That would be that $750,000,000 embassy, right?

I have this image in my head, of President Trump, meeting with his cabinet, and saying,"Damn! We can't lie the American people into another war; so what the hell do we do to get this party started, with some kind of false flag that the Americans might actually believe, as a justification for this war against Iran?!?"

Google reminds us with the following statement regarding Israel's next elections, as to just how critical they are in developing, and shaping, both national, and international Israeli policies:

"Snap legislative elections are due to be held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the prior elections in April, incumbent and Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, the first such failure in Israeli history."f

So am quite certain, looking at today's date (12 July), that Israel's Netanyahu, is burning up the phone lines from Tel Aviv to DC, impressing on Trump how damned short the time frame is, for getting such a war going, as to make Netanyahu look "butch" in anticipation of September's snap election in Israel.

I am equally as certain, that Russia's President Putin, and Iran's President Rouhani, are talking to each other about how to calm the situation down, and for Iran not to lash out, if there is an attempt at a false flag.

I'm looking at timing here. The last major summer holiday in the US, at the end of August, is Labor Day weekend, which this year, starts on Friday, 31 August, and lasts through Monday, 2 September. IF the US, the UK, and Israel cannot get a war on or before that point in time, so that the US media can fully indoctrinate the public with it; have it soak into the consciousness of both the American (and British) people before the first full week in September, it may well be too late for such an attack to begin to influence Netanyahu's re-election bid.

No, Beijing isn't "defying" the US; it needs Iranian oil to prop up its industrial sector.

So what is President Trump going to do about it now, start boarding Chinese vessels, and interdict Iranian oil?!? Let's see now... isn't that tantamount to declaring war against China?!?

What is frustrating here, is that with the situations concerning both China and Iran, President Trump has managed to give himself no "wiggle room" for something positive to happen, and that, friends, is a "fantastic failure of imagination".

Let's throw in a little logic, shall we; why would Iran be so desperately attempting to "create an incident", when they understood that such an act would be the US/Israeli/Saudi Arabia "justification" for a shooting war against Iran?!?

The short answer is, they wouldn't.

Iranian leadership is many things; but stupid, it is not.

These threats, and counter-threats, are absolutely the last thing this region needs.

Netanyahu is pushing, and hyping, the Iranian threat, as though war was something Iran wants, or needs, militarily, which is absolutely not the case here.

Netanyahu understands this, but has been using the "fear card" against his own people for so long, that his behaviour has simply become pathological, at this point.

But faced with a snap election mid-September, his hope is that he can persuade/trick the US and possibly Saudi Arabia, to attack Iran, without personally, or nationally, having to pay either a political, or financial "price", and that he will appear to have "done something" to get him re-elected, no matter the costs to American and Saudi troops in blood and money spent.

We ran a story yesterday, from zerohedge.com, titled UAE's Yemen Exit is a Preparation for Confronting Iran Closer To Home

The fact that this repositioning is happening at all, telegraphs that the the Ziohawkonoids are attempting to move heaven and earth to start this war with Iran just as soon as possible.

There is, however, one 6,000 lb gorilla, napping, draped across the Bosendorfer Grand in this scenario, and that is the presence of Russia.

On 26 June, Foreign Ministry Diplomat, Zamir Kabulov, made the following statement: Iran won't be alone, if the US attacks

Were I any member of President Trump's Cabinet, or Advisory staff, I would definitely take this man at his word.

With tensions escalating between Iran and Iran, and the US government reeling, regarding numerous problems on the horizon which have nothing to do with the current US government, (but involve some INCREDIBLY salacious actions by former members of this government, "Epstein-gate"), I have a sense that the Ziohawkonoids are going to push forward on a US attack against Iran, in terms of getting it going at the earliest possible opportunity.

Because if ever Washington's elite needed a war as a distraction from these nasty situations, it is right the heck now.

There is only one minor problem here; we may well be looking at Russia jumping into the fray on Iran's side, and, in fact, here's the following statement from a Russian official who essentially said just that:
Russia Says Iran ‘Won’t Be Alone’ If US AttacksThe story goes on to state:

"“Iran will withstand this type of fight and Iran is not alone,” Zamir Kabulov, the Foreign Ministry’s special envoy for Asian countries including Iran, said at a Russian-Iranian policy forum in Moscow, reported The Moscow Times.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I were any members of President Trump's cabinet, or advisors, I would absolutely take this guy at his word.

Mr. Prime Minister Netanyahu, a word, please; this idiotic analogy was absolutely DOA upon delivery.

I would like to politely remind you that when looking at the movement of the Nazis, this was to gain physical territory; not to create a bomb.

And I would like to also politely remind you, that so far, Iran has been within the levels acceptable covered by the P5 +1 agreement.

It appears, to some political analysts in Israel and abroad, you have become a geopolitically "wounded animal", with all the corruption charges placed against you, and you have had to call a snap election, to happen 17 September, because your party was unable to create a quorum.

And nothing is more dangerous than is a wounded animal, or human being.

There are a number of of political pundits professing that you desperately need something major, to plunge into the minds of the Israeli voting public like a knife, before that 60 days is finished, to "seal the deal" of your return to power.
A
And what would be more major than a "false flag", perhaps to be perpetrated against some sort of US military asset, just like Israel tried to do with the USS Liberty, where good men died, because Israel wanted the US government, and the world to believe that it was Egypt which attacked this ship, in order to get the US to declare war against Egypt?!?

What I have just stated, is an historical fact, and not some fanciful work of fiction. 52nd ANNIVERSARY OF ISRAEL'S ATTACK ON THE USS LIBERTY

If it has happened before, there is a precedent; I would like to hope that your "Bromance" with President Trump, is not that of a "Frenemy" in this instance, getting ready to make his move at the expense of both President Trump, and the USA.

Only time.... will answer that question.

Again, should such a war happen, it will absolutely NOT be for the benefit of We the People, but only for the benefit of our corporate oligarchs, who will profit from such a war immeasurably.

When Karl Marx made the observation that "All Wars are Economic in Origin, the guy wasn't mistaken at all; it takes large governments borrowing money from the banks, at insanely high interest rates, to keep these wars going.

Mr. President, I am sure that you are getting daily, if not hourly, calls from the politically wounded Israeli Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, urging you, explicitly, to "get the party started" by issuing an "Executive Order" for a"kinetic Motion" attack against Iran, bypassing Congress completely.

But the major bone of contention, and your cabinet understands this, is that you will not have the support of ordinary US citizens, should you order a strike before the 2020 elections.

And Mr. President, considering what a mess into which the US government and military were led, by both American and foreign oligarchs the last several times the US government invaded and occupied a number of countries, including Iraq; Afghanistan; Libya; and DRC, you need to look at a couple potential aspects of changing the way the US does business with the Middle East.

What China does, to get what it wants, is its own version of "Let's make a deal"; certain things are promised and delivered; certain things come from the other side, which creates a "win-win" progression of that project, so all people involved, feel lifted up, and that cooperation moves to even greater depths with future projects.

I think you have to call China's "Silk and Belt Road" a major expression of this philosophy, which is going to propel China to absolute leadership and respect, if handled carefully.

Unfortunately, the US government's approach to creating "win/win" since the end of World War II, has generally been "My Way...or the Highway"

And that surprised, collective gasp in Foggy Bottom you hear, when people don't want to be killed or maimed for life by US bullets, to "neutralize" the native population; when the US installs a western-centric puppet government, to insure that their resources are only sold in US dollars, is "Why don't they love our invading their countries; murdering their kids and families, and expropriating their resources"?!?

