On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump Administration is considering sending 14,000 US troops to the Middle East, in areas around Iran. On Thursday, the Pentagon “denied” this, saying the reporting was wrong.
The denial isn’t necessarily particularly binding, since the consideration would’ve been at the White House level, not the Pentagon level. The Pentagon has often made policy proclamations that don’t pan out when the administration makes decisions.
In all likelihood, a series of options are being considered, with all reports pointing to the US again escalating its presence. Sending another 14,000 troops is likely on the extreme end of possibilities, but there appears to be no denying that another buildup is in the offing.
The Navy is already talking about the possibility of sending a second aircraft carrier to the region, if so ordered, with Admiral Mike Gilday saying the US could “absolutely” do this as part of the maximum pressure campaign on Iran.
Undersecretary of Defense John Rood also appeared to undermine the Pentagon’s denial in his address to the Senate, as they pressed him on the 14,000 troops, and asked if this was under consideration. Though Rood tried to duck the question by going off on a tangent about what a threat Iran was, he ultimately conceded that the consideration is underway.
When pressed on a discrepancy between this and Pentagon denials, Rood would only say that Defense Secretary Mark Esper hadn’t made any specific decision to send 14,000 more troops, which was never what the article claimed. Rood did, however, say that Esper has told him a change to US “force posture” in the area around Iran is coming.
The disorder in Iran has the Iran-war crowd salivating. They imagine their moment is arriving, that Iran will fall apart and they can march in, and it will be just like under the Shah again.
Let them go for it. Iran has assassination teams all over the world ready to start taking out individuals, as does Russia and China. The next war will resemble Mafia Wars as much as it does Battleship.
The Pentagon, a kennel of lying rabid dogs.
Isn’t lying part of the game plan? Keep the enemy off balance. I mean it is written down in the manuals and such explicitly.
The Pentagon isn’t following the 10 principles of THE ART OF WAR – written centuries ago by the ancient warrior/philosopher Sun Tsu, John; instead, it’s doing the exact opposite.
The High Brass at the Pentagon knows nothing of these principles and violates just about all 10 of them .. That’s because they don’t have Sun Tzu’s book – written in several languages, including English.
They have the book. Their goal isn’t a strong nation it’s to milk the tax slaves for their corporate masters
I would suggest that both parties are part and parcel of the same problem: Neo-Liberalism.
With regard to troop deployments…Their denial is palpable… They won’t be sending 14,000 additional troops to the M.E., they will be sending 14,001.
(Is anyone else having problems with Disqus? I keep having trouble posting…)
Disagree, the problem is militarism plain and simple. A society is what it builds.
Hi Dave:
I think that Neo-Liberalism is equal to Militarism. It is an ideological construct, subscribed to by both parties.
I have no desire to defend neo-liberalism, yet any polity which is militant in nature, will fail. If one invests half their corn into marching soldiers, does it really matter how the remaining half is distributed ?
Who was it who said never believe anything until it’s officially denied by the government?
I don’t know, but they probably shot him and then promptly denied it.
🙂 good one
Nah, that’s the genius of it … You are free to say what you want. The official narrative is so deep, so multilayered, so institutionalize that random thinkers cannot affect real change. And this real, but ineffective freedom of speech releases stress and builds even more support for the basic system narrative.
Power is an illusion. It only exists with the consent of a willing slave class. The revolutionary must act as an alarm clock to wake the masses from their slumber. The deluge of meaningless state and corporate sponsored speech certainly makes this a struggle, but not an impossible one. We must use speech creatively. We must use comedy, surrealism, absurdity, the avante garde, anything it takes to smash through the monotony and encourage spontaneous free thought. Long story short; Get Weird and be aggressive about it.
Actually, it might have been Otto von Bismarck of all people…
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/08/07/believe/
The Pentagon’s statements are meaningless prat
until a president signs off.
This is nothing but sabre rattling, … so far.