So, let's review the "innocent" facts here.
In July, a trailer for the film was posted on YouTube. In September, a stooge dubbed it into Arabic and brought it to the attention of the Arab-language press. Just in time to provoke convenient riots, (which anyone could have predicted as a response to such stimulus), and then the perfectly-timed attacks on the US embassies/consulates in Benghazi and Cairo. Which all just happened to take place on September 11th.
And you expect me to accept this as coincidence? While it's true I was born in the afternoon, it was not yesterday afternoon. And this whole affair reeks of Mossad. It follows the same pattern of manipulation, provocation, and false-flag attacks, a pattern which goes clear back to the Lavon Affair of the 1950's, (which Israel finally admitted to in 2005).
This is just too damn convenient, and if we ask ourselves cui bono?, the one clear answer, the one clear winner from all this, if it is accepted at face value, is Israel. An Israel whose ever-more-strident demands for someone, anyone, to attack Iran, are being increasingly ignored and marginalized. An Israel grown desperate for attention.
There is no innocence on display here, dear reader. There is no innocence at all. This is a display of pure, naked, bloody-hands-up-to-the-elbows guilt on the part of the Zionists.
Showing posts with label persian gulf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persian gulf. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Where on Earth Is The USS Vincennes?
Do you remember the Vincennes, boys and girls? She is the fourth of that name, CG-49 by hull number, a guided missile cruiser generally remembered for having shot down an Iranian airliner in 1988. The destruction of Iran Air flight Six Five Five killed all 290 passengers, including 66 children.
The reasons behind this appalling crime have never been fully (or even partially) explained. Here in San Diego, many of us remember the rest of the story, in which the captain of the Vincennes then tried to murder his wife by planting a bomb in her mini-van, and blaming it on "retribution" by the Iranians. Fortunately, the competence of local law enforcement was up to the challenge, and his machinations were revealed.
So, all that tedious history aside, where is the Vincennes today? According to official sources, she was decommissioned in 2005, sold to International Shipbreaking in mid-2010, and completely broken-up by November of last year, roughly 3 months ago. According to this timeline, Vincennes was in Brownsville, Texas from November 2010 onwards.
Yet other eye-witness sources have related that Vincennes was in fact in Bremerton until some time late last year, when she was towed out of harbor in the middle of the night.
From here, things get weird. There has even been some speculation that Vincennes was towed to the Persian Gulf, and is currently at 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain. This line of thinking then goes on to postulate that she is being prepared for use as a sacrificial lamb in a false-flag attack which will then be used as casus belli for an assault on Iran.
My first reaction was extremely skeptical. But, then again, in a world where so much of the so-called "news" is just smoke-and-mirrors, how can we say where the credible ends and the ridiculous begins?
The reasons behind this appalling crime have never been fully (or even partially) explained. Here in San Diego, many of us remember the rest of the story, in which the captain of the Vincennes then tried to murder his wife by planting a bomb in her mini-van, and blaming it on "retribution" by the Iranians. Fortunately, the competence of local law enforcement was up to the challenge, and his machinations were revealed.
So, all that tedious history aside, where is the Vincennes today? According to official sources, she was decommissioned in 2005, sold to International Shipbreaking in mid-2010, and completely broken-up by November of last year, roughly 3 months ago. According to this timeline, Vincennes was in Brownsville, Texas from November 2010 onwards.
Yet other eye-witness sources have related that Vincennes was in fact in Bremerton until some time late last year, when she was towed out of harbor in the middle of the night.
From here, things get weird. There has even been some speculation that Vincennes was towed to the Persian Gulf, and is currently at 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain. This line of thinking then goes on to postulate that she is being prepared for use as a sacrificial lamb in a false-flag attack which will then be used as casus belli for an assault on Iran.
My first reaction was extremely skeptical. But, then again, in a world where so much of the so-called "news" is just smoke-and-mirrors, how can we say where the credible ends and the ridiculous begins?