Mr. President, I am politely requesting that you rethink your Iran strategy; I understand that you are getting what I would call "the ultimate pressure" from Netanyahu, to get this war started, but in light of the fact that the US, economically, isn't doing so well, except for the 1%, I would strongly caution you against it. I frankly think, that the situation needs more time to be resolved, and that starting to "do something" as of the end of today against Iran, could lead to unmitigated disaster for this country.

Patience, honorably conceived notions of win/win in setting up any deal, are desperately needed here; the yelling, foot-stomping, and foul-mouthed insults from both you, and the Iranian leadership, need to stop immediately.

I would also remind you that Russia has been a great partner for Syria, in terms of getting rid of US-backed, trained, and funded jihadi fighters; they are light years ahead in their weapons development.

I am working like crazy to get my hands around this, logically, but I am sorry: I cannot.

President Trump, a word, please: since the US withdrew from the P5+1 deal in May of this year, how in the world does the US have any right to criticize the planned enrichment coming up?!?

And BTW, sir, the level to which Iranian scientists are enriching their uranium stockpile is only to serve as a clear fuel power base; it is NOT going to be enriched at the level necessary to create an atomic weapon.

Please ask your "science people" and you will get a confirmation.

You are welcome, President Trump!! :-)

The questions I would have here, are:

1. From whom are the Houthi rebels getting these drones?!?

2. Where are the rebels getting whatever training is needed, to make sure that their targeting is as true as possible, without damaging civilian centers?!?

3. What is this going to do to oil prices in the near term, and what will that do to an already teetering US economy (except for the already monied)?

4. When will the Saudi leadership get it through their heads, that the only way to begin to get a negotiated settlement done, is by diplomacy, rather than using brute force?!?

5. When will the US citizenry begin to have an open, intelligent, and civilized national dialogue regarding the US's role in being complicit to war crimes, and genocide in Yemen?

These are very difficult questions, which urgently deserve some intelligent answers, and actions that can prevent this horrible burden on Yemeni kids and their families from continuing.

But let's consider a more global discussion of US foreign policy.

I am watching Faux & Friends, and their big, banner headline is, at 7 AM, Eastern time, is "Which television shows, should be encouraged to come back"?.

Absoflippinglutely unbelievable!!!

These are very dangerous times; major cities like LA, San Francisco, and Seattle have horrible homeless, and garbage problems, which need to be met with both compassion and intelligence, coupled with with exploding crime.

I don't know whether to laugh, or weep this morning.

And our current incarnation of Emperor Nero, President Trump, Our First American Merchant of Death in Chief, simply plays his violin to the only two tunes he knows; first, that American economy is doing magnificently well (and, for the monied like President Trump, that is true; but not for most of the rest of us); and secondly, that American wars are wrapping up, and doing magnificently well.

(This is not at all correct. What we do not see here, is any revocation, or stand down, of US Military troops in the Middle East.)

Pentagon Sending 1,000 more US troops to Middle East

No wonder that most Americans have not a clue as to what is happening in the world at large, as personnel freedoms get chipped away by ever-more-invasive, 24 hour surveillance, while the US is government pouring more troops into the Middle East, and there is a concerted, willful ignorance about this genocide in Yemen that the Corporate Powers that Be, refuse to ALLOW to be seen seen, unless you know where to look for it.

Hint: you will not find it most of the Corporate Presstitute sites; You can only find it at indy media sites, like WRH.

And here, with a warning for graphic content that may cause you to upchuck, if you've already eaten today, are the real images of what is played out in Yemen, day after day, after day, in terms of US/
Saudi war crimes in Yemen:

Images: Yemeni Children getting blown apart, killed, and/or maimed for life, courtesy of US-enabled Saudi bombing runs.

Images: Yemeni children starving to death, courtesy of US/Saudi port blockade

Yemeni children, sick with, and dying, from cholera

In times when Congress actually listened to the American people (like the huge march on the Capital by peaceful, anti-Vietnam war protestors, which demonstrated to then-President Johnson, that he could not pursue the war, because the American people would not go along anymore), and that those politicians who continued to support the war, wouldn't win the next election.

But now is a madly different time and place, originally ushered into being by President Bush's lusting after a war so badly in the Middle East, so as to be able to control both the oil, and insuring that the oil would only be sold in US dollars.

And in this devolution from its initial, Constitutional charge that only Congress has the capability to created a Declaration of War, Congress no longer makes these decisions about war, peace, and national US policies; they are now simply brokered with private,large, multi-national corporations always having a first right of refusal for if and when these wars will be fought, and that these decrees emanate from both DC and Israel.

I mean, those corporations, including our military/industrial complex, are owned by people who contribute, both overtly, and covertly, to Presidential campaigns, to insure that their will, and for heaven's sake, not the will of We the People, is always supported by the US government.

We have a very Kabuki-like ritual in the Unhinged, Surveilled State of Amerika every 4 years, and that this "ritual" is giving Americans the illusion that they actually control who gets "hired" for the Presidency, rather than have them understand, in this first part of the 21st century, that they really have no choice, whatsoever, because they always get stuck with voting for that proverbial "lesser of two evils".

Folks, I am very deeply concerned that Israel is pushing US leadership to a war against Iran, which may well have Russia step in on the Iranian side.

This is not a war which thinking Americans can possibly support, and may well sound the death-knell for this country in its current configuration.

Tackling Iran would provoke a war, and create a "Coalition of the Willing, Against Us

We have seen how well Russian military hardware and leadership have nearly gotten Syria rejoined, under the leadership of President Bashar Al Assad.

Why a War Against Iran Will be the “Nail in a Coffin” for U.S. Hegemony in the Middle East
The Un-submersible US/Iran Stalemate

Why a War Against Iran is bad for President Trump and America

stalemate/5682745">The Unsubmersible US/Iran Stalemate

Iran to Reach the Mediterranean through the Proposed Iran/Iraq/Syria railway corridor

And one of the most crazy-making facets of President Trump's policies in the Middle East, is that neither he, nor the people around him, want to understand that the more the US hits countries like Iran, China and Russia with sanctions, the more these countries are quickly growing closer to each other both military, and economically.

Was this...ultimately the outcome that President Trump wanted?!?

I am having a hard time believing this; but it is a catastrophic, pathological outcome, and state of being for this country, when its leaders listen to those attached to the US government cannot see a scenario through to its logical conclusion.

Brigadier General Fard, please, a word, sir; this kind of hyper-jingoistic palaver only encourages Israel to push the US government harder toward some kind of military confrontation with your country, and soon.

Please remember; Israel's Prime Minister is both dealing with corruption charges, and with an inability to form a coalition, which has meant another snap election coming up in the next couple of months, give or take.

Netanyahu is a geopolitically wounded animal, both at home, and abroad; and any living being, is at its most dangerous, when wounded.

He may feel that he must create some kind of diversion against any country which will not bend to his will, before this snap election happens, which will be 17 September of this year. I'm looking at my calendar, sir, and I am seeing that Premier Netanyahu has precisely 73 days, to make something like this happen.

And as you are well aware, sir, the competition/threat between Israel and Iran, is primarily economic, rather than existential.

I can assure you, Brigadier General, that no thinking American wants a war with your country; and I say that, because Russia has made it crystal-clear, through the following announcement made toward the end of last month in the blog moscowtimes.com: Iran ‘Won’t Be Alone’ If U.S. Attacks, Russian Official Says

We have seen just how well Russian weaponry, and military, have performed in terms of getting rid of Syria's US trained/funded jihadis, and it appears that President Bashar Al-Assad is just on the keening edge of getting his country back.

