SLOW PREPARATIONS FOR WAR WITH IRAN

By Joel Skousen

According to Tony Cartalucci the US Intel Director, James Clapper, Jr. admitted in a Brookings Institution symposium that US officials have long been considering the use of false flag attacks to goad Iran into attacking US troops or Israel, and thus justify the war the US wants.He quotes the Intel Director as saying “It would be far more preferable if the United States could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before launching them.

Clearly, the more outrageous, the more deadly, and the more unprovoked [appearing] the Iranian action, the better off the United States would be. Of course, it would be very difficult for the United States to goad Iran into such a provocation without the rest of the world recognizing this game, which would then undermine it.”

I’m sure the National Director didn’t intend for this statement to circulate, since Brookings is a shill for government and globalism. But his statement adds to the evidence that the US has long sought an excuse to attack Iran. While the US is temporarily drawing down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, one source claims that almost 100,000 troops are being reassigned to smaller bases surrounding Iran.

I don’t think the number is that large, nor that the US intends to invade or occupy Iran.

Mac Slavo reports that “The Pentagon has been quietly massing troops and armaments on two islands located just south of the Strait of Hormuz, and within easy striking distance of Iran. In addition to some 50,000 U.S. troops currently in the region [Kuwait] waiting for orders....

President Barack Obama is deploying an additional 50,000 soldiers to be ready for ‘any contingency’ by March: “President Barack Obama is reported exclusively by DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military and Washington sources [all government sources, so Debka often gets taken in by disinformation.

However, in this case, I think he is right] to have secretly ordered US air, naval and marine forces to build up heavy concentrations on two strategic islands –Socotra, which is part of a Yemeni archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and the Omani island of Masirah at the southern exit of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Since 2010, the US has been quietly building giant [hardly gigantic] air force and naval bases on Socotra with facilities for submarines, intelligence command centers and take-off pads for flying stealth drones, as part of a linked chain of strategic US military facilities in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

“The Socotra facilities are so secret that they are never mentioned in any catalogue listing US military facilities in this part of the world [easy to do because there is already a large base there which the US has paid lots of money to occupy], which include Jebel Ali and Al Dahfra in the United Arab Emirates; Arifjan in Kuwait; and Al Udeid in Qatar – all within short flying distances from Iran.

“Additional US forces are also being poured into Camp Justice on the barren, 70-kilometer long Omani island of Masirah, just south of the Hormuz entry point to the Gulf of Oman from the Arabian Sea.”

“US air transports are described as making almost daily landings on Socotra and Masirah. They fly in from the US naval base of Diego Garcia, one of America’s biggest military facilities, just over 3,000 kilometers away. The US military presence in the region will further expand in the first week of March when three US aircraft carriers and their strike groups plus a French carrier arrive in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea: They are the USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Carl Vinson, [USS Stennis], and the Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. A fourth US carrier [USS Enterprise] will be standing by in the Pacific Ocean, a few days’ sailing time from the water off Iran’s coast.”

My sources dispute the 100,000 men claim of Debka. They say it is more like half that. There are 15,000 troops in Kuwait, not 50,000 as implied. Still, the US is not going to depend on invasion troops. I contend this is going to be an air, sea and missile attack only—not a ground invasion or occupation, which would be very unpopular.

The US and Israel will simple bomb Iran into submission. The anti-US feeling is already high in Tehran, and this will cement the US reputation as the bully of the world—which accrues to Russia and China’s favor when they finally unleash their planned nuclear attacks against the West.

The US Navy just announced the aircraft carrier Enterprise is officially being assigned to the Gulf for its final deployment prior to decommissioning. That is only done as a prelude to a major war.

2 carrier task forces is deterrence. Three or four are for attack. That doesn’t mean the attack is imminent, however. I still maintain that the US won’t attack until Ron Paul is out of the way as a presidential nominee.

Another perceived war of aggression/intervention could bring on a burst of anti-war sentiment that would only accrue to Ron Paul’s favor. Meanwhile, the US continues to claim it is against an Israeli strike. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey even went so far as tell Israeli leaders Jan. 20 that the United States would not participate in a war against Iran begun by Israel without prior agreement from Washington.

His statement technically is not a contradiction in what the US has planned since permission has already been granted. In fact, the US has been pushing Israel to do this strike for years now.

Although this little piece of political theater by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was done on orders of the White House, Dempsey was most likely unaware that there is a back channel of communication between US and Israel that is saying just the opposition of what he said in public.