If the United States does manage to con itself into attacking Iran,
something which seems increasingly possible as days pass, the narrative
seems to be that US officials are convinced that Iran is going to attack
them first.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once again warned Iran not to attack, a warning that seems particularly nonsensical following reports where intelligence officials confirmed that the claims of an Iranian plot were heavily exaggerated to justify anti-Iran measures.
The heavy exaggeration is just growing though, with unnamed US officials
telling NBC News that an unnamed Iranian official had okayed a
potential attack on a US military target, an attack these putative
officials tied to putative Iranian proxies, which is almost always
administration doublespeak for Iraqi militias.
The US has been treating Iraq’s Shi’ite militias like it has a serious
problem with them for some time, to the point that some Iraqi political
figures have suggested they want the US out of Iraq, and some militia
leaders saying they’d be willing to commit to helping the government do
that.
The administration’s narrative is that anything is liable to go wrong in
the Middle East, and that it will be Iran’s doing. Once that happens,
all indications are it will be used to justify a US war against Iran,
meaning the US is likely to blunder itself into Iran whether the
Iranians do anything or not.
US Officials Continue to Falsely Accuse Iran of Planned Attack
Pompeo 'warns' Iran against attacking US interests
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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