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sanctions In Trouble
Oh, my, but the world is not cooperating.
China's response to Geithner's arm-twisting visit was not just refusal, but outraged refusal.
Japan is remaining politely equivocal , which means they're not going to play ball either. After all, the Japanese never say flat-out "No", it's just not polite.
South Korea has also refused to go along with US plans for unilateral sanctions against Iranian oil.
Asia in general is not impressed.
And the Russians have flatly refused to play.
Europe might be a different story, and then again, it might not. One could wonder if the sudden downgrade of European credit ratings by S&P over the weekend was not either a threat or a punishment for Europe's reluctance to screw its own fragile economy through soaring oil prices. For that matter, what the fuck is Obama thinking? Doesn't he need an economic recovery in the US if he hopes to get re-elected this Fall?
And what news source has not just the best coverage of the topic, but the only comprehensive coverage, who are the only ones willing to ask the ugly questions? PressTV again, much to my embarrassment and disgust. Not that I have anything against PressTV, just that I'm outraged by the fact that they're the only ones willing to really discuss the issue.
(Open Salon readers can watch the video here .
China's response to Geithner's arm-twisting visit was not just refusal, but outraged refusal.
Japan is remaining politely equivocal , which means they're not going to play ball either. After all, the Japanese never say flat-out "No", it's just not polite.
South Korea has also refused to go along with US plans for unilateral sanctions against Iranian oil.
Asia in general is not impressed.
And the Russians have flatly refused to play.
Europe might be a different story, and then again, it might not. One could wonder if the sudden downgrade of European credit ratings by S&P over the weekend was not either a threat or a punishment for Europe's reluctance to screw its own fragile economy through soaring oil prices. For that matter, what the fuck is Obama thinking? Doesn't he need an economic recovery in the US if he hopes to get re-elected this Fall?
And what news source has not just the best coverage of the topic, but the only comprehensive coverage, who are the only ones willing to ask the ugly questions? PressTV again, much to my embarrassment and disgust. Not that I have anything against PressTV, just that I'm outraged by the fact that they're the only ones willing to really discuss the issue.
(Open Salon readers can watch the video here .
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Persian Gulf Follies
Yesterday, it was reported that Iran has threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz if the USA follows through on plans to impose a total embargo upon the Iranian oil industry.
Today, we are informed that our nation's government has responded with counter-threats, and that a representative of the US 5th Fleet, (which is permanently assigned to the Persian Gulf, and based in Bahrain), chimed in with further hawkish saber-rattling.
This raises a number of questions in the tiny marsupial mind of your faithful correspondent. Not least of these would be, why do we have an independent statement by the 5th Fleet? Is the US Navy now a power unto itself? Does the State department no longer handle diplomatic chores for the United States of (corporate) Amerika? A minor point, you may opine, but still one more indicator that we live in a post-democratic nation-state.
On to the substance of the issue.
The painful part about being a student of history, is that one can often see the parallels, and guess what happens next. The hazardous part about being a student of history, is that one can often guess wrong. None the less, let's play the game of historical parallels for a bit, shall we?
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred on December 7th of 1942, roughly seventy years and three weeks ago, should not have been a surprise. The Anglo-Dutch-US consortium which controlled all oil resources in the Pacific at that time had imposed a complete oil embargo on Japan, using the colorful excuse of Japanese expansion in China.
Yes, I use the term "colorful excuse" deliberately. The Rape of Nanking occurred in 1937, and its details were known in western capitals within weeks, at most. So it took the powers-that-be four long years to decide that those naughty Japanese must be punished? Horseshit. In 1937, nobody in the West gave a damn about the Chinese. By 1941, Roosevelt was desperately seeking an excuse to drag the USA into another European war.
And so the device of an oil embargo was decided upon. Japan, then as now, was totally dependent upon oil imports. US economists predicted that the Japanese economy would collapse within six months without oil. And yet, when Japan responded with a military assault upon the colonial possessions of the embargoing powers, we were caught by surprise? Again I say, horseshit. Anyone who knew anything about Japanese culture and history could have predicted that Japan would fight rather than fold. And even a cursory study of Japanese military history would have revealed that the surprise attack was an old favorite tactic.
