On Sunday, President Trump was suggesting that a US response to the drone strikes in Saudi Arabia were pending Saudi Arabia’s determination of who was responsible. By Monday, US officials were instructing Saudi Arabia to determine Iran was to blame.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was already blaming Iran by Sunday morning, and others are talking up using this as a pretext for military action. Blaming Iran was only a matter of time, whether the Saudis blamed Iran to try to lure them into a war, or were instructed to do so.
Iran has denied any involvement in the drone attacks, and Yemen’s Houthi movement has said it was them, not Iran. US officials have appeared uninterested in the Houthis being responsible, however, and Iran was selected as the preferred choice.
Either way, Saudi Arabia’s huge military, the world’s third largest in spending behind only the US and China, appears totally incapable of defending itself from off-the-shelf drones with explosives strapped to them, and somehow this has become something the US has to do something about.
At least that’s the position of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who says the US needs to “defend the international order,” and is dutifully saying they need to defend the order from Iran.
President Trump, on the other hand, suggested that he’s not immediately looking for a war, and that he’s told Saudi Arabia that if the US is to get involved in any conflict, the Saudis are not only going to have to take a lead role, but will also have to pay for US operations.
Trump mostly echoed other officials on the US readiness, while insisting that he doesn’t want a war. Other administration officials are mostly speaking of the military option as virtually a foregone conclusion, even as Trump insists they aren’t even looking at options yet.
Am I missing something? Are we really telling Saudis that we are their contractors, should they decide to go to war, and they are to lay for the services?
This is getting better and better.
Ut makes me wonder who may have blown up Saudi facilities, in addition to Houthi drones.
CUI BONO?
May be elections in Israel — to imprint on voters that Netanyahu brings results!
The only loser here is Saudi Arabia. What a spot to be in. The military they have is an illusion. They have no geography to fight a war today. All their assets are exposed and unprotected — and nowhere to hide. Their deserts are hotter then an oven in daytime. Most of their army is mercenary in contract, and US controls the operation of Patriots .
At the end of this war, Saudi Arabia will be a wrecked colony with most assets being in US hands to pay for war. And Yemeni war will end — after UAE proxy takes over South giving US control of Bab Al Mandeb.
But it may not end this way. Saudis are in a pickle, but Russia and China have much to lose, so Saudis expect something more then verbal handwringing. Loss of Straits is critical to Europe, Asia and all Red Sea states, and more devastating then the blockage of Suez Canal would be. Being US ally will not buy you mercy.
The US is a whore to money.
And if understand this right, US population — our military assets, and our soldiers — are all being committed to being a whore, so that the ruling cartels can sell us, to make money.
It is perhaps high time that we learn — by name — who are our pimps? Politicians, advisors, think-tanks, media, experts — they are nothing but infomercials for the REAL interests and REAL people who push for those.
And REAL people are also hiding behind faceless corporations. Those need to be flushed out too. We need to stop dreaming that politicians make a difference. Stop dreaming that another election would solve it.
It is almost unthinkable that proud souls, honorable soldiers and their leaders, are completely oblivious to their changed job description. No mire defenders of the nation, but mercenaries rented for profit.
And perhaps, thank you Donald. Nobody has ever made it clearer what foreign interventions are all about. It has never been about threat to our country — it gas always been about making money. Hurray, think of more credits to the war profiteers! Credits that we, the ordinary people are backing with our future earnings.
How much longer?
While the simplest answer is always to be preferred — Occam’s razor — that answer being the Yemenis are sending the strongest possible message to KSA that it’s time to end the war against Yemen … there are other “interesting” possibilities.
First we should acknowledge the completely-to-be-expected “Iran did it!” response from Pompeo/Trump. That’s just more of the “maximum pressure” protocol, and can be discarded as an anti-Iran trash-talk nothingburger.
Trump will not allow a US attack on Iran. Not gonna happen. The global oil-price catastrophe, not to mention the entire Mideast on fire, and god knows how many dead, wounded, and ***CAPTURED*** US servicemen/women, would be comprehensively destructive to the US — the exact opposite of “America First” — and would end any chance of Trump’s reelection. So relax, not gonna happen.
Then to the interesting stuff…
The strike points were pinpoint accurate, which foreshadows a new age of warfare by ***VERY CHEAP***, very capable, missile “swarm” attacks, that is, attacks in numbers that overwhelm any possibility of effective defense.
