After non-specific allegations of a threat posed by Iran were used to justify weeks of US military buildup and threats of war, there are signs that the situation might work itself out, with Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan suggesting that the non-specific Pentagon actions deterred the non-specific Iran threats.
Shanahan was extremely vague about the matter, as usual, saying only that “there haven’t been any attacks on Americans,” and that he therefore believes the Iranian plot is “on hold.” He insisted a threat of some sort from Iran might remain, however.
This all comes amid Pentagon efforts to convince Congress that the claims of threats were ever real. That’s a tough challenge, because President Trump confirmed on Monday that there is “no indication that anything’s happened or will happen.”
Trump’s comment gives the impression that the whole narrative pushed by administration hawks was made up to justify a military buildup. Now, facing push-back against the war, it seems officials are just declaring victory in a war that never happened.
The administration’s extreme vagueness about the nature of the “threat” is making it a lot easier to sell the idea that they’ve solved it. That the threat in all likelihood never existed at all will make it easier to convince people it is “on hold.”
A bit part of this, according to Republican officials, is that many of them have been pushing back against the idea of a US war, and President Trump doesn’t want the war either.
Seems like the SecDef is almost as nutty as his boss. No surprise there.
The Maniacal Mustache® is probably transitioning back and forth between frothing apoplexy and gnawing on furniture right about now. The frustration from Riyadh and Tel Aviv is likewise palpable.
If this is what it takes these clowns to save face without doing something stupid, have at it.
This is somewhat like America’s strategy at the end of the Vietnam War:
Declare “victory” and then retreat like a b!tch.
Like George W. Bush, Donald Trump needs to dress up in a flight suit aboard a US aircraft carrier with a huge banner saying “Mission Accomplished!”
That would be the joke of the century!
Sure thing guys…know what else ? Julia Robert’s has a big crush on me, but she is shy.
That the Iranians were “deterred” by the US flying some B52s up their way and sending an obsolete carrier into harm’s way is the big yuk of the week. That carrier would have been sunk within hours of an actual attack and those B52s would have just hung out around Diego Garcia ready to launch their cruise missiles if they were really threatening Iran.
More likely, it was reassuring to the Iranians that Trump and the neocons were all bark and no bite this week. Maybe that will give them a few more days to prepare for the horrible false-flag event the Zionists have planned, which will be like 9/11 all over again.
Nothing has changed. All Israel has to do is foment an incident on the border with Lebanon, and the war will be on. I’m sure that plan is still being prepared to be implemented at some point either this summer or next summer. There probably never was an intent to attack Iran directly at this point, since Israel can’t afford that until Hezbollah is degraded. But the propaganda about “Iranian proxies” has served its purpose – to justify a US attack on Hezbollah whenever Israel wants.
Trump Says the Military Industrial Complex is Pressuring him Into a War With Iran
Sh*t! The Iranians didn’t take the bait. Back to the drawing board…
What’s going to deter us?
Yeah. History is replete with those that didn’t want war…… then got their people into wars because it was “necessary”.