In a continuing effort to try to pin everything that goes wrong for the US on Iran, a new statement by CENTCOM is claiming that a MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down on June 6 in Yemeni airspace, by the Houthis, and they are alleging it was “with Iranian assistance.”
The basics of the incident are that the US government-operated drone was
flying over Yemeni airspace when it was shot down with a 2k12, a
Soviet-era anti-aircraft system which Yemen has been known to be in
possession of since well before the Saudi invasion.
There is no reason to think this needs to be Iran, and despite CENTCOM claiming that the successful shoot down was ‘an improvement over previous Houthi capability,” all that really means is they’d never successfully hit a US drone before with weapons that they’ve plainly had all along.
Indeed, the Houthis have paraded 2k12 vehicles around publicly since
ousting the Hadi government in 2015. That they’ve not been used more is
reflective of the Saudis using highly advanced US-made bombers of modern
pedigree, and the 2k12’s being the height of late 1960’s Soviet
technology. Drones have substantially fewer capabilities, and
unsurprisingly for an unmanned vehicle that sometimes gets shot down by a
guy with a rifle or a bow and arrow, the 2k12 was more than up to the
task.
The bigger question here should probably be why the US felt comfortable
deploying into Yemeni airspace in the first place, knowing it is a war
zone, and knowing the Houthis have ample reason to want to shoot down a
US attack drone.
Now I know who is responsible for all this nasty weather we’ve been having. Iran. Bomb them now.
Arrogance plays here as US thinks they are the only country with sophisticated weaponry that no one can deter or defend against…Wake up pentagon!
Afghanistan is teaching the US the same lesson it taught the Soviet Union. Our military people understand these things. But people like Pompeo and Bolton do not.
The bigger question here should probably be why the US felt comfortable deploying into Yemeni airspace in the first place, knowing it is a war zone, and knowing the Houthis have ample reason to want to shoot down a US attack drone.
America believes it has a God-given right to violate the sovereignty–including the airspace–of all nations.
Flip the script and imagine America’s reaction if the Houthis hypothetically sent a drone into precious US airspace.
Americans would have a nationalist hissy fit of the first order.
This is the mentality and behavior of the American world empire, which is to say a nation of imperial brats, with an inbred sense of their entitlement.
The US used the term “Manifest Destiny” as an excuse to take whatever it wanted from Mexico and to commit near genocide against all of the native American tribes, including the Cherokee who had adopted our ways and the Southern Arapaho who offered to become farmers. Pretty soon we took Hawaii by force. It’s no secret that we seized power in the Banana Republics.
We don’t use the term anymore. But Truman’s Doctrine makes it clear to everyone that the US intends to police the world. Our determination was reflected by the Cold War, which accelerated, not ended, our quest to make the world safe for our privately owned economic interests.
They sent the drone in TO get shot down.
Assuming so, on what grounds does Iran not have the right to assist the Houthis?
News flash! Trump not in control of foreign policy (duh).
I know, a tad snarky but what the heck is he in control of, not bolton, not pomp, not cyber atks on russian grid …and on and on.
https://www.rt.com/news/462085-eu-trump-fire-bolton-iran/