In
June of this year we examined why the United States will not attack Iran subsequent to raised
tensions in the region. Six months later on the cusp of 2020, the United States
has not attacked Iran militarily … yet. However, Defense Secretary Esper just
threatened to deploy 14K more US mercenary* troops to the Middle East. So,
let’s examine current US / Israeli intent regarding Iran again by looking at
individual tactical elements which may contribute to an overall strategic
picture.
One
case in point is al Tanf in southeast Syria which lies near the Jordanian and
Iraqi borders. The US illegally occupies al Tanf in its claim to prevent
resurgence of the ‘caliphate’ – an ISIS construct indirectly created by the
United States by proxy – and the truth is quite otherwise.
Pompeo states, “We’re watching the space once
occupied by this fraudulent caliphate like a hawk. That’s why we’re maintaining
our residual presence at Tanf, in southern Syria, and our capacity to conduct
air operations”. But that’s not true.
Israel’s
Netanyahu gives the true reason for the US occupation of al Tanf: “We have been
fortunate that President Trump has led a consistent policy of pressure against
Iran. Iran is increasing its aggression as we speak even today in the region.
They’re trying to have staging grounds against us and the region from Iran
itself, from Iraq, from Syria, from Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, and we are
actively engaged in countering that aggression.”
The
irony is as apparent as the falsity of Pompeo’s assertion, the truth being that
the United States is opposing Iran here – not ISIS. Especially ironic since
Iran has been forced to fight the ISIS monster that the United
States created in Syria and in Iraq.
Thus,
Netanyahu admits the true purpose for US troops being present in al Tanf: to
prevent Iran from holding the Anbar region that Iran cleared subsequent to the
destruction wrought by the United States and its ISIS proxy there.
Even though the US
/Israeli-led attempt to change the regime in Syria failed by 2016, the
long-delayed US decision to remove US troops from the Northeast corridor
remains a mystery. A number of theories about the withdrawal exist, most likely
being US cooperation at the request of Mr Erdogan. However, the bloodbath in
the northeast envisaged by Washington pundits did not occur and the situation
has remained relatively stable there subsequent to the cease fire.
Now enter the strange
coincidence of renewed unrest in Iraq – mainly from Sadr City, where the surprising
turn of the US screw was the turning of Muqtada al-Sadr for Saudi, the United
States CIA, and for Israel in Iraq.
The
split seems to have occurred since 2009 when the Mahdi army was militarily
defeated in Iraq. Armed militias such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, instrumental
in defeating ISIS in Anbar, and aligned with
Iran, openly fought Sadr’s men at times. The result was that al Sadr was
forcibly set adrift by Iran and it appears Sadr chose to preserve his own hide
rather than preserve his honor. According to an expert in impressive
tradecraft, Sadr was “for rent”.
Subsequent to his visit with
Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman in the summer of 2017, the influential al Sadr
reinvented himself as a friend to Iraqi Kurds and to the Saudi pocketbook while
lately invoking his troops to protest the “corrupt regime” in the capital.
After inciting the riots, al Sadr demanded an end to
them by removal of Prime Minister Abdul Mahdi as the titular head of Iraq’s
corrupt government. Al Sadr’s move and the departure of al Mahdi is mission
accomplished for US State, where the United States demands that the failed
states it creates remain failed.
A
successful Iraq is not acceptable to US State since the predilection for a
failed State in Iraq is Israel’s goal too, since Israel has been at war with Iraq for as long as it has been at
war with Syria.
Besides the US-inspired chaos
in Iraq, the US withdrawal from northeast Syria — as forced by its NATO ally
Turkey — has exposed Iraq’s Anbar and the Iraqi Kurd flank to Russian and
Syrian cooperation, potentially compromising three secret Israeli intelligence
bases which operate out of Erbil, and the US military intention to maintain a
covert presence in Iraq.
US
Troops to Deploy to… Iraq??
Approximately
14,000 more troops will elevate the overall US total in the Middle East and
Eurasia to about 74,000. Not so covert, and making no bones about the
re-direction in US State policy, on December 5th the United States did
indeed announce its true goal in the Middle East
is to confront Iran.
