The war drums are beating again. They’re beating for Iran.
Recent comments by Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett have shocked some, when he stated this week that Israel would consider striking Iran if it ‘came close to being nuclear-capable,’ and proceeded to warns Iran that, ‘Syria will become your Vietnam.”
This is clearly a direct threat of war being made by Israel.
Clearly, extremist Bennett is gaslighting here on both points; first by using the prescribed talking points to frame the Syrian conflict as “Iranian”, when in fact limited Iranian forces were invited by Damascus to fight the Western, Gulf and Israel-backed terrorist invasion and militant insurgency. Secondly, Israel and Washington continue to push the lie that Iran is “close to a nuclear weapon” – something which both governments have been doing for nearly twenty years now. Despite the fact that there is no evidence o substantiate such claims, Israeli leaders continue to parrot their worn lines.
Bennett’s reactionary comments come the day after Israel’s foreign minister, Yisrael Katz, warned that the Tel Aviv was ‘considering military action against Iran, should it pursue nuclear military capability.’
Moreover, it seems the Trump administration and its dysfunctional allies in Tel Aviv are both in need of help in their upcoming elections. While Netanyahu has failed to form a government and is also facing a corruption trial, Trump also has his share of obstacles to re-election in 2020. Both could benefit from making Iran a scapegoat, and pulling the US and Israel into a death spiral which they will not be able to abort once events are set into motion.
Of course, if a war is on the cards, it would likely be Israel that draws the US into any quagmire, as they have done so many times before…
Global affairs analyst Finian Cunningham from Strategic Culture reports…
Ratcheting economic sanctions, military force encirclement, inciting seditious violence and relentless war rhetoric. This all by the US and its allies over the past year towards Iran, yet it is Iran which is portrayed as posing “potential threats” to American interests.
The hastily arranged meeting last week between Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had the hallmarks of a war-plan summit amid a peak in renewed media provocation against Iran.
In the last weeks there has been a flurry of US media reports claiming that Iran is secretly moving ballistic missiles into Iraq and elsewhere across the region. As usual the media credulously cite anonymous intelligence and Pentagon officials on those claims.
Here’s CNN quoting one administration official: “There has been consistent intelligence in the last several weeks,” the official said, referring to “a potential Iranian threat against US forces and interests in the Middle East.”
Last month, the head of US CentCom made a similar dire forecast of Iranian intentions. General Kenneth McKenzie said: “I would expect that if we look at the past three or four months, it’s possible they [Iran] will do something that is irresponsible.”
Notice how General McKenzie tacitly acknowledges the background of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions and US military force buildup against Iran as if that is somehow normal international conduct. Then he turns all that US aggression on its head by accusing Iran of possibly doing “something that is irresponsible”.
There are worrying signs that the US and Israel are redoubling the pressure of war against Iran. This pressure has to be seen in the context of a formidable deployment of US military forces – troops, warplanes and warships in the region since May this year. The earlier buildup was announced on the basis of unfounded claims that Iran was preparing to launch offensive operations against American interests. Then came a series of mysterious attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf over the summer which Washington blamed on Iran without evidence.
Street protests in Iran since mid-November over fuel-price increases appear to be hijacked by subversive elements. President Trump and other US officials have openly called for the protests to destabilize the Iranian government.
Fresh claims that Iran is sending ballistic missiles to neighboring countries appear to be setting the stage for justifying a pre-emptive US attack on Iran.
(…) When Netanyahu met with Pompeo in Lisbon, he said at the start of their discussions: “The first subject that I will raise is Iran. The second subject is Iran, and so is the third. And many more.
The Israeli premier added: “We have been fortunate as President Trump has led a consistent policy of exerting pressure on Iran. Iran is increasing its aggression in the region as we speak, even today, in the region. They are trying to have staging grounds against us and the region from Iran itself, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen and we are actively engaged in countering that aggression.”
Netanyahu also gloated that the “Iranian empire [sic] is tottering… let’s make it totter even more.”
Read more at Strategic Culture
READ MORE IRAN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Iran Files
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