Having already announced their position on Iranian guilt in the tanker attacks on Thursday, the Trump Administration offered what they are convinced is video proof of their position. The video is not great, and the reaction isn’t nearly as positive as officials had hoped.
Indeed, a lot of intelligence experts are openly scorning the video. They warn that the video doesn’t prove Iranian guilt, with many adding that the US track record on evidence presented to gin up support for a war generally is not good.
Center for Strategic and International Studies analyst Anthony Cordesman was quick to offer alternate proposals to Newsweek, suggesting the “possibility that ISIS carried out the attack as trigger to turn two enemies – the United States and Iran – against each other. Or you’re watching Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates create an incident that they can then use to increase the pressure on Iran.”
These possibilities are noteworthy, because the Trump Administration has insisted repeatedly that there is no alternative to Iranian guilt. Other analysts were very willing to discuss the possibility of a false flag attack, suggesting that hawks in the US might’ve launched the attacks themselves as a pretext to start a war.
“The US track record on ginning up evidence for war is not good,” noted William Church, noting that US governments have lied America into war in the past, and calling out substantial problems with the video.
It’s more than just the policy analysts who have doubts, too. The Japanese government is pressing the US to provide evidence to back their allegations against Iran, saying they don’t consider the video to be convincing. So far, there is no sign the US has anything else to offer yet, though they may yet create more “evidence” in time.
The Israelis did similar attacks against ships in European ports to prevent them sailing to Gaza. They used small explosives to make a point. That is exactly what was done here. Israel is friendly with the nations nearest to the attacked side of these ships. Thus, there is past practice and opportunity for Israel to do it. The motive is the constant push from Israel for the US to attack Iran. Thus, this cannot be ruled out either.
It has been mentioned less in the press, because it has been censored. Discussion of it was for example removed dozens of times from comments submitted on the articles in the NYT (including half a dozen of my own removed).
A lot of talk is going around about how Iran might have removed a mine to hide the evidence. Keeping in mind that this is just speculation and that Iran rescued the crew of the injured ship, consider an alternative scenario.
Let’s say that a US ship had gotten their first and found a mine attached to the hull. What do you think WE would have done?
I speculate that we would have removed it and used our best forensic tools to determine who made it and who placed it there. We would then present the mine and our findings to the world and lay the blame where it belongs.
If Iran did in fact find a mine attached to the side of a tanker, don’t be surprised if they do exactly what we would have done.
Wasn’t Netanyahoo recently in Oman?
US track record on evidence presented to gin up support for a war generally is not good.
Gee, you think?
This is the understatement of the century.
The U.S. track record is very similar to Germanys world war 2 track record . When Poland and Chech’s were always attacking Germany . Only the United States record extends many more years over 4 or more different administrations with both political parties
including the Trump administration which I’am very sad to admit .
See what happens when you cry wolf one too many times?
It doesn’t matter. The propaganda has been planted in the minds of the US public. And the targets will be used as justification for a war with Iran a year or two years or five years from now when the doubts about the incidents have been forgotten. This is how these things work. You make the statement of blame, then adhere to it forever. That’s how it was done for Iraq. People still think Iraq had connections to Al Qaeda and 9/11 even if they don’t believe the WMD story.
A poll back during the Obama administration reported that 70-odd percent of the US public believes Iran has actual nuclear weapons – not just a nuclear weapons program (which doesn’t exist either.) This is how successful propaganda is.
Antiwar.com has a minuscule readership. Even Newsweek is unlikely to be able to offset the propaganda over these incidents. The damage is done. Unless someone pops up with a video of an Israeli submarine near these ships or some other startling proof of a “false flag”, the blame will remain on Iran.
The latest US false flag ops has more holes than a Swiss cheese.
Iran has dismantled a CIA-run “large US cyber-espionage” network and arrested the CIA agents.
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201906171075913700-arrests-cia-run-busted-in-iran/
funny place to put a mine 10 feet above the waterline. I would say a couple of dented tankers doesn’t justify the presumably hoped for coming bloodbath.