Now fast-forward 70 years. Granted Iran and Japan are very different nations, with very different cultures and historical traditions. Imperial Japan was territorially expansionist; Iran hasn't invaded a neighbouring country for over 200 years. The Achilles' Heel of Imperial Japan was oil imports, and that of Iran is its oil exports.
And yet, there are parallels. In both cases, the nation being embargoed was perceived to be a threat to the power of the US Navy. In both cases, the nation being embargoed was perceived to be a threat to the colonial practices of the Western Powers. And in both cases, the subtle hand of the Zionists was at work behind the scenes.
Whoa, Possum, you say! That came out of left field; how the fuck do you figure that?
In 1941, the Zionists wanted the USA committed to the European disaster that we now call World War II, both in order to defeat Germany and also to follow through on plans for the creation of Israel.
Here in late 2011, the Zionists want the USA committed to war with Iran, in order to further the interests of Israel, or at least the perceived interests of the ultra-conservative cabal which currently controls Israel's government.
(And this is as good a place as any to gently remind ourselves that there are good people in Israel, and blaming all Israelis for the horrid crimes of the Israeli government would be every bit as unjust as blaming all Americans for the horrid crimes of the US government.)
So, once again, we have an oil embargo being used to provoke an armed conflict. And yet, the world of 2011 is vastly different from that of 1941. Today, we have stern warnings against precipitate action from the Russians and Chinese, both of whom have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, with the veto power granted by that permanent seat.
As horrid as the thought may be, as painfully as my heart cries out in grief for the potential suffering of the common people both in Iran and here in the USA, I am very much afraid that the reactionaries will succeed in provoking a shooting war involving Iran, sometime in 2012.
What the consequences of that war will be, dear reader, that I cannot begin to say. And neither can the criminal psychopaths who control Washington DC and Tel Aviv.
(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)
Today, we are informed that our nation's government has responded with counter-threats, and that a representative of the US 5th Fleet, (which is permanently assigned to the Persian Gulf, and based in Bahrain), chimed in with further hawkish saber-rattling.
This raises a number of questions in the tiny marsupial mind of your faithful correspondent. Not least of these would be, why do we have an independent statement by the 5th Fleet? Is the US Navy now a power unto itself? Does the State department no longer handle diplomatic chores for the United States of (corporate) Amerika? A minor point, you may opine, but still one more indicator that we live in a post-democratic nation-state.
On to the substance of the issue.
The painful part about being a student of history, is that one can often see the parallels, and guess what happens next. The hazardous part about being a student of history, is that one can often guess wrong. None the less, let's play the game of historical parallels for a bit, shall we?
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred on December 7th of 1942, roughly seventy years and three weeks ago, should not have been a surprise. The Anglo-Dutch-US consortium which controlled all oil resources in the Pacific at that time had imposed a complete oil embargo on Japan, using the colorful excuse of Japanese expansion in China.
Yes, I use the term "colorful excuse" deliberately. The Rape of Nanking occurred in 1937, and its details were known in western capitals within weeks, at most. So it took the powers-that-be four long years to decide that those naughty Japanese must be punished? Horseshit. In 1937, nobody in the West gave a damn about the Chinese. By 1941, Roosevelt was desperately seeking an excuse to drag the USA into another European war.
And so the device of an oil embargo was decided upon. Japan, then as now, was totally dependent upon oil imports. US economists predicted that the Japanese economy would collapse within six months without oil. And yet, when Japan responded with a military assault upon the colonial possessions of the embargoing powers, we were caught by surprise? Again I say, horseshit. Anyone who knew anything about Japanese culture and history could have predicted that Japan would fight rather than fold. And even a cursory study of Japanese military history would have revealed that the surprise attack was an old favorite tactic.