Zamir Kabulov, went on to state: “Iran will withstand this type of fight and Iran is not alone,” Zamir Kabulov, the Foreign Ministry’s special envoy for Asian countries including Iran, said at a Russian-Iranian policy forum in Moscow.

When asked if Russia was ready to provide material support to Iran if the U.S. attacks it, Kabulov said that “specific actions are a question for the Russian president.”

“But it’s not just Russia, many other countries sympathize and empathize with Iran,” the Kommersant business daily quoted him as saying. “Tehran won’t be alone if the U.S., God forbid, takes wild and irresponsible actions against it.”

So Brigadier General Fard, please: don't give Israel more "ammo" ( I am speaking metaphorically, not literally, here) with which Netanyahu will attempt to push the US government toward something that would be so ham-fistedly, pig-headedly stupid, that I cannot even begin to go there.

You are seeing a marvelous PR campaign, timed brilliantly to ultimately be levelled at Israel, and what will ultimately be the most apt to happen here, will be for Israel to publicly deny the presence of these people in its prisons, and to deny the team any access to either critical records, or people who would actually know what really happened here.

So let me get this straight; the US military, and the Presidency are now being taken to task, for not starting this potentially protracted war of attrition, for which our military is utterly unprepared, because it doesn't have the troop strength; the weaponry; the money; or the manufacturing?!?

And we know, at least with Samantha Vinograd, where her foreign policy views come from; she was a featured presenter at last year's AIPAC Conference:

2018: AIPAC Conference Featured speakers included CNN'S Samantha Vinograd

With Kori Shake, we know a little bit about her background Kori Shake, Hoover institution bio

I would like to politely state, that whatever credibility President Trump started with, in 2017, he absolutely and thoroughly blew to smithereens, by very publicly backing the notion, that everything Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu and his biggest US contributor, Sheldon Adelson, wanted in the Middle East, they would get from his administration.

So, what has he done so far, in that support?!? He has declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel; he has withdrawn the US from the P5+1 treaty with Iran, and thrown crippling sanctions on the Iranian government; he has also, for good measure, created a definition, by executive order, of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as "terrorists".

And in an absolutely potentially insane win/win for Tel Aviv, he has conjured up a "Pax Americana in the Middle East", being hawked by his son-in-law, Jarod ("The Magnificent") Kushner, which is DOA, because all sovereignty of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem ,as well as the Golan Heights, would now be recognised as official Israeli territory, period, end of discussion.

What the whole of the White House seems pathologically incapable of understanding (or, more correctly, do not want to understand), is, that for Palestinians, money is not the objective in any peace deal with Israel, although the money offered here may seem attractive; it is sovereignty over a bit of land to call their own, which drives the Palestinian movement.

And to add insult to historical injury, Israeli engineers, in creating new settler developments, have placed them in such a manner, that there is no way for a contiguous State of Palestine to exist, at this point.

So to Kori and Samantha, please, don't despair; as I type this, I am very sure that if President Trump does NOT want to start a war, your hero in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Netanyahu, is talking to his military ops right now, and has had lengthy discussions about how to "get this party started", and goad the American government into a war in Iran, from which they cannot walk away.

Just because something is the most ham-fistedly, pig-headedly stupid thing that the US government and Military could do, unfortunately, is utterly no guarantee that the US and its military, will not do it.

I am relieved that Trump did call off the airstrike, but the question remains, as to what both the US and Israel plan to do now, since the airstrikes were called off.

But the biggest "clout" President Trump had, when he took office, was the US's support for the P5+1 deal, from which he has withdrawn American support.

I would imagine that Iranian leadership must be thinking that President Trump might be slightly bi-polar, to make such a "switcheroo" on the the actual attack, just 10 minutes before declaring he had done it. I think, reasonably, the Iranians can find no comfortable "middle Ground" with this President, consider his withdrawing the US from the P5+1 agreement.

So what does President Trump have with which he can negotiate now ?!?

He's got an industrial-strength "Frenemy" with Israel's Netanyahu, who will use every opportunity to trap President Trump into a no-win, horrific war, which will most certainly be a war of attrition; in fact, I would rather count on Israel to attempt to pull another "USS Liberty event" (That was when Israel attempted to destroy an American Naval ship, and desperately tried to blame Egypt for it) if they think they can get away with it.

And let's not forget Trump's other BFF in the Middle East, regional neighbor and huge oil producer in Saudi Arabia, currently being run by the Butcher of Yemen, Prince Bin Salman.

How much actual military support against Iran can President Trump expect from both Bin Salman, and the Saudi military?!?

President Trump needs every good opportunity to hand, with regard to Iran; unfortunately, he has very little to offer right now, except for a (potentially deferred) invasion, which will never resolve either the political, and/or economic issues in the region.

To the author of this piece of codswallop; Mr. Ibbitson, did you actually take what Commander Kido told you as pure gospel?!?

Number one, against what data bases could the US intelligence agencies possibly compare these prints?!?

Did Commander Kido believe that Iran's President Rouhani would just open their own databases to American investigators on the case?!?

I think we have a resounding, thuddling NO coming forth as Iran's answer here.

And secondly, this issue of "bearing a striking resemblance to Iranian missiles which have already been publicly displayed in Iranian Military Parades.." Just because something "looks similar"to something people think they have seen in Iranian military parades, does not mean that the missile is the genuine article.

And 3rd, why, in the name of heaven, would Iran do something so ham-fistedly, pig-headedly stupid, as to try to do something menacing in the Persian Gulf, when they are desperately striving to stay away a US and/or Israeli attack against it?!?

Gentlemen, the short answer is, they would not; not in a zillion years, period, end of discussion.

And to our readers and listeners, this flim-flammery surrounding these incidents, are beginning to sound like desperation on the cusp of madness; people both inside the beltway, and many of our closes allies are having one heck of a hard time with this; and for good reason.

(Sigh) For a second, I had hoped that this was the polar opposite from what the Iranian government had said; unfortunately, bopping over to www.presstv.com, the pr outlet the Iranian government, this was precisely what they had stated.

Iran's enriched uranium stockpile to surpass 300 kg from June 27: AEOI spokesman

It goes on to state: "Tehran has said it may go even further by July 8 unless remaining partners to the deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- help it circumvent US sanctions and especially enable it to sell its oil.

Kamalvandi said there is still time for European countries to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the nuclear deal is officially known.

Folks, this is an attempted "power squeeze play" to attempt to insure that Iran's oil gets paid for and distributed, in spite of US sanctions. Europe can either fold to the Americans, and not buy Iranian oil, which will kick this upgrade to uranium enrichment into high gear, or figure out how to buy Iranian oil, with full US sanctions in place.

And remember: the enrichment upgrade about which they are talking, is symbolic only, to demonstrate that they have been playing by the rules all along, as the IAEA has attested, in their reports; because it takes 90% + enrichment to create a nuclear weapon.
Source: Popular Science (Mar, 1950) via Modern Mechanix.

This article goes on to state: "In order to build a nuclear bomb, you need “enriched” uranium. That’s a simple way of saying that you need to use uranium that is 90% or greater made up of the U-235 isotope, whereas natural uranium is 99.2% U-238, which is useless for making things go boom.

