{"id":200750,"date":"2020-01-12T14:40:44","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T14:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=200750"},"modified":"2020-01-16T08:11:15","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T08:11:15","slug":"the-iran-tinderbox-america-dicing-with-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=200750","title":{"rendered":"The Iran Tinderbox: America Dicing With Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darkmoon \u2013 Jan 12, 2020<\/h1>\n

Based on numerous news reports,<\/strong>
\nedited and abridged by Lasha Darkmoon<\/strong>
\nwith brief commentary.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

WARNING. We cannot vouch for the accuracy of these incoming reports in regard to each detail. It is our intention simply to give a general impression of what appears to be going on behind the scenes and allow readers to make up their own minds. Whether Donald Trump should be indicted as a war criminal at some future date or awarded the Nobel prize for Peace\u2014as he himself has hinted he deserves\u2014is something we must leave to the discernment of the intelligent reader.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf they do anything, there will be major retaliation. Iran itself WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD! The USA wants no more threats!\u201d<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>\u2014 Donald Trump, a few days ago<\/h4>\n
Days after the assassination<\/strong> of General Qasem Soleimani, new and important information is coming to light from a speech given by the Iraqi prime minister. The story behind Soleimani\u2019s assassination seems to go much deeper than what has thus far been reported.<\/h5>\n
The Iraqi prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, has revealed details of his interactions with Trump in the weeks leading up to Soleimani\u2019s assassination.<\/h5>\n
He tried to explain several times on live television how Washington had been browbeating him and other Iraqi members of parliament to toe the American line, even threatening to engage in false-flag sniper shootings of both protesters and security personnel in order to inflame the situation.<\/h5>\n
The purpose? To throw Iraq into chaos.\u00a0 Here is the story in a nutshell:<\/h5>\n
During a closed session in the Iraqi parliament, during which the microphones were deliberately disabled on the instructions of the American superpower,\u00a0 premier Abdul-Mahdi spoke angrily about how the Americans had ruined Iraq and now refused to complete infrastructure and electricity grid projects unless they were promised 50% of oil revenues, which Abdul-Mahdi had refused.<\/h5>\n
Here are the Iraqi prime ministers\u2019s exact words, translated into English later:<\/h5>\n
\u201cThis is why I visited China and signed an important agreement with them to undertake the construction instead. Upon my return, Trump called me to ask me to reject this agreement. When I refused, he threatened to unleash huge demonstrations against me that would end my premiership.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Huge demonstrations against me duly materialized and Trump called again to threaten that if I did not comply with his demands, then he would have Marine snipers on tall buildings target protesters and security personnel alike in order to pressure me.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
I refused again and handed in my resignation. To this day the Americans insist on us rescinding our deal with the Chinese.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
After this, when our Minister of Defense publicly stated that a third party [i.e. America] was targeting both protestors and security personnel alike \u2014 just as Trump had threatened he would do \u2014 I received a new call from Trump threatening to kill both me and the Minister of Defense if we kept on talking about this \u2018third party\u2019.\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Source<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n
Nobody imagined that the threat was to be applied to General Soleimani, but it was difficult for Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to reveal the backstory behind the terrorist attack.<\/h5>\n
We can surmise, judging by Saudi Arabia\u2019s reaction, that some kind of negotiation was going on between Tehran and Riyadh. Above all, the Saudi Royal family wanted to let people know immediately that they had not been informed of the US operation against Soleimani. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not consulted regarding the US strike. In light of the rapid developments, the Kingdom stresses the importance of exercising restraint to guard against all acts that may lead to escalation, with severe consequences.<\/h5>\n
What clearly emerges is that the success of the operation against Soleimani had nothing to do with the intelligence gathering of the US or Israel. It was known to all and sundry that Soleimani was heading to Baghdad in a diplomatic capacity that acknowledged Iraq\u2019s efforts to mediate a solution to the regional crisis with Saudi Arabia.<\/h5>\n
It would seem that the Saudis, Iranians and Iraqis were well on the way towards averting a regional conflict involving Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Riyadh\u2019s reaction to the American strike evinced no public joy or celebration at Trump\u2019s intervention in their affairs.<\/h5>\n
Qatar, while not seeing eye to eye with Riyadh on many issues, also immediately expressed solidarity with Tehran. This reflects a fear of being on the receiving end of Iran\u2019s retaliation. Qatar, the country from which the drone that killed Soleimani took off, is only a stone\u2019s throw away from Iran, situated on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz. Riyadh and Tel Aviv, Tehran\u2019s regional enemies, both know that a military conflict with Iran would mean the end of the Saudi royal family.<\/h5>\n
When the words of the Iraqi prime minister are linked back to the geopolitical and energy agreements in the region, then the worrying picture starts to emerge of a desperate US lashing out at a world turning its back on a unipolar world order in which the US right now holds the world to ransom by maintaining the US dollar as the world\u2019s reserve currency.<\/h5>\n