As noted here …
https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategic-implications-strikes-saudi-arabia
The Strategic Implications of the Strikes on Saudi Arabia
By Anthony H. Cordesman
… and referred to here by the BBC (my emphasis):
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49718975
“A number of “spheroids” used to process crude oil were hit, apparently with pinpoint accuracy, and fires from blasts at other parts of the facility can also be seen.
Analyst Anthony Cordesman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies suggests the attacks could have been carried out using relatively unsophisticated drones operating as “weapons of mass effectiveness”.
“It is virtually impossible to secure civilian facilities from a worker or visitor’s capability to use a cell phone to get precise GPS coordinates, commercial satellite coverage is now very good, and there are many ways to produce the kind of image needed for terminal guidance from ordinary photos,” he writes.
Interesting enough? There’s more.The BBC refers to the strike points of the attacking missiles in this fashion:
“US officials say the images show damage consistent with coming from a west-north-west direction, not Houthi-controlled territory which lies to the south-west of the refinery.”
Clearly, this is a US attempt to cast doubt on the Houthi’s claim of responsibility, as a way to support the “Iran did it” narrative. But note that the phrase stands alone, without further comment. So allow me a bit of further comment.
First, the terminal strike direction is virtually irrelevant. The pre-programmed route to the target would be determined by the requirement to remain undetected by either persons or radar. So the drones would have exploited the vast reaches of uninhabited desert for their approach to the target. So the strike could have come from any direction without that providing any reliable indication of its launch point.
That said, west-northwest is the opposite direction from Iran as well (odd that the article doesn’t mention that, eh? I’m shocked!). Also not from the direction Iraq. But it is almost precisely the direction from … wait for it … Bingo! … Israel.
On Tuesday morning, Sept 10th, John Bolton, Bibi’s hope for a US war against Iran, is fired. Then just four days later a massive attack on Saudi oil facilities, “coming from” the west-northwest. Hmmmmm. (Israeli replicas of Iranian drones?)
(And the ultimate irony is that this tech may very well be precisely the tech that, in the hands of Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, will overwhelm Israel’s defenses and lead to Israel’s defeat.)
The truth … well … who can say? Stay tuned …
You’re the one who is wrong. An Iran war is inevitable. Trump is incapable of stopping it, and has no interest in doing so. He’s simply lying about not wanting a new war.
The U.S. has been at war with Iran for some time now. We just haven’t started the bombing part of the war just yet. But it is coming soon. Trump is smart enough to know who he is to take orders from if he wants to survive.
We know where you stand. We know where I stand. Predictions aren’t reality. Insisting that you know the future doesn’t help your case, it isn’t persuasive. Stay frosty. Wait to see what reality has in store. Then, either you’ll be right and I’ll be wrong, … or vice versa.
“Trump will not allow a US attack on Iran. Not gonna happen.”
I’d call that “insisting that you know the future.”
Your argument – based on what you said here – is that Trump “won’t allow it” because of the evident consequences of such a war – which you *assume* he is in fact concerned about – plus your additional *assumption* that he believes such a war would cause him to lose the election – as opposed to believing what is equally possible, to wit, that he could get a “war bounce” in the polls as a “war President.” The latter is not an assumption on my part, merely my recognizing the distinct possibility based on the history of Presidents during war time.
My argument, OTOH, relies only on the *facts* that most of his administration is full of neocons who fully intend to get a war with Iran – plus Trump’s demonstrated support for both Israel and Saudi Arabia, both of whom want the US to destroy Iran. Add to that the military-industrial complex and the oil campanies, both of whom stand to profit from an Iran war.
So, you see, my “prediction” is based on rather more than your “prediction.”
But clearly both of us could be wrong. I could be wrong that a war will start, and you could be wrong that is Trump who will stop it.
But the probability of my version being correct on the history of the last twenty years – at least – is much higher than yours.
And then of course, you don’t deal with the possibility that 1) Trump may lose the election anyway, and 2) that the next President may start the war – rendering Trump’s opinion irrelevant.
Whereas my “prediction” doesn’t assume Trump will start the war because 1) the war may start after Trump, or 2) the war may start and Trump may not be able to stop it due to external pressures, rendering what he “wants” as irrelevant. What I predict is that the war is simply inevitable due to the last forty years of US enmity towards Iran.
As I said elsewhere, after forty years of unrelenting hostility towards Iran, you’ve got to see where that ends.
This “what direction they came from” is stupid, no one can fly by and come in from a different direction ? If it’s a false flag, wouldn’t they make the turn to make it appear it’s from Iran ? Lol, computer games had waypoints in the 80s.