Will someone, preferably, someone with a science background, please gently mention this to President Trump, and quickly?!? Because right now, I am reasonably certain the the phone line for his direct-connect to Netanyahu, has Trump spinning, like a turbo-charged, industrial strength top, to advocate in favor of an invasion of Iran.

But Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a word, please: you have just handed the US, and Israel, the "smoking gun" through which they are going to justify an attack against your country; and trust me, they are most probably not even going to begin to wait until either 27 June or 8 July.

And unfortunately, sir, most Americans have no clue as to what is happening here, because their background in hard sciences has been deliberately dumbed down by an educational system which doesn't want, or encourage, critical thinking, or questioning of the official government narrative. And, unfortunately, this makes the likelihood of positive US support for such an action, increase.

I understand that your economy is really hurting, because of the US sanctions on the sale of your oil; but sir, even though this is largely symbolic, this was absolutely the worst, officially horrible decision you could possibly have made under these circumstances; therefore, I am asking you to please reconsider.

This "IRAN DID IT!" scenario is collapsing like a rogue souffle' most probably cooked by a combination of US and Israeli "False Flagmeisters", who were so convinced of their own codswallop, that they believed there was utterly no need for subtlety here, and never thought that there would be one moment of push back from any quarter, and particularly not the US's allies in Europe.

So I would like to politely remind all Foggy Bottomites currently in the bowels of power in DC, of a statement made by President George Bush, right before Iraq was invaded: he lied, on national TV, stating that "Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction".

After that, I was never able to believe anything any representative of the US government ever said, again, and probably never will in the future.

Our European friends are very right, to ask for hard evidence here.

And President Trump, a word, please; lying to the American people, or creating a false flag, because Israel wants the US to invade Iran, is no good reason, either to lie, create a false flag with which to justify that lie, or to do Bibi Netanyahu's bidding here.

An invasion of Iran, which has not done any bit of harm to this country, other than not selling all of its oil in US dollars, is going to create the optics that it is actually the United States which is a "rogue country", both incapable of keeping its promises, demonstrated very clearly, by the US's withdrawing from the P5+1 Agreement, and with an itchy "trigger finger" concerning invading sovereign countries for their resources, to make sure that those resources are only sold in US dollars.

And Mr. President, I am having an extraordinary difficult time, believing that this.... would be what you want your legacy, as President of this country, to be about.

Well, coming from the Butcher of Yemen, (Prince Mohammed bin Salman), I hope this statement has calmed down those in the independent media, that they are in "no harm" from possibly having published an opinion about the incident which "did not carry water for either Washington's or Saudi Arabia's accusations".

And that pathetic little black and white, grainy image, allegedly showing an Iranian military personnel, pulling off the limpet mine from the ship?!?

HIGH SCHOOL folks; HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!

A clever middle-school kid with the right suite of software on their computer, could have pulled this off with ease.

But to both President Trump and Prince bin Salman, there is a question which, logically, must be both asked, and answered; why would the Iranian leadership attempt to do something so ham-fistedly, pig-headedly idiotic, when they understand that there are elements in both the American and Israeli governments are SALIVATING to find a "justification" for attacking it?!?

The short answer is, HELL, no!!

And gentlemen, another comment: the Iranian leadership may be many things; but one thing it is not, is stupid; and I also believe that they love their kids, just as much as Americans and Israelis love their children also.

War, here, is completely unjustifiable, and morally wrong.

For whoever, or whatever collaboration created this, I have only 3 words: BRAVO, WELL DONE!!:-)

One does have to wonder, however, of perhaps our Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has read the book "Minority Report" one too many times, and doesn't quite understand why the actual ending ... is not quite to his liking :-)

I am at least somewhat hopeful, that our European allies would not believe the codswallop the US government was trying to sell them, on this painfully obvious "false flag."

There are two companion pieces, also appearing at antiwar.com today, and they are:

US SecDef wants to focus on building global consensus against Iran after tanker attacks

and MIKE POMPEO SAID CONGRESS DOESN’T NEED TO APPROVE WAR WITH IRAN. 2020

It would seem, to an impartial observer, that both men are working just as hard as they can for Israel, to insure that the Israeli-desired US/Iranian war happens right on cue, to give Netanyahu the best possible "lift", in advance of the snap Israeli elections in September.

So, I have a question: why have both men not registered as "foreign agents", in service to Israel?!?

Because right now, I would politely suggest that their goals and objectives, have absolutely nothing to do with the welfare of the American people, but everything to do with the sustaining of the current geopolitical power structure in Tel Aviv. That is just the reality.

And please remember, unlike the image of "Poor Little Israel" in which many American and Israeli politicians, like to frame Israel's current military capabilities,as though this country was completely and utterly incapable of taking care of themselves, this country is bristling with nuclear arms, and other weapons, courtesy of, you guessed it, the American Taxpayer!!!

And because Israel refuses to sign the NNPT (which Iran has, BTW), and allow their nuclear weapons to be inspected, they are, theoretically forbidden to get any weapons or money from the US under the Symington Amendment; but, of course, with Israel, is always that "special arrangement", which allows our politicians to break the law with impunity, and give it an embarrassment of riches, in terms of money, and new weapons.

So to sum up, Secretary of State Pompeo, and Presidential Advisor Bolton, if Israel believes Iran to be an "existential threat", let Israel take care of it militarily, because they can.

This is absolutely not our fight.

And should the US decide to fight Iran, what is to prevent Russia from stepping into the fray on Iran's side, seeing how well they have done in Syria, getting rid of the US trained/funded jihadis?!?

Gentlemen, right now, the US military doesn't have the weaponry; the funding; the troop strength; or the manufacturing to insure a positive outcome to any war against either Russia or Iran.

Oh, and BTW: when have you decided to bring back the draft?!? Just checking, gentlemen, just checking.

Violent acts like this, do not happen for only one reason, like stunting Iran's chances for anything to come out the the conference at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; the US and Israel thought such charges would be a slam-dunk, and off the American people could be lied into yet another war, with absolute stupidity, as to how the US got there.

But the Vampire-like "Kill Iran" monster, created courtesy of the US and Israel, is not dead, but only sleeping for awhile.

As hard as FAUX News was pushing this yesterday, when you would get segments about this both at the top and bottom of the hour, it was painfully obvious, that the US government was going to see if this "trial balloon", would actually work with those polled, or was going to die an untimely death. It looks as though the overnights, may have put the issue of a potential war with Iran, on a back burner, at least for this second.

But we all have to stay awake, and alert; Netanyahu is in deep kim chee at home, for not being able to form a coalition, which led to the dissolution of the Knesset, to followed by a snap election in September.

We're half-way through June right now, and give or take, 90 days from that election.

If Netanyahu really wants to look "butch" for his constituents, he is going to have to find a way to create a false flag the US government doesn't see coming, to get the US to respond militarily before the elections, to give him "gravitas", at being able to lie the leader of the free world into yet another senseless, thoroughly avoidable, stupid war.

Mr. President, a word for the day, please; and today, that word... is logic.

What in the name of heaven, would Iran want to do something which would give the US and Israeli, the motive, and "justification" for any kind of carnage in the Gulf?!?

The short answer, sir,is that they would not.

Israel's Netanyahu had to disband the Knesset after the last election, because he couldn't create a coalition of parties which worked, and next snap elections will come in September of this year.

With the corruption trials looming ahead of him, coupled with his failure to hold the Knesset together, Netanyahu is now a geopolitically wounded candidate; and and political candidates are at their most reckless when they are wounded by a series of events, as he has been.