\u2014\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a7\u00a0 \u00a0\u2014<\/h5>\n
Saudi Arabia provides China<\/strong> with most of its oil; and Qatar, together with the Russian Federation, supply China with most of its LNG [liquefied natural gas] needs, which lines up with Xi Jinping\u2019s 2030 vision that aims to greatly reduce polluting emissions.<\/h5>\n
The US is absent in this picture, with little ability to influence events or offer any appealing economic alternatives.<\/h5>\n
Washington would like to prevent any Eurasian integration by unleashing chaos and destruction in the region, and killing Soleimani served this purpose.<\/h5>\n
The US cannot contemplate the idea of the dollar losing its status as the global reserve currency. Trump is engaging in a desperate gamble that could have disastrous consequences.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
The region, in a worst-case scenario, could be engulfed in a devastating war involving multiple countries. Oil refineries could be destroyed all across the region, a quarter of the world\u2019s oil transit could be blocked, oil prices would skyrocket ($200-$300 a barrel) and dozens of countries would be plunged into a global financial crisis. The blame would be laid squarely at Trump\u2019s feet, ending his chances for re-election.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
To try and keep everyone in line, Washington is left to resort to terrorism, lies and unspecified threats of visiting destruction on friends and enemies alike.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
Trump has evidently been convinced by someone that the US can do without the Middle East, that it can do without allies in the region, and that nobody would ever dare to sell oil in any other currency than the US dollar.<\/h5>\n
Soleimani\u2019s death is the result of a convergence of US and Israeli interests. With no other way of halting Eurasian integration, Washington can only throw the region into chaos by targeting countries like Iran, Iraq and Syria that are central to the Eurasian project.<\/h5>\n
While Israel has never had the ability or audacity to carry out such an assassination itself, the importance of the Israel Lobby to Trump\u2019s electoral success would have influenced his decision, all the more so in an election year .<\/h5>\n
Trump believed his drone attack could solve all his problems by frightening his opponents, winning the support of his voters (by equating Soleimani\u2019s assassination to Osama bin Laden\u2019s), and sending a warning to Arab countries of the dangers of deepening their ties with China.<\/h5>\n
The assassination of Soleimani is the US lashing out at its steady loss of influence in the region. The Iraqi attempt to mediate a lasting peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia has been scuppered by the US and Israel\u2019s determination to prevent peace in the region and instead increase chaos and instability.<\/h5>\n
Washington has not achieved its hegemonic status through a preference for diplomacy and calm dialogue, and Trump has no intention of departing from this approach. Washington\u2019s friends and enemies alike must acknowledge this reality and implement the countermeasures necessary to contain the madness of the United States with Donald Trump at the helm.<\/h5>\n
Source<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n
\u2014\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a7\u00a0 \u00a0\u2014<\/h5>\n
Iran has promised retaliation<\/strong> for the assassination of Qassem Suleimani. Donald Trump said this will lead to a disproportionate response from the US. One side can deliver on its threats, the other can\u2019t, unless it goes nuclear.<\/h5>\n
\u201cOur reaction,\u201d Iranian general Hossein Dehghan said at the weekend, \u201cwill be wise, well considered and, in time, with decisive deterrent effect.\u201d He added: \u201cIt was America that has started the war. Therefore, they should accept appropriate reactions to their actions. The only thing that can end this period of war is for the Americans to receive a blow that is equal to the blow they have inflicted<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n
Dehghan is no run-of-the-mill former Iranian general officer, but was one of the major decision makers within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His words must be viewed as representing those of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei himself.<\/h5>\n
A closer assessment of Dehghan\u2019s statement provides clarity as to what the US and the Middle East can expect from Tehran.<\/h5>\n
First and foremost, the response will <\/strong>not<\/strong><\/em> be carried out by proxy, and the attacks will be military in nature.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
There are a host of viable US military targets in the Persian Gulf region that are of high enough stature as to qualify as\u00a0\u201can equal blow\u201d\u00a0in the eyes of Tehran.<\/h5>\n
Three come to mind; the concentration of US forces based in Kuwait, the headquarters of the 5th Fleet in Bahrain, and the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.<\/h5>\n
Of these three, only one, Al Udeid Air Base, has a direct connection to the Suleimani assassination; the drones that fired the missiles that killed Suleimani were operated from there. Al Udeid is host to critical US command and control facilities, as well as the bulk of the American combat aircraft operating in the region. It is well within the range of Iranian ballistic missiles and armed drones, which could be expected to operate in concert with one another to defeat air defenses and then saturate the base with precision strikes which could destroy hundreds of millions of dollars of aircraft and equipment, and potentially kill and wound hundreds of US service members<\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
President Trump has promised that the US will not tolerate any attack against its personnel or facilities. \u201cIf they do anything,\u201d he told reporters, referring to Iran, \u201cthere will be major retaliation.\u201d<\/h5>\n