US
State’s aim is not to stabilize the region, or to fight ISIS, or even to
protect US interest. It seems the ISIS menace has gone and the “new” enemy is
Iran… even if the United States (like Israel) has been at war with Iran in some
form since 1979. Interestingly, articles about the proposed troop deployment do
not speculate about where the troops might go.
Kurd Erbil is the logical
choice since Iraq’s government is in a state of chaos and cannot resist an
influx of new US troops there. But sending troops to the Kurdish region will
only highlight US State’s true ambition to wipe Iran off the map and may provoke
reaction in Anbar, and will certainly look bad for the ever-dimming “light on
the hill”.
But
first, one must consider where the push for more troops in the Middle East is
coming from. From Mr Trump? Possible, if unlikely. So… the majority of the
people of the United States wish to attack Iran? No. And even Macron has
offered to mediate between the US and Iran,
however Macron significantly kept quiet about this effort at the December 3rd
NATO get together. So, who or whom is pushing for war with Iran?
The
recent NATO debacle looked more like an airing of Days of Our Lives than a
meeting of world leaders and provided an interesting insight. Netanyahu,
nebulous and presumed leader of Israel, was evidently desperate to meet with Mr
Pompeo at the NATO meeting on the 3rd of December. But to no avail.
Rumours abound regarding
Netanyahu’s subject for discussion, whether annexing the West Bank and Jordan
Valley or a “secret plan” to get the US to confront Iran on Israel’s behalf,
according to one source. That such a plan to militarily confront Iran in Iraq
would coincide with Esper’s announcement regarding more US troops to the Middle
East, does lend credence to the report. The fact that Netanyahu insisted on
personally meeting with these leaders gives weight to the idea that the game is
afoot — at least where Israel’s militarists are concerned.
Iran
Protests
The protests in Iran – based on Iran’s “own
goal” in raising petrol and fuel prices – also lend credence to the theory that
Israel and Elites believe now is the time to strike Iran.
But as in Hong Kong, no
matter how deep the Deep State reaches, US State just cannot pull off the coup
it intends; whether in Syria, Libya, Venezuela, Iran, Yemen or with regard to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Now
the United States appears almost as humiliated in the Middle East as it
appeared at the end of the Vietnam war. US State desperately needs a “win” in
the Middle East to maintain face, and the voices from US State exhorting a
strike – like Israel’s – are louder than ever. Meanwhile the unrest in Iran
appears to continue to abate.
Summary
The above is intended to shed
light on an extremely complex collage of issues especially in Iraq and Iran,
ever-developing, and seen here through the prism of the US-Israeli Axis.
Washington is convinced that
its role and only its role as hegemon matters, all else in the world be damned.
Israel is frustrated too that its wish to see Iran destroyed by the west has
not been granted. These Deep State goals may seem unachievable right now but
the perceived threat to Iran is greater now than in June, and possibly greater
than it has ever been before, whether from within or without.
Interestingly,
this week may be the first ever that the EU Blocking Statute gets a chance and one
INSTEX transaction actually takes place. That INSTEX may actually become
functional and pose a challenge to the global hegemonic has certainly outraged
Bloomberg and the US Treasury.
Meanwhile the hedge fund
managers who own and operate the west are beating the drums for war, ever
louder. The only one apparently not listening is Mr Trump. However with
impeachment, Ukrainegate, Russiagate and every other kind of gate, the Rulers
of the Planet have made it clear that they want to see not just Iran
annihilated, but the evolutionary clock of Civilization turned backward
regardless of the will of the people or even rational thought.
*
these troops are not ‘protecting’ the former United States from any threat to
the United States thus a mercenary force paid for by the US government just
as Rome employed mercenary forces.
Reprinted
with permission from Ron Paul Institute.
Steve Brown is the author of "Iraq: the Road to War"
(Sourcewatch) editor of "Bush Administration War Crimes in Iraq"
(Sourcewatch) "Trump's Limited Hangout" and "Federal Reserve:
Out-sourcing the Monetary System to the Money Trust Oligarchs Since 1913";
Steve is an antiwar activist, a published scholar on the US monetary system, and
has appeared as guest contributor to The Duran, Fort Russ News, Herland Report,
Lew Rockwell Report, The Ron Paul Institute, and Strategika51.
Copyright © 2019 Ron Paul Institute
Copyright © 2019 Ron Paul Institute