Jason Sylvester, whose latest book Nothing Is Impossible If You Believe is racing up the bestseller charts. “It’ll be a hard mission, a difficult mission, an unpleasant mission. Old Khamenei was blown to kingdom come, so his remains may not all be in one place, if you understand me. But that fist will show itself, it has to. It’s a symbol of dominance, of raw power, and America just has to have it.”