The price of crude oil spiked today amid as-yet-unconfirmed rumors that 11 members of the Iranian military “invaded” Iraq and seized an Iraqi oil well near the border.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Haj Mahmoud says the troops seize oil well number four in the al-Fakkah area, saying that the government intends to summon the Iranian ambassador over what he called a ploy to “prevent Iraqis from investing in oil fields in border areas.”
Iran’s national oil company denied that any such incident had taken place, adding that there were joint agreements signed for the development of the Eastern Maysan field and that no military had been deployed to the area.
According to a US spokesman, the well in question is about 500 meters from Iran’s border fort and 1 km from Iraq’s. Since the well is abandoned pending the finalization of a cooperation deal between the Iraqi and Iranian governments, it would appear the action, whatever it is, should have no affect on oil output in the region.
IRAN WAR???
by Alan MacDonald
on Friday, December 18, 2009 at 2:16:08 PM
What's going on? Internet news of Iran situation, but no TV news coverage?
I'm starting to smell something!! Am I crazy? Why nothing on TV news?
Is it just coincidence or are the phony data starting to be 'fixed' to fit the decision to go to war again?
We now have five — count "em — five data points pointing to possible war on Iran:
1. Reports and TV film of a "dangerous' Iranian missile launch of a new missile, which is just the same old Iranian missile.
2. British 'portfolio' of reports of an unnamed Iranian defector (photo in NYT Lede) who says he worked on 'fixing' the Iranian election.
3. Reports and NYT blog (Lede) that there has been an attack on Twitter by the "Iranian Cyber Army." (My God, say it ain't so. Have they no soul with this dastardly attack on our beloved Twitter.)
4. Reports from AP, NYT, WSJ that "Iranian troops seized an Iraqi oil well" — My God! That's our colonial oil that they are stealing! And this MSM sure would not exaggerate or jump to any rash conclusions.
5. The only TV news about Iran — mothers of three young Americans who wandered into Iran being held for trial in Iran. (Have they been taken off their incubators?) Maybe the Iranian soldiers will claim that they just “wandered” into Iraq — which I’m sure is a story that Obama would accept and let them return.
Naturally, the U.S. Congress will not authorize any rash action and will demand irreproachable proof.
As I have just posted to the NYT blog about the 'evidence' that this supposed Iranian defector has apparently revealed:
Did he see any Iranian Royal Guards pulling babies off incubators?
Did he see any sizable supplies of yellowcake from Africa?
Did he not see the North Vietnam patrol boat's torpedoes hit the Turner Joy and Maddox?
American's are not rubes — we need certain proof to launch another war.
Did this unknown, unnamed, "broken man", anonymous source provide the type of concrete proof that the American Congress has required in these previous cases to authorize military use of force under our Constitution?
You know, the American Congress will not be easily fooled or 'rolled' into authorizing preemptive "aggressive war" which would both violate the Geneva Accords, the Nuremberg Tribunal, our own Constitutional laws, and possibly lead to nuclear war on any slim and light-weight 'hearsay' speculation. They require some pretty good stories that are at least "plausible" (or plausibly deniable as the CIA says)
Can't this unidentified, supposed, Iranian defector in the shadow provide some more substantial proof? Can't we at least get April Gillespie to vouch for him before we launch another war??
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
BTW, the shadow of this un-sourced source seems to look a lot like one of those 'reported' Polish soldiers who attacked the German radio station and caused Hitler to 'have to respond' and unavoidably start WWII — don't you think?
And if you believe iran actually did this, or that whole twitter "hack" then i have a pile of saddams WMD's to sell to you too, and some super special magic beans! All items must go! Half-price!
Isn't this exactly how Hitler made up a pretext to declare war on Poland?