Originally appeared at ZeroHedge
The Pentagon says “the leadership of Iran at the highest level” ordered a spate of disruptive attacks over the past two weeks including attacks on an Aramco Saudi oil pipeline and pumping facilities, the recent sabotage of four tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a May 19 lone rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad’s protected Green Zone.
However, the Pentagon statements issued by Adm. Michael Gilday, director of the Joint Staff, on Friday offered absolutely nothing in terms of hard proof. That still didn’t stop the war rhetoric from continuing: “Even more troubling: We have had multiple credible reports that Iranian proxy groups intend to attack U.S. personnel in the Middle East,” Gilday said.
File photo of US troops positioned at Qayyarah West Airfield, Iraq.
The military analysis site, Task & Purpose in a follow-up pressed the Pentagon to cite some level of evidence that Iran did indeed order attacks “at the highest levels.” The response was issued as follows:
“The Iranians said they were going to close the Strait of Hormuz,” Gilday said. “The Iranians struck those tankers. The Iranians struck the pipeline facility in Saudi Arabia through their proxies in Yemen. We know they’re tied directly to those proxies. We know they’re tied directly to the proxies in Iraq that launched the rocket.”
The Pentagon statements came on the heels of a Washington Post report saying the White House has agreed to send “roughly 2,000” additional troops to the Middle East to help protect American forces in the region and “monitor Iran” — as prior reports suggested in the days leading to Trump’s Thursday meeting with Defense Department leaders. Follow-up statements have put the number at 1,500.
Trump met with Pentagon leaders Thursday evening where they decided to move ahead with the troop deployment to CENTCOM, which oversees all American troops in the Middle East.
“The deployment will include approximately 1,500 U.S. military personnel and consist of a Patriot battalion to defend against missile threats, additional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, an engineer element to provide force protection improvements throughout the region and a fighter aircraft squadron to provide additional deterrence and depth to our aviation response options,” acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said in a written statement Friday.
Importantly, Adm. Gilday said Iran’s series of attacks last week went straight to the top: “We believe with a high degree of confidence that this [recent attacks] stems back to the leadership in Iran at the highest levels,” he said.
However, given the original Pentagon plan reportedly pitched a total troop deployment of up to 10,000 additional forces to counter Iran in the Middle East, Trump’s agreeing to a much humbler 1,500 appears a meager attempt to merely pacify the hawks without actually changing the playing field significantly.
Or rather, to put up the pretense and appearance of “doing something” without actually substantively escalating at all.
The president himself seemed to all but admit this in passing remarks to reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Japan: “We want to have protection in the Middle East. We’re going to be sending a relatively small number of troops, mostly protective,” Trump said. “Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now. And we’ll see what happens,” he added.
However, troop build-up in the region to any degree could prove explosive and extremely dangerous for the prospect of a broader conflagration, considering both the IRGC’s recent terror designation, as well as Iran ally Syria coming under new chemical weapons scrutiny over fresh claims it used poison gas in a battle near Idlib on Sunday.
The Trump sanctions on Iran, China and Russia will bite Trump itself.
Some parts of USSR have fallen to NATO under Jewish conspiracy due to state and economic terrorism. Russia has full right to take that back because these are integral parts of Russia.
Russians are worse than jews in all respects .
Wish you good luck.
Again only internal crap. People in ME and the rest of the Muslim world not even listen to it just as commercials for pork.
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Rubber dog
See you still have your head up your ass!…some things never change.
Another good example in interenal bable only. None of the rest of the world are even lstening to sites like this because of that crap.
If anything Muslims are weak and stupid, because they insist to stay in the past.
Jewes with us of course are blamed educatig ourselves making profit and good living standards as well.
Haha. More like You have and dont know :)
Avoide America and their US dollar, both are haram. Buying or selling with US dollar is also haram because that will make you losers in long run.
…and thats not the only thing they did.
The pics I have seen of the damaged tankers looked more like parking damage than an explosive.
The US is making the whole thing up, just like last time.
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his holding his own sperm
The disturbing thing is he’s holding Cheney’s.
Words fail me on that one.I would say good one,but well, you know.
“The disturbing thing is he’s holding Cheney’s”
If so , then it would indeed be a legitimate WMD.
Trying to do a “Boys from Brazil”
I very inddirect can conform hardly nothing happend. Danish TV and Radio brings important things and doing it well. We have seen nothing.
The terrorist Russians supplied the terrorist Iranians with the goods to do this damage . More sanctions is a good start .
No the terrorist Russian supply S-400 to regional terrorist countries to destroy your goddies.
Shit-400 is not an issue dufus .
S-400 is a big issue for US state because before US said that we cannot provide any type of air defence system to Turkey but now US says that what Turkey wants we are ready to provide but please don’t buy S-400. Look our F-35 and Thaad is better than SU-57 and S-400 but still Turkey have said that S-400 is a done deal. This is a big slap on the face of US administration.
It seemes You not even have a calender as well as rudimentary insight.
The US are the masters of lies, deception, fake news, and staged attacks.
You mean putin and pals right .
Crawl back to your hole in Toronto, brainwashed moron.
Do it Yourself. A lot of crap is comming from there. Hard to see they hold back.
Kind of funny. You have to add the rest too.
Saudi Arabia wages war on Yemen and then the U.S. blames Iran when Yemen fights back. Typical. Also, the lack of damage to those tankers is evidence that Iran was NOT responsible. But I better go look under my bed to make sure there are no Iranians just to be sure.
We believe with a high degree of confidence that this [recent attacks] stems back to the leadership in Iran at the highest levels
And we believe, admiral, with a higher degree of confidence that you possess a magical bottom. You shove your hand in and pull whatever nonsense you require out in an instant. …and unlike you, we actually have proof!
Now to be serious, we too believe you need to gather intelligence from Iran. In fact you need to send your latest and bestest spy UAV technology over Iran right now. We are bored, make it a challenge to capture and land it this time! :D
Iran just called the US bluff, and it is embarrassing. Price of war would be too high for US to pay, and the risks almost unpredictable. Iran will continue to blow up things here and there to send the message, making sure they don’t pass the threshold, and making US look stupid in the process. JCPOA was good compromise, and US just overplayed its cards (again).
NOT
Who cares we all know it is a lie.Ergogan and Saudi self made kings like conspiracy. Their dont want other strong Arab leaders.Killing,Saddam,Gaddafi,Arafat, Mubarak, Ahmadinejad and Assad is Erdogan plan
Russia wont be helping Iran too much , putin is almost broke and no one wants to fight HIS stupid wars .
Trump : “Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now. And we’ll see what happens,” he added.
He dispatched the false-flag A-team. We already know what will happen.
I think it was hitchens that said – allegations without proof can be refuted without proof – or some such and that the neo-nazis are beating the drums of war, egged on by the squatters, doesn’t really change the situation. Iran is where it is and dunny the dunce, the true pièce de résistance, is gearing up for a second term and can’t afford another middle east war (however much the squatters squeal like the pigs they are for the neo-nazis to shed their blood for the squatters) and with a debt burden in excess of 22000 billions bucks in bonds and another 100000 billion bucks in liabilities and a credit derivatives at some 540000 billion bucks any upsetting of the apple cart (like a failed operation against Iran) will sure as a klucking bell set off another depression of never seen proportions and not even this ever stupid president would like to go down in history as the one that set off such depression.
what might be the agenda is that if the houthis threatens the saudi monarchy, the saudis might invoke the clause that says that moronistan (aka usa) will protect said monarchy and so on and so forth. but that’s for another day.