There is constant talk of a US war with Iran, and constant escalations
in rhetoric. But Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, the head of the Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA) sees the war as something nobody wants and
that he doesn’t believe Iran, China, or Russia wants to see a war
started.
Lt. Gen. Ashley has been pressed on the possible war several times,
based around public narratives that such a war is only a matter of time.
He says, however, that “the outcome would be very horrific for all” and everyone knows it’s best to avoid it.
That’s certainly in keeping with the official stance of President Trump,
at least most of the time. While the president will occasionally
promise destruction like none have ever seen in human history, in
general he’s said the US doesn’t seek a war with Iran, and doesn’t want
such a war.
If the DIA chief, the top intelligence official at the Pentagon, is
right about his part of this, that Iran, China, and Russia don’t want
war either, this would be a very encouraging sign, as this is clearly a
war of choice for all involved, and if no one wants to choose to start
it, presumably it won’t be started.
There is, of course, always the danger of blundering into a war through
mistakes, and with a number of US hawks that are still hoping to see
such a war, the risks are higher than normal. There remains hope,
particularly with the Pentagon saying it’s not a war Iran wants, that
cooler heads can ultimately prevail.
Pls send copy of stmt to bolton, pompeo, gina, and trump. It would be good if they knew of your view as it does not seem accurate that they have the same view. (sarc)
“this is clearly a
war of choice for all involved, and if no one wants to choose to start
it, presumably it won’t be started.”
This is probably the most ridiculous comment Jason has ever put in one of his posts.
Yes, the Iran war is a “war of choice” – and the US has long since chosen it. Bush and Cheney wanted it, but the failure of Israel to take out Hezbollah in 2006 and then the Iran NIE in 2007 which undercut Bush’s claims about Iran’s “nuclear weapons program” derailed them. Then Obama was tied up in Syria with Russia undercutting him, and finally he decided to make a deal to get a foreign policy “win” for his “legacy”, knowing that the next President would tear up the deal – which Trump obliged. And of course, Israel still had Hezbollah to contend with all through his administration.
So now we have Trump, surrounded by neocons and Zionists in his own family. As Ayelet Shaked said in regards to another matter, “there will never be a better time” to start a war with Iran.
What Iran wants is totally irrelevant. There’s absolutely nothing they can do to stop it.
What some Pentagon general thinks is also totally irrelevant. He will do what he’s told unless he wants to resign his commission. Last I heard, civilians still run the Department of Defense.
So the idea that “no one wants it” is utterly ridiculous. Almost everyone who calls the shots in Washington wants it – the neocons, Trump’s Zionists, the military-industrial complex, the oil companies, probably most of Congress, and all the rich people who funded Trump’s campaigns, including 8 million Christian Zionists and probably a lot of other Christian fundamentalists, as articles right here in Antiwar have pointed out.
So who is Jason talking about? And exactly who and how is anyone going to stop this war? And how could anyone with a brain make a statement like “presumably it won’t be started?”
Here’s Jason’s problem. He, like everyone else here, can see that an Iran war will be a disaster for the US. So he, unlike myself, is controlled by cognitive dissonance – the inability to see an event occurring which has negative emotional effects.
I can easily see this war occurring. I’ve been predicting it since 2006 at least. The only reason it hasn’t started so far is those I’ve listed above. That was then. This is now. The US and Iran have never been closer to war than they are now (with the possible exception of the 1980’s Iran-Iraq war which is thirty years ago.) It’s that simple and that obvious. If someone can’t see that, I don’t know what to tell them other than they have blinders on.
I don’t think even a False Flag could get a War started.