Earlier, Trump had tweeted a very explicit warning, telling Iran that he had already designated some 52 sites inside Iran, \u201csome at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture,\u201d for destruction. \u201cThose targets,\u201d Trump declared, \u201cand Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!\u201d<\/h5>\n
Trump\u2019s threat, however, rings hollow. First, his tweet constitutes de facto evidence of a war crime (Section 5.16.2 of the US Department of Defense Law of War Manual prohibits threats to destroy cultural objects for the express purpose of deterring enemy operations).<\/h5>\n
LD: Note that many believe, including Philip Giraldi<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0 that Trump would have no problem committing war crimes, given that America has now morphed into a Mafia gangster state which considers itself beyond international law. It feels it can get away with anything now \u2014 provided it has the backing of powerful Jews in Israel, London and Washington. International law applies only to the rest of mankind, not to world Jewry and their American vassal state.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a7\u00a0 \u00a0\u2014<\/h5>\n
Trump has been down this road before<\/strong>, when he threatened massive military retaliation against Iran for shooting down an unarmed drone over the Strait of Hormuz last May. At that time, he was informed by his military commanders that the US lacked the military wherewithal to counter what was expected to be a full-spectrum response by Iran if the US were to attack targets inside Iran.<\/h5>\n
In short, Iran was able to inflict massive harm on US and allied targets in the Middle East region, and there was nothing the US could do to prevent this outcome.<\/h5>\n
Little has changed since May that would alter the military balance of power between the US and Iran. If Iran were to strike a US facility such as the Al Udeid Air Base, and Trump were to order a response, then Iran would most likely unleash the totality of its military capability, and those of its regional proxies, to devastate the military and economic capabilities of those targeted. These strikes would most likely include oil production facilities in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, in addition to US military facilities and diplomatic missions.<\/h5>\n
Seen in this light, Trump\u2019s threats of retaliation appear to be little more than words.<\/h5>\n
\u2014\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a7\u00a0 \u00a0\u2014<\/h5>\n
There was a second significant development<\/strong> in the region on Sunday, in addition to the vote by the Iraqi Parliament to cut ties with the US military.<\/h5>\n
The Iranian government announced that it was ending all restrictions on the enrichment of uranium\u2026.\u00a0the newly unconstrained enrichment capability puts Iran well inside the one year \u201cbreakout\u201d window, i.e.<\/em> the time needed by Iran to produce enough fissile material for a single nuclear device.<\/h5>\n
In doing so, Iran has inadvertently opened itself up to a preemptive nuclear attack by the US.<\/h5>\n
The centrifuges that could be used by Iran to produce enriched uranium capable of being used in a fissile device are housed in a hardened underground facility located near the town of Fordow. No conventional munition currently in the US arsenal can destroy Fordow.<\/h5>\n
Only a modified B-61 nuclear bomb can do the job.<\/h5>\n
Trump has hinted that any future war with Iran would not be a drawn-out affair. And while the law of war might curtail his commanders from executing any retaliation that includes cultural sites, it does not prohibit the US from using a nuclear weapon against a known nuclear facility deemed to pose a threat to national security.<\/h5>\n
This is the worst-case scenario of any tit-for-tat retaliation between Iran and the US, and it is not as far-fetched as one might believe.<\/h5>\n
LD (<\/strong>in conclusion<\/strong><\/em>) : According to Philip Giraldi and other political mandarins who are deeply concerned about the way things are going, Trump is now beginning to show marked signs of mental instability. Giraldi suggests that Trump is \u201cnot of sound mind\u201d and possesses\u00a0 \u201can addled tweet-conditioned brain\u201d. (See \u2018Has Trump Lost His Marbles<\/a>?<\/span>\u2019)<\/strong><\/h5>\n
See also \u2018Adelson: US should drop atomic bomb on Iran<\/span>.<\/a>\u2018<\/a> With multibillionaire tycoons like Sheldon Adelson whispering in Trump\u2019s ear to go the whole hog and do Israel a favor by nuking Iran, what can we expect but trouble? Meanwhile, plans are afoot for Israel to nuke Iran if this helps to save Natanyahu\u2019s skin and get him reelected.\u00a0 See<\/strong>\u00a0Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran<\/span>.<\/a><\/strong><\/h5>\n
Most Americans who back their president to the hilt, salivating for the obliteration of Iran, either have little knowledge of history or a deficient moral sense. They are unaware that Iran has attacked no other country for over 300 years, whereas the US has never ceased to launch savage attacks on other weaker nations since WWII. And if Americans <\/strong>are<\/strong><\/em> aware of these facts, they still don\u2019t give a damn. I sincerely hope that these heartless bullies who inflict such savage cruelties on weaker countries will one day collect their karma and pay in full measure for their flagrant crimes. [LD]\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lasha Darkmoon reveals new dimensions to the current crisis between Iran and America and new depths of U.S. duplicity <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Iran"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=200750"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200759,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200750\/revisions\/200759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=200750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=200750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=200750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}