My hunch, is that Israel is looking at creating some huge false flag, to be blamed on Iran, and will absolutely dwarf the harm caused by the other bombings we have seen so far in the Gulf of Hormuz.

Netanyahu is feeling the pressure of time, so in working backward from the next Israeli election, he is going to attempt to time this false flag when it will do the most good for his candidacy; but that is still very hard to determine.

With the US showing a grainy video of an alleged Iranian attempting to get non-working mine off the bottom of a ship, regurgitated by the talking heads at very close to the top of the hour, I am thinking that Netanyahu will want to do this sooner rather than later; he may well believe that with the pressure of the snap election in September, he doesn't have time to wait.

I would suspect that the Foggy Bottomites will be doing some poling, during this weekend, to see what the optics may look like, with a huge, allegedly Iranian false flag, followed by an American war against the country. I hope and pray, that the optics will be horrific.

And as I have seen in recent years, just becomes something is so ham-fistedly, pig headedly stupid for the US government to do, is no guarantee that they won't do it.

Mr. President, a word, please; the more you inflame a country, in terms of attempting to punish it for its choices of weapons defenses, the more that country will turn toward other countries whose policies it feels are more in line with its own.

What you have done here, is make Turkey ripe for acquisition by a Iranian/Russian sphere of influence. So sir, I must ask: was this your design objective?!?

Or is this yet another of the "unintended consequences" of your foreign policy failures with the tariffs so far?!?

The US narrative on this, has more holes than does a pasta colander; the US should walk away, with as much grace as humanly possible; however, they are doubling down on their claims this morning,continually having looped the very grainy video that a clever 10 year old could have crash-edited together, as evidence that Iran moved a mine from one tanker.

I would far more believe President Katada, president of and owner of the vessel of the ship, in terms of what he believed he saw, and his naval background tells me that he is a credible witness; this means, of course, you will never hear another word out of him, except in the Independent media, like WRH.

One has to wonder why the US and Israel continue to trot out the same old "game plans" which had worked so well as the justifications for former wars, like the war in Viet Nam, Iraq, or Afghanistan, but cannot possibly work now?!?

Well, let's say that President Bush's regime changed all of that.

And the reality is that, ever since President Bush went on his savage media campaign against Saddam Hussein and Iraq, lying to Americans and the world, that Hussein had "weapons of mass destruction", which Bush absolutely knew were not there, thinking Americans could no longer believe or trust anything this government says.

Thinking Americans understand that what drives the trajectory of US foreign policy, is its ability to expropriate foreign resources, to which it has absolutely no moral right; insure that the government of that country is "US/Western centric", and that those resources are only sold in US dollars.

So, there you have it, very neatly and simply packaged.

And until, and unless, the US loses another major war, this will simply keep continuing,no matter the utterly ruinous costs to our country.

The American people have absolutely zero choice, because no matter how many times we vote in national elections, our two Presidential candidates have been thoroughly vetted by the military industrial complex, the large corporations which have "specific expectations" about what they will get, by going along along with one of the two candidates.

So we vote, yet absolutely nothing changes, except the locales of the wars; the catastrophic slip in most of our standards of living; the infrastructure is left to crumble; our Vets wind up sleeping rough in our sleep; our "education system" is complete rubbish, and families living in their cars, have become the "new normal".

Welcome to the 21st Century's Unhinged, Surveilled, State of Amerika.

Khalid al-Falih,and Secretary of State Pompeo,until you have some tangible proof, other than a grainy video a 10 year old child could have shot, you have utterly nothing with which to accuse Iran on this.

the short answer is, they wouldn't

Unfortunately for General Sabahifard, the reason the US and aligned forces have kept a respectful distance, is that optics demand a far greater "false flag" to be blamed on Iran, than what has happened recently.

So now, we have the USS Bainbridge, and the USS Mason heading over to the Gulf of Oman?!?

This was perfectly predictable, given the tensions in the region.

And we have a sister article, also from rt.com on the incident, and the dispatching of the USS Bainbridge. And notice regarding the Bainbridge, the following statement is made: " No interference with USS Bainbridge, or its mission, will be tolerated."

Folks, I don't know about you, but to me, this telegraphs that something wicked this way comes, courtesy of those whose responsibility it is for creating false flags in both the US and Israel. I don't know how long it will take the USS Bainbridge to reach its destination,but I would expect that shortly before this happens, we will be looking at another incident, to blame again on Iran.

And the title of this companion article is Backing Pompeo's ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ incident is a massive anti-Iran online propaganda campaign

And it goes on to state: "Twitter has announced that it is removing 4,779 accounts associated or backed by Tehran, the latest strike in the ongoing anti-Iran campaign perfectly timed to coincide with the attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was already blaming Iran hours after the incident, offering not a shred of proof aside from a few other dubious incidents in the Middle East that the US has previously pinned on Iran, without evidence.

Even the mainstream media has initially been reluctant to take his word for it, mostly because the narrative is so improbable. Japan's PM Shinzo Abe was in Tehran, promising to use his "utmost effort" to de-escalate tensions, when as if on cue, a Japanese ship was hit along with a Norwegian vessel."

I am almost certain, that something horrific is going to happen on, or right before, the USS Bainbridge reaches the Persian Gulf; the next couple of days should tell the tale.

Let's do something amazing, and actually think, for a moment, can we please?!?

What is the logic of an Iranian move like this, when its leadership is desperately attempting to stave off potential attacks from Israel; Saudi Arabia; and the US?!?

The short answer is, there is zero logic in this move; and although Iranian leadership may be many things, stupid... is not one of them.

One has to wonder just how long Russia is going to put up with this nonsense, before it hits back, or threatens Israel in such a way, that it cannot refuse Russia's desire for Israel to stop these attacks?

The logical question which must be asked, and quickly, is, why in the name of Heaven, would Iran do something so pig-headedly, ham-fistedly stupid, when they are absolutely desperately trying to hold the US and Israel at bay, in terms of not starting a shooting war?!?

We the American people have to have the courage, to ask our alleged representatives, this question, and ask they if they are for a US-led shooting war against Iran?!?

The short answer is, they wouldn't.

So however this was done, I have a very nasty feeling in the pit of my gut, that this could well have happened, courtesy of an American, or Israeli, "false flag team", to make it appear that the Iranians would actually do something so idiotic, as to try to force a shooting war in the region.

The Iranian government members, may be many things; stupid, however, is not one of them.

Sanctions, with which the Trump administration is replacing, and substituting for any kind of rational negotiations, will not bring about the desired result with Iran.

The only thing which will make that happen, is for the US to return to the P5+1 agreement; but President Trump; Pompeo; and Bolton adamantly allow any reasonable discussions here regarding this happening.

Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, is sweating bullets, because his failure to put together a coalition, so there will be another election this September.
Israeli Snap Elections to be held in September, 2019

If he is unable to prod Trump, and the US government, into a seething war footing, and do something to get a war going against Iran, it may well cost him the next election.

So if we see any kind of a false flag happening between now and September, to be blamed on Iran, this will most likely be an Israeli intervention, just as was the attack on the USS Liberty all those years ago, which Israel tried to blame on Egypt.

OK, US military, , you cannot have it both ways; in one breath, an admiral observes that activites with the Iranian military have been "safe and professional", but Gen. Frank McKenzie, still insists that there is an "imminent threat."

These stories, concerning "celebrated jihadists" in Syria, make me come to the conclusion of the war in Syria, may well not be over, courtesy of the US and Israel.

