Dismissed by Iranian officials, the US continues to push the reports of missiles on Iranian boats, in Iranian territorial waters, as proof that Iran posed a serious threat to launch a surprise attack last month.
The US used claims of a non-specific Iranian threat to justify large military deployments to the region, but so far the only concrete thing they can say Iran actually did was put a number of missiles on small, commercial boats.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was very dismissive of this, pointing out that they are Iran’s missiles and Iran’s boats, and that “we have the right to put whatever missiles we want to put on them.”
Zarif further dismissed US ideas that this was a threat, saying that “putting missiles on our boats is different from blowing up a ship.” US officials, however, are arguing that there is no “plausible reason” to put the missiles on the boats except for launching offensive, covert operations.
Yet this is seemingly untrue on its face, since Iran had the missiles on the boats, and plainly did not launch any attacks with them. Even if the US can’t imagine an alternative reason, it is clear that this didn’t necessarily lead to an attack, because no attack ever took place.
US officials seemed to hope that this was just one data point in an overall set pointing toward an Iranian attack, and justifying a military buildup. Yet at this point it seems to be the only one that was not invented whole-cloth by Mossad, and the lone foundation of a very dubious justification for weeks of talking war.
And while every man is typically armed with a penis, that alone doesn’t make him a rapist. If we allow this sort of logic, then why are our aircraft carriers armed to the teeth with planes and bombs and missiles? I’m pretty sure those are for offensive purposes.
Whether a weapon is “offensive” or “defensive” is generally dependent on how it’s used, not what it is.
Yes, but the American armada howering around Iran, not being asked by anyone in the area to defend them — is complaining about some Iranian boats threatening America. You would think we are defending ourselves in the Gulf of Mexico.
Now we are being furious with UAE for the report that concluded state being behind the sabotage, due to the sophistication of operation. Nameless state actior. There is nobody in the Middle East that has not filled the blank with “Israel”.
only fools blame Israel…everyone with a brain knows it was Iranians who did this…
Of course which Navy recently attacked and seized another countries Shipping in International Waters recently because they claimed that ship was breaching US Sanctions? Acts of Piracy are allowed to be defended against!
‘Iranian threats’ and ‘large [US] military deployments in the region’ push Washington and Tehran towards the war history warns they avoid.
https://www.ghostsofhistory.wordpress.com/
And the only reason Iran didn’t use these weapons was because they were “deterred” by our presence. So we flood the region with military assets so we will deter Iran from attacking our military assets. Makes sense.
Totally! We still need to bring new assets to protect those we just brought in, that are defending the previously brought in assets. Which if course were reinforcements to reinforcements for preI
Mommy ! Zadif is looking at me…waaaaa
” US officials”, one must assume this is the rabid bolton continuing his mossad mantra
-bolton is a tragedy inflicted upon the us and the world by trump and adelson-he is a total walking conflict of interest:
-(article does not mention bolton’s PAC, does not mention frequent support and access by war mongering “think” tank FDD, etc, etc)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/boltons-relationship-with-the-mek-is-a-scandal/
Just another distraction. Israel and the neocons and the CIA go “Look! Iran!” – while they prepare for war with Hezbollah. When that war happens, they will go: “Look! War! Because of Hezbollah!”
And at the same time they will use the excuse that Hezbollah is an “Iranian proxy” which was “planning” to attack Israel. Or “did attack” based on some border incident “fomented by Iran.”
In 2006, Israel had been planning the war with Hezbollah for at least a year – which was revealed only some time after the war happened. The excuse was two soldiers captured while on patrol conveniently out of sight of their command post. It was a set up.
So will the next war be this summer or next summer.
And the public will be caught as flat-footed as they usually are –
like they were in 2006 – unable to comprehend cause and effect – unable
to see that the only reason for war with Hezbollah is really because
Israel and the neocons and the CIA want a war with Iran which they can’t
have until Hezbollah is taken out.
what a pile of lies packaged as conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact…the USA does not need to go to war…it can comfortably sit back and let the sanctions do their work…when Iran runs out of money they will not be able to afford to pay terrorists in Yemen, Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria…
Hah! Iran has been evading sanctions for forty years. And as long as they have oil, they’ll never run out of money. Talk about a pack of neocon-Zionist lies.
we should have this conversation again in 6 months…then we will see if you can tell me that Iran will never run out of money?…you clearly know NOTHING about economics…
Iran will probably have more money six months from now than it does now. This morning, Germany’s foreign minister announced that the EU’s INSTEX system to help Iran trade globally in spite of US sanctions is nearing operational status.
It looks like they practiced a tactic, one they’d use if the US attacks them.
Having missiles on small boats doesn’t mean they’re carrying a nuclear warhead. In another time or another navy these might be called “rockets.”
“Kenneth Franklin “Frank” McKenzie Jr.[2] (born 1957) is a United States Marine Corps general who currently serves as the 14th commander of United States Central Command .[3] He served as Director of the Joint Staff assuming the job on July 5, 2017 after having previously served for two years as Director of Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5) on the Joint Staff.[4] He assumed his current assignment on March 28, 2019.”–his Wiki page.
He goes from J-5 to CENTCOM. His plan may be about to be implemented. It’s at least 2-4 years old.