Yomama, you’re absolutely right. The simplest answer is being the Yemenis are sending the strongest possible message to KSA that it’s time to end the war against Yemen .. there are other “interesting” possibilities.
First, we should acknowledge the completely-to-be-expected “Iran did it!” response from Pompous Pompeo. That’s simply more of the “maximum pressure” protocol, and can be discarded as an anti-Iran trash-talk nothingburger.
DJT won’t allow a US attack on Iran. That just won’t happen. The global oil-price catastrophe, not to mention the whole Mideast on fire, and God knows how many dead, wounded, and CAPTURED US servicemen/women, would be comprehensively destructive to the US – the exact opposite of “America First” – and would end any chance of DJT’s re-election .. So, relax, folks, not going to happen.
Fantastic leadership and coherence. Two important Cabinet members are ready to attack Iran, while the President says he doesn’t want to, but we’ll only do it if the Saudis pay us. It’s all about money, with this guy.
OTOH, it’s nice to know that the USA isn’t the only country in the world being thoroughly fleeced by defense contractors. /s
If I was the Iranians I’d tell the gangsters in DC, Tel Aviv and Riyadh if you bomb us we’ll show you just what we can do to Saudi oil and world markets.
Esper has the uncanny ability to project on others what we do.
1. Iran is undermining the world order, how? We were the ones who pirated a ship in international waters and broke a UN agreement.
2. Don’t trade with China, they will use the leverage to undermine your sovereignty (from Laura Ingraham show).
This is LOL funny, this is our entire playbook. We are the ones who forced the EU, Turkey, S. Korea, India, and Japan to stop buying Iranian oil or we would fine their companies if they still traded with the U.S.
A truly non interventionist. Unless you are willing to pay of course. Remember, Saturdays are time and a half and Sundays are double time.
Absolutely no reason to believe anything the US says.
US Tells Saudi Arabia That Iran MUST be Blamed for Drone Attacks…….to turn attention away from US patriot missiles failures.
Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars in recent years purchasing US Patriot missile defense systems and supposedly cutting-edge radar technology from the Pentagon.
If the Yemeni rebels can fly combat drones up to 1,000 kilometers into Saudi territory and knock out the linchpin production sites in the kingdom’s oil industry, then that should be a matter of huge embarrassment for US “protectors.”
Interesting, Aramco has a important meeting to sell public shares, then 6 days later their main facility is attacked……
It is unreal. Saudi arabia has only itself to blame for its predicament. No matter the choice, it stands to lose.
But what an image of US in the world! What an abysmal failure to be a leader, transforming itself willingly into mafia don, trashing businesses so they pay protection money!
Tulsi Gabbard is right, pimping our soldiers to highest bidder. And beating up the client without common sense to buy voluntarily.
We are the global spectacle.
There is no alternative to the newest Donald.
Power cartels are behind him. Naturally, if he fumbles this one they will tear him to pieces, using all the elevated rhetoric of superb hypocrites.
Trump says we’re just waiting on the Saudis to tell us who to kill, but we weren’t waiting long before that turned into waiting for the Saudis to pay us a fortune to kill who we tell them did it. We don’t have friends, we have patrons, we don’t have interests, we have mercenary jobs.
It’s a surreal ultra-conservative and perhaps antiwar position, if Trump sticks by that demand. I hope all US soldiers demand a big pay increase too before they go off to die, since clearly patriotism has nothing to do with this.
I hope the military finally gets a clue and starts a mutiny like almost happened in Vietnam.
Motive, more then anyone, Netanyahu and the elections in Isreal, nothing else makes much sense. But who pulled the trigger, God only knows.
All this BS from Trump about Saudis “paying for the war” is just nonsense. It’s similar to what the neocons said before the Iraq war – that the oil revenue would pay for the war. Never happened, and no one cared during or after the war. It’s just another example of Trump thinking everything is a business deal – even a major war.
As for the Saudis taking the lead role, that is a joke. Iran would bury them in missiles. Not to mention the fact that Iran will attack any and all US assets in the region with missiles, so the US would have to take over prosecuting the war just like it did in Libya and would do for Israel if Israel gets involved – which it probably will.
So Trump is simply lying – or so clueless he has no idea what Iran or Saudi Arabia is actually capable of.
The bottom line: Despite Trump’s denials, it’s clear that he intends to start a war with Iran. All the fools who thought he didn’t want to do so are now proven wrong.
“So Trump is simply lying – or so clueless he has no idea what Iran or Saudi Arabia is actually capable of.”