Now fast-forward 70 years. Granted Iran and Japan are very different nations, with very different cultures and historical traditions. Imperial Japan was territorially expansionist; Iran hasn't invaded a neighbouring country for over 200 years. The Achilles' Heel of Imperial Japan was oil imports, and that of Iran is its oil exports.
And yet, there are parallels. In both cases, the nation being embargoed was perceived to be a threat to the power of the US Navy. In both cases, the nation being embargoed was perceived to be a threat to the colonial practices of the Western Powers. And in both cases, the subtle hand of the Zionists was at work behind the scenes.
Whoa, Possum, you say! That came out of left field; how the fuck do you figure that?
In 1941, the Zionists wanted the USA committed to the European disaster that we now call World War II, both in order to defeat Germany and also to follow through on plans for the creation of Israel.
Here in late 2011, the Zionists want the USA committed to war with Iran, in order to further the interests of Israel, or at least the perceived interests of the ultra-conservative cabal which currently controls Israel's government.
(And this is as good a place as any to gently remind ourselves that there are good people in Israel, and blaming all Israelis for the horrid crimes of the Israeli government would be every bit as unjust as blaming all Americans for the horrid crimes of the US government.)
So, once again, we have an oil embargo being used to provoke an armed conflict. And yet, the world of 2011 is vastly different from that of 1941. Today, we have stern warnings against precipitate action from the Russians and Chinese, both of whom have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, with the veto power granted by that permanent seat.
As horrid as the thought may be, as painfully as my heart cries out in grief for the potential suffering of the common people both in Iran and here in the USA, I am very much afraid that the reactionaries will succeed in provoking a shooting war involving Iran, sometime in 2012.
What the consequences of that war will be, dear reader, that I cannot begin to say. And neither can the criminal psychopaths who control Washington DC and Tel Aviv.
(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Protests Spread to Bahrain
While the situation in Egypt remains uncertain, the protests have now spread to Bahrain, in the Persian Gulf.
If you are like me, dear reader, you could use a little reminder just WTF Bahrain is -
map image courtesy of wikimedia
Peaceful protests 2 days ago resulted in two protesters being shot to death by police, in what most are describing as a very heavy-handed response. The King of Bahrain has made a rare public appearance, and apologised for the deaths. The king also announced a one-time payment of approximately $2500 to each Bahraini. Can you imagine the US government doing this? The mind boggles...
This morning was the funeral for one of the protesters killed by police, and AJE's correspondent in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, estimated the crowd at upwards of 10,000 people. He went on to say that the crowd was angry and frustrated, but peaceful. Interestingly enough, the protesters seemed to be entirely loyal to the king, and simply unhappy with the current government.
Another interesting aspect of the situation is that Bahrain's population is 70% Shia, and only 30% Sunni. The AJE correspondent in Manama said that today's crowd was mostly Shia, with relatively few Sunni present. The Shia of Bahrain, as with the Shia of most Persian Gulf states, are the poor and disenfranchised.
If you are like me, dear reader, you could use a little reminder just WTF Bahrain is -
map image courtesy of wikimedia
Peaceful protests 2 days ago resulted in two protesters being shot to death by police, in what most are describing as a very heavy-handed response. The King of Bahrain has made a rare public appearance, and apologised for the deaths. The king also announced a one-time payment of approximately $2500 to each Bahraini. Can you imagine the US government doing this? The mind boggles...
This morning was the funeral for one of the protesters killed by police, and AJE's correspondent in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, estimated the crowd at upwards of 10,000 people. He went on to say that the crowd was angry and frustrated, but peaceful. Interestingly enough, the protesters seemed to be entirely loyal to the king, and simply unhappy with the current government.
Another interesting aspect of the situation is that Bahrain's population is 70% Shia, and only 30% Sunni. The AJE correspondent in Manama said that today's crowd was mostly Shia, with relatively few Sunni present. The Shia of Bahrain, as with the Shia of most Persian Gulf states, are the poor and disenfranchised.
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