I believe that both countries will poke and prod until they find a perceived "weakness", then blast against it with all those remaining US funded equipped, and trained jihadis as they possibly can.

The big question, at that point, is what will Russia, and the Syrian government, do to combat this?!?

The Iranian civilian government and its military leadership, may be many things; that being said, foolish, and unprepared are not among those categories whatsoever.

They full well know, what may be in their future (a war with the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel), and want to guard against this, by creating the best military equipment which can be created by their weaponry engineers.

So I would like to, politely and strongly caution the White House, Pentagon, and State Department, that should the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, mount some kind of attack against Iran, that Russia and China may well decide to join Iran in the fight.

And President Trump, no matter what verbal poison against Iran with which Bolton, Netanyahu, and Pompeo are filling your ears, there as to be another way, other than war, to achieve your geopolitical and financial goals here.

But your unilaterally pulling the US out of the P5+1, was an horrendous mistake, sir; and right now, to your utter embarrassment, the IAEA team, on the ground in Iran, are still saying, that the Iranians are complying with their side of the bargain.

Mr. President, please tell me that this is a belated April Fool's joke; because if it isn't, you may just have created the elements which can potentially turn into World War III; the current detente between Saudi Arabia and Israel could turn nasty at any second, and any attack against Iran by Saudi Arabia, could well be met with China and Russia taking sides with Iran.

Giving dictatorial kingdoms, which are self-proclaimed theocracies, is probably not ever a great idea; and I am referring, sir, to both Israel and Saudi Arabia.

This move does not augur well for peace, either in the region, or in the world.

I am looking at this, and shaking my head, at this insanity.

What the hell does Erdogan think he is going to get out of these battles against primarily innocent, non-combatant, more land to claim belonging to Turkey?!?

Someone needs to get to this guy, and in short order, explain the word "Optics"; and right now, the optics of this Turkish war against Iraq, are looking officially horrible.

Looking at the trajectory of US Foreign policies,I am deeply concerned that John Bolton will attempt, when he has Trump's ear, getting wars going on in Syria; Venezuela; Cuba; and Iran.

One has to wonder; what kind of stock investments in the military/industrial complex industries, and related industries, does the guy actually hold?!? Is that what makes him so war-centric, for more personal wealth?!?

Because remember; people who do what he does, as Advisor to the President, do not have to sign over their personal revenues, and put them in a blind trust.

Or is it some kind of dark, demented blood lust, pushing him to create environments, where people are going to wind up dead?!?

Either way, that a person who can be simultaneously so consistently wrong, and yet so consistently have the ear of a sitting President so frequently, is utterly terrifying.

Why would he lie like this, when he absolutely knows better?!?

One has to wonder; what kind of compensation, and from whom is he getting it to say something he knows, scientifically, not to be true?!?

Oh, I can think of a couple of countries here; perhaps the US, or Israeli?!?

Mister President, from whom did you get the designation "terrorist", when it comes to Iran?!?

Were I a betting person, I would bet that it must have come from one of your two BFFs in the Middle East: Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Butcher of Gaza.

Remember that tiny little enclave called Gaza?!? Did you know what goes on their with their kids?!? They are routinely arrested and tortured by the IDF, and forced to sign "confessions" in Hebrew, a language they do not speak, and barely can comprehend?!?

History, Past to Present: Palestinian Children in Israeli jails.

Israel Military DetentionThis article goes on to state: "Israel is the only country in the world that automatically prosecutes children in military courts that lack basic and fundamental fair trial guarantees. Since 2000, at least 8,000 Palestinian children have been arrested and prosecuted in an Israeli military detention system notorious for the systematic ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children."

Around 500-700 Palestinian children are arrested, detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system each year."

Israeli torture of Palestinian children 'institutional'

Israel jails hundreds of Palestinian boys every year.

Did you also know that Israel has "indefinite confinement in prison, no trial, no law; no nothing, where they can keep people in jail permanently?!?

Israeli jails: facts and resources

Israel is holding a Palestinian lawmaker as political prisoner...indefinitely

Israel order solitary confinement for jailed Palestinian Leader

So, Mr. President, before you use that "T" word again, to describe Iran as a "terrorist country", you need to look again, and ask some unbiased NGO members, who have heard these testimonies of Palestinians routinely locked up, and kids tortured; I sincerely believe that you... would have an ear for the truth, when you hear it.

And sir, finally, something you really need to see (preferably, with the whole family), and it is the documentary, done by a very charming Jewish videographer, and it's name is: "Don't tell Mother I'm In Iran." The link can be found here: Don't tell my Mother I'm in Iran

This is a very different image of the country from that which Netanyahu wants you to believe, and it focuses on Iran's young people, and the fact that in it's 1979 Constitution (and sir, why to the Iranians HAVE a constitution, but Israel does not?), religious minorities are protected, and these groups are Christians, Bahais, and Jews.

Not only are they a protected minority, but each faith has a Representative in their Parliament, and the videographer goes into one of the very lovely synagogues, and his visit there is nothing short of amazing.

Here is a list of Christian churches in Iran:

Christian churches in Tehran

You are welcome, Mr. President!!

Mr. President, a word, please; pulling the US from the P5+1 deal, telegraphed, painfully clearly, to the Iranian government, that the US government is pathologically incapable of keeping its promise, when an election cycle moves the person in power, as the President, to someone else.

The possibilities that you could negotiate a new agreement with Iran, have pretty much been torn asunder, by this ham-fistedly, bone-headedly , incredibly stupid decision on your part, made under immense pressure, of course, from two of your two BFFs, one in the Middle East, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, and the other, Sheldon Adelson, the American Zionist who has poured out contributions upon you, with just as much support as he was able, legally, to do.

So, President Trump, what you have, in terms of perception by the Iranian government, is an "optics problem".

And BTW, sir: the IAEA continues to report that Iran is abiding by this deal, and has not done anything to disturb Iranian cooperation with the P5+1.

Now, i don't know anything about the CVs of the people working with this organization; but I do understand that they have to be phenomenally smart people, and if something was amiss, they would honestly report it.

So, President Trump, is it humanly possible that you, and your brother and sister Foggy Bottomites who condemn Iran, can do something that might, please, possibly appear, as a sane and logical move here?!?

Sir, it is way past time, for the US government, with regard to Iran, to "cage the rage, and engage" ; please show the Iranian government that we can actually do this, with some "trust-building mechanisms".

You have a both war-weary, and war-skeptical nation to take care of; and if the advisors around you even MENTION the possibility of restarting the draft, with which to beef up US troop strength, before another endless war starts, with which to engulf the world, there are two words for which you are famous on television, and those two words are: "YOU'RE FIRED"!!!''

You need to use those words immediately, sir, to anyone in your inner circle, who is still pushing the agenda, that the attack against/invasion of Iran, is a "great idea."

Unfortunately, just because something is the most ham-fistedly, pig-headedly idiotic thing the US government might do, is no guarantee that it will not do it.

The war against Iran, being advocated by by Israel, and their "Foreign Minister" in the US, John Bolton, (yes, you read that correctly) whose sympathies and interest, lie much closer with those of the Israel government, than they with those of the American people.

Should the US embark on such a war, which will most probably include proxy military presence by Saudi Arabia, and intel from Israel, what would be stopping China and Russia from stepping in on Iran's side, and exploding this conflict from a festooning regional war to a world war?!?

The short answer is, Russia and China would have much to gain, by showing the world that their weaponry, troop strength, and tactics, could possibly knock out the US military in such a conflict.