Trump is talking the obligatory “maximum pressure” talk. As everyone knows by now, Trump is famous — or infamous — for his “talk”. “Jaw jaw” as it’s called. Trump’s forte. And please, enough with the “Trump is stupid/clueless” nonsense. His accomplishments strongly suggest that Trump is brilliant and nimble. If you’re gonna critique the guy, at least start somewhere near reality to make your case, but leave off with the masturbatory and self-discrediting “He’s stupid!” business. He’s not stupid, self-evidently not stupid.
I said Trump would dispose of Bolton. He did. And I’ve said no way Trump will start a war on Iran.
You say:
“The bottom line: Despite Trump’s denials, it’s clear that he intends to start a war with Iran. All the fools who thought he didn’t want to do so are now proven wrong.”
You’re just a tad premature.
Not proven. At least not yet. So what say we just wait to see who gets it right.
You seem to forget that Trump orchestrated this whole maximum pressure mess. Or did you think his foolish decision to leave the JCPOA was “brilliant and nimble”?
Yo, wars,
Hiring bad-guy Bolton to soften up US “adversaries” was a classic Good Cop/Bad Cop play, and a time-honored and proven strategy. And while it may have been boring and unimaginative, it was nevertheless effective, and Trump has employed it masterfully.
When Trump’s brinkmanship-by-Bolton had reached the limit, and the danger of Bolton actually starting a war was in prospect, Trump booted him. Thus we see Trump’s political and strategic genius on display: adversary softened to the max and ready to talk, hated bad guy Bolton booted, discredited, and humiliated, Good Cop Trump grabs the brass ring and advances toward foreign policy victory and electoral vindication in 2020.
Nimble? Definitley. Ditto brilliant.
Other than that, … how you doin’, wars?
To today, besides sanction related deaths and destruction, what has trumps’ errrmmm brilliance wrought ?
That war Bolton was about ready to start would have been there if Trump had stayed in the JCPOA? It’s hard to give credit to someone defusing a situation that wouldn’t have otherwise existed if not for their own actions. And where’s the end game? A new deal? Unless Iran completely gives up their sovereignty, this sh*t will never end and the only result will be more misery for the average Iranian. There was deal in place that was the equivalent to the NPT on steroids but Trump felt beholden to a select few and decided to abandon it. The result won’t be near as good and many more will die that didn’t have to. I suppose you also have to be nimble and brilliant to be a ruthless a**hole.
https://www.csis.org/analysis/strategic-implications-strikes-saudi-arabia
“While the full details remain unclear, the U.S. has also released satellite photos of the attacks on each site that show that at least 19 strikes were launched and 17 actually hit targets.”
Now ask yourself, “What happens when it’s a thousand-drone attack?”
We’ve seen what happened in Iraq, Afghan, Somalia, etc, when The US was the first to introduce the “Unmanned Aerial Vehicle” concept, had the business all to itself, with the drones invulnerable (and the system exorbitantly expensive, of course).
Now the rest of the world has caught up, and opted predictably for high volume and cheap. The first/next iteration of high-tech war. Pandora’s box flung wide.
And from the story below this one:
Quote:
Several hundred U.S. troops have been deployed to Saudi Arabia as
part of a bigger build-up of the U.S. presence in the Middle East after
the oil tanker attacks.
“Saudi cannot attack Iran without a U.S. ‘OK’ since the U.S. forces
will be exposed to reprisals,” the observer said in a written message to
POLITICO, adding that it’s “similar to [the] risk Israelis would have
taken if they attacked Iran without coordinating with [the] U.S.
End Quote
And that’s why they are there – to justify an Iran war.
How long can the US keep blaming Iran for absolutely everything *without* at some point attacking Iran physically at some level? It’s impossible.
“Maximum pressure” is not going to do anything to make Iran obeisant to the US. So what does Trump do then? He and his administration have talked themselves into a corner. If Trump backs down, he loses the election because he becomes a loser in the electorate’s eyes, even his base. If he starts the war, he will get a “war bounce” for the election from some of the electorate, but his base may desert him – or not.
There has to be a war – it’s that simple. The only way it can be avoided is if Russia and China jointly state that they will enter the war on Iran’s side – and that ain’t gonna happen.
Saudis are gonna pay ? Uh huh, like Mexico is paying for the wall ?
Or Iraqi oil would pay for that war as Baby Bush said.
Looks like Tucker Carlson has some more phone calls to make.
Wow I’ve never a narrative so shoddily conducted.