The spread of coronavirus has delayed a lot of wargames, but the US and United Arab Emirates both want to send a message to Iran, and that message comes in the form of 4,000 US troops and combined Emirati fighters conducting the biennial Native Fury exercise.
The exercise took place primarily at al-Hamra base, where a fictional Iranian city was constructed, mosques and all, for the troops to pretend to invade and conquer. Troops rampaged through the narrow streets looking for “enemy fighters.”
US troops took part in the UAE and Kuwait, along with Diego Garcia. The US Ambassador Rakolta described the exercise as “defensive in nature” despite it being an overtly practiced invasion and occupation of a model Iranian city.
Rakolta added he doesn’t think it is “provocative” to tell the Iranians “we’re coming.” It’s hard to imagine Iran, or anyone else thusly targeted by a large wargame, not seeing it that way.
When bloody idiots plan war amidst a pandemic we see who the real terrorists in the world are.
How can you call troops invading a mock up city of another country as a defensive exercise? These people are SICK in the worst possible way.
Bloody idiots just about covers it.
COVID-19 is a hybrid-hoax. Real virus threat, but greatly exaggerated.
The weather in the ME is getting past their flu (winter) season from October to April.
This is actually the best time to hold such exercises; the flu season is close too ending while the extreme hot of summer is still a ways off.
We can always depend on the US to keep doing dumb (evil) things in foreign policy. Old Albert E. would call it insanity.
$ well spent america? No job? No $? But just remember that they have $ for this and the question is,Why is the Military ignoring the *PANDEMIC*? False Flag?
It’s like 9/11 all over again. This time we will blame it all on China. It will be the pretext for cutting Social Security and Medicare, all to pay for a massive bailout of Wall Street that was coming anyway.
Social Security and Medicare weren’t cut after 9/11. Why would they be cut now?
Because in 2001 we weren’t teetering on the verge of financial collapse, silly.
Guns and ammo first, women and children… well what about them?
If we weren’t then, we aren’t now.
Rakolta can go to Hell.
Can I say this out loud? I hope every swinging dick gets the virus.
When you have absolutely NO REGARD for human life to begin with, why let a virus get in your way?
Stupidity beyond repair.
Just what Iran needs, and so useful to show the humanity of the USA and UAE.
Well, the waste of resources sort of does help Iran, as its not an actual invasion and gives the Mullahs something to stake legitimacy to.
And the Ayatollah is paranoid? Eat my fat queer assh*le!
With flu season ending in the ME (October-April) and COVID-19 a hybrid hoax (real virus, threat greatly exaggerated) the military can exercise at will.
I’m not sure that the Pentagon realizes, though, that they may have just lost this phase of the Long War. This may be a last hurrah.
Unless the economy recovers, the war machine just ran out of filthy lucre to lube the treads. [Just like the Vietnam War ended; in a cash crunch.]
As Doug Bandow points out, the U.S. is broke. Actually the U.S. has been broke for some time, its just that now the margin call is being made.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/coronavirus-means-america-really-broke-trump-should-get-hell-out-syria-135932
The U.S. dollar may still be tapped into every GDP and world commodities priced in US dollars, but the world economy just underwent sharp contraction.
Never mind that the U.S. economy just got shot out from under them in self-sanctions that ultimately may be more about the U.S. social civil war than any actual danger presented by COVID-19.