But the question is, once US civilian and military leadership are convinced that we cannot overpower Russia and China, when will such a war go nuclear?!?

I hope that someone in the Bowels of Power in DC, is losing sleep, over this scenario; because the potential for it happening, has never been more real.

While I abhor all violence, what we saw against the Saudi oil ships, done by houthi rebels, may well be what the West may start to experience, intensely, courtesy of its general duplicity on the issue of Palestinian statehood, and its "manufactured" arguments with Iran, where its only "crime" has been refusing to sell its oil only in US dollars.

And I think that President Kennedy said it first, and said it best: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

Something upon which the Foggy Bottomites; Tel Aviv; and Saudi Arabia, really need to be reflecting right now.

Mr. President, a word please; by withdrawing the US from the P5+1 deal (the terms of which, according to the IAEA, Iran is in compliance), you have demonstrated one thing, both to Iran and to the world; The US government is pathologically incapable of keeping its promises.

There were many criticism I had for President Obama's regime; but the P5+1 deal, was absolutely not one of those criticisms.

And I will predict that the Iranians, with a proud and lengthy history, as a people, will not come back to re-negotiate what you pulled of in the first place.

The power of the presidency... should not be wielded in a "Sword of Damocles" manner; and too many times, since you have taken office, your attitude appears to have been one of "My way... or the highway!!" This has burnt a lot of bridges, geopolitically.

And if you catch my drift, bridges, upon which can be can be traveled, to reach and suggest room for negotiation, are generally bad things to burn, because there is no going back.

I am thinking, sir, of our current adversarial relationship with China; North Korea; Russia; Iran; and the Philippines.

So, Mr. President, just what is the US government's "plan" for Iran?!?

Are you going for a decap strike against Iran, which, fearful for its own survival, just may just invite China and Russia, militarily, "to the dance"?!?

We have seen Russia's weaponry on display in Syria, where it has made short work of American trained/funded jihadis.

Mr. President, I would strongly caution you to pick the US government's fights, which will involve our troops, and their very lives, extremely carefully.

The future existence of this country, depends upon it.

One has to wonder; since this permission came down just two weeks after the Kashoggi assassination, did President Trump know this was going down before it happened?!?

I am sorry to suggest, but have to state, that this... is the "opening of Pandora's Box", by the US government; and I suspect that it will rue the day when it happened, and Saudi Arabia has an impressive nuclear arsenal.

Against what country in the region Saudi Arabia will first attempt to use these weapons?!? Color Iran as the most likely recipient of the brutal damage from a nuclear bombing.

So what will Iran ultimately do, faced with this predicament?!? Develop nuclear bombs of their own, and I would likely suggest, this could happen very quickly, if they approached Pakistan for their nuclear technology.

One has to wonder just what forces in the White House, or Pentagon, have ordered this "picador" maneuver, to get the Iranian military to engage?!?

One has to wonder if those planning such actions are DC's "Gruesome
Two-some", Bolton and Pompeo, who have never seen a military conflict, potentially causing thousands of Americans to die, or be maimed for life, that they didn't love.

Since President Trump's outsourcing his Middle Eastern foreign policy to Israel, things in the region have gone from bad to worse.

And we have a companion piece, which bears both notice, and scrutiny:

Trump says there is ‘always a chance’ of war with Iran

Mr. President, this intellectual whiplash is not playing out well, in the heartland.

And if you don't believe that the policy makers in Iran have this behaviour well and truly pegged, you are getting truly lousy advice from those around you.

So, Mr. President, a word, please: you cannot revoke your responsibility here as Commander in Chief; because if you let Pompeo, Bolton, and Netanyahu drive American foreign policy in this region, I would almost predict that the US will be embroiled in either a regional war, or a world war by the end of this year.

Every time I see an image of a dead, or dying child, courtesy of US-enabled, or US-generated air strikes, I just want to grab that kid, just reach through the computer screen, and pull him or her out of that horrific situation, and into my arms, to at least provide some tiny bit of human compassion before they pass.

And I am about to do what some of you hate me for doing, posting some images of human beings killed, or crippled for life, courtesy of this government, which has chosen not to represent me, or many other people in this country who have an intellectual grasp of what is coming next.

Everything has a life-cycle, which I fully appreciate, having turned 70 this last year, including governments. I will not, ever, condone violence, because as a Christian Pacifist Activist, my conscience, and my heart, will not allow this.

But here are some current images of what has been done, in your name, by the Unhinged, Surveilled, State of America: warning, very graphic, and you may lose your lunch, upon seeing these.

You have been warned.

Images: Syrian kids being killed or maimed for life, courtesy of US-supported air strikes

There is a point past which Russia cannot continue to tolerate these strikes in Syria; there will have to be a point where either they, or the Syrian military, will have to be much more aggressive to keep Israel from bombing more of Syria; and this country cannot tolerate much more of this bombing happening.

I would like to hope that Putin will phone Netanyahu, at some ungodly hour in the Middle East, and demand that this bombing stop.

General Dunford, a respectful word sir, here; if you have utterly no evidence through which you can prove your allegations to a war-weary and war-skeptical country, how do you think that you, and your compatriots, like Bolton and Pompeo, are going to convince the people of this country that yes, another war is necessary, when the American people understand that they were lied into wars against Afghanistan and Iraq?!?

Forgive me, General; but the optics on such a move, are nearly impossible, if you continue to make allegations for which you have utterly no proof. OF course, the Israelis are pushing you in this direction; but perhaps, it should be the IDF fighting these battles, as they are always complaining and criticizing Iran as an "existential threat."

Again, Putin has proven himself one of the few "adults in the room" in geopolitics.

This guy has the "horse sense" to know when to push (as he did with Syria's government, in terms of assisting it get rid of most of the US trained, funded, and armed jihadis), and when to back off (not giving Iran the requested S-400 missile defense system.)

I think world history, will treat this man very kindly, in years to come...

You are not going to see this on NBC; CBS; MSNBC; or FOX.

So what, please, does the US government do here, side with the Kurdish, who have been successfully exterminating ISIS jihadis in the US government's behalf, or side with their NATO ally, Turkey, in this attack?!?

Because either way the US government goes in on this conflict, it is nearly certain that it will need to completely destroy one, or the other, of these warring factions.

This is geopolitical insanity, and if the US decides to favor Turkey's excuses for this incursion here, it will be sending the painfully clear message, that it is pathologically incapable of being an honest broker for peace in the region, particularly where the Kurdish people are involved.

Kurt absolutely nails it here.

And President Trump, a word please; what this country needs, and desperately, as in, YESTERDAY, is a Department of Peace, with an ability to demonstrate to you how geopolitical tensions can be diffused through intelligent, hard-won, moral negotiations rather than wars.

Mike and I are volunteering to do this for you, and right now!!!

You are welcome, Mr. President!!!! :-)

One has to remember; unlike the President, (who has to put his money into a blind trust, before he takes the Oath of Office), Senators and Congressional Representatives, can put their money, in terms of investment, anywhere they wish.

One has to wonder, just how many of them are invested in either companies which provide weaponry, or other military-supportive companies, like those who create medicines, or food, for our troops.

When wars come, companies like these, make incredible profits, as well do their stockholders. So, when our "alleged" representatives feel that they can "justify" wars (in which, I might add, their kids will most probably not be fighting), they will do so, at the drop of a hat; hell, they have nothing to loose, right?!?

Wars represent a terrible failure of imagination, for most logical folks.

And of course, Israel and AIPAC, are encouraging these was against their enemies, so the costs will only be borne, in American blood, and American money.

Does our Secretary of State, not understand, that he is TELEGRAPHING a false flag, to be blamed against Iran?!?!?

I would strongly suspect, that this new weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, isn't, at least, right now Iran-focused, but the continued stalemate in Yemen, which has the US fighting on the side of the Saudis, with no end in sight.

The Butcher of Yemen, is probably going to use most of this hardware to do carpet bombing of the country, so very few are left alive; in fact, in the corporate warmonger feeds, I still am hearing not a word about Yemen, from those annoying talking heads, just what a "threat" Iran is (supplying no specifics, of course). My potential "window" for an israel-delivered "false flag", to be blamed, of course, on Iran,would be any time between this Monday, 26 May, through Thursday, 4 July.

And the $64,000 dollar question here is, if the US invades Iran, what will Russia and China's parliaments do?@?

Sit back and sing, "Kumbya"?!?

I rather think not!!

It appears, from the look of this, that most probably, the missiles might be weighted, in terms of location, with more of them having been deployed in the Middle East,rather than our forces in Asia.

Netanyahu wants this war, and at double-march speed time.

He cannot wait for Trump to turn around and do something logical here, so I would say that a reasonable "window" for a false flag event, to be blamed on Iran, would be between Monday, Memorial Day, and Thursday, 4 July, which is the US's main patriotic event.

Please understand that I would hate like heck to be right; but this is what I see, looking at, with all the pieces of the puzzle in view.

COME ON, can you blame the guy, looking at an impending war with the US would do to his country for heaven's sake?!?

The short, logical answer is, no.

It has never been so painfully clear, in the history of the US Congress, that those in it, have had both their consciences, and spines, surgically removed.

President Trump, a word, please: these acts will be viewed as preparations for a war against Iran.

And it appears to me, that CENTCOM is getting rather drunk on its own cork, and not looking at the gaping "holes" in the US military posture.

And what happens, please, if China and Russia decide to enter the fray on Iran's side?!?

And have you not noticed that the further this country drives Iran away, with sanctions, etc., the closer it is moving toward partnerships with Russia and China, to the point of doing away with any transactions which used to be done in US dollar denomination?!?

Sir, please wake up, and direct CENTCOM to come up with any other way of "dealing" with Iran's alleged aggressions," which doesn't involve committing the US troops to another senseless, stupid war.

And Mr. President, please remember; in 2016, you were hired by the American people to move this country forward, on a platform of peace and prosperity; if you commit to another war, you are bailing on that platform.

Unfortunately, just because something is one of the most ham-fistedly, pig-headedly stupid thing the US and its military could do, is absolutely no guarantee that they won't do it.

And there is a paragraph after the last one I copied, which I don't believe at all; the writer of this article, characterizes Iran's leadership as "insane", and frankly, I wouldn't go there.

I think that the Iranians care as much for their kids, and their country, as we do for our kids and our country. In reading presstv.com (an English language version of Iranian state-approved news), you see kids, young men and young women, competing in both sports, and intellectual combat, like building and programming robots, and mathanasium challenges.

One of the best, highest ranked global universities for computer science, to be found in Iran

They understand that they live in the 21st century, and want their kids to be as competitive and ready, as they can possibly be.

So Mr. President, a word, please: any kind of invasion/attack against Iran, of course, preceded by a "false flag, to be blamed against it, (most probably courtesy of Mossad) is NOT what We the People wanted, when they voted you into office. They hired you to run this country on a peace and prosperity platform; not more endless wars.

And please understand, that if you do this, Israel's Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu will not give a rat's anus, if we wind up with hundreds, or thousand American troops dead or maimed for life.

Israel is always eager for other countries to fight their wars for it, so that the costs in blood, and money, will only be absorbed by those proxy fighters, and not Israel.

And there is another question about this potential for further deployment of Americans in the Middle East; what happens when Russia and/or China, decide to come in on Iran's side?!?

Do you remember what happened in Syria, when Russian troops and weaponry got rid if most of the jihadi there (including those paid for by US tax funds?!?)

Sir, please don't back away from asking this of Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan; as of an article dated 16 May, at bloomberg.com stated:

US "Evidence" of Iran Threat readied for Release by the Pentagon. The article went on to state:

"The evidence may be released within a day, according to one of the officials, because the White House recognizes it needs to disclose more documentation to skeptical allies, U.S. lawmakers and the public.

These include images of the two dhows, slow-moving vessels that U.S. analysts believe were carrying cruise missiles that are designed to attack land targets and would be fired directly from the boats rather than shipped to other locations, according to one of the defense officials.

The vessels could be easily disguised among the many dhows that transit the Persian Gulf in routine commerce -- unlike the easily spotted speedboats that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has long used to intimidate crews of oil vessels from other nations and occasionally to harass American ships in the Persian Gulf"

Translation; they are "cherry picking" the data, to make it appear that there IS a credible threat from Iran, and that is what will be shown to Congress and to you, President Trump.

And Mr. President, forgive me, but if US lawmakers, the public, and allies may be characterized as being "skeptical", about these claims, please remember the following: The US government flat out lied about "Saddam Hussein's having alleged "weapons of mass destruction", to get the Iraq war going

It was all about the oil, and insuring that it was only sold in US dollars, and Iraq is still one hot, sticky mess from that never-ending war.

Mr. President, you and Congress may state the need for "confrontation", because Israel wants to get this war going quickly, as they are unsure if you are getting "cold feet" about it; but sir, if you do this, it will be another war, based on lies, to create confrontation where there could possibly be collaboration.

US governmental credibility has been well and truly flushed, when you ordered that the US withdraw from the P5+1 Agreement; please don't make this any worse than it already is, as the Middle East is already on the cusp of disaster.

One has to wonder if this unbearably tone-deaf rant has to do with Pompeo's taking graduate level classes from Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, in both hubris and chutzpah?!?

Iraqis have every moral, and reasonable right to be concerned about the US potentially using their country as a "base from which to attack Iran."

But there was one guy who most probably wouldn't have wanted to speak to Pompeo at all; that is, the most powerful man in Iraq who holds no office; that would, of course, be Muktada Al Sadr.

And this is because his coalition won control of Iraq's Parliament: how painfully ironic that had to be to the US government and Military?!?!?

He was also the spiritual leader of the Mahdi Army, against which the US was continuously fighting in Iraq. He was also the guy who said, that if US troops did not leave precisely at the moment specified by the SOFA agreement, US military would become "fair game" for his fighters.

His now being in control of the Iraqi Parliament, has to be one of the worst nightmares for the defense department and state department.

And of course, you didn't hear this from most of the Corporate Pressitutes, but yesterday, Moktada al Sadr, with other Iraqi clerics, made the statement:

Iraqi Shiite Figures warn that a US war against Iran, would cause Iraq to burn

The article goes on to state:

"Populist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said any political party that would drag Iraq in a U.S.-Iran war “would be the enemy of the Iraqi people.” al-

Leading Iraqi Shiite figures warned Monday against attempts to pull their country into a war between the U.S. and Iran, saying it would turn Iraq into a battlefield yet again, just as it is on the path to recovery.

The warning came hours after a rocket slammed into Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, landing less than a mile from the sprawling U.S. Embassy. No injuries were reported and no group immediately claimed the Sunday night attack.

Shortly after, President Donald Trump tweeted a warning to Iran not to threaten the United States or it will face its “official end.”

So President Trump and Secretary Pompeo, a thought here, please; just a small caveat; it is said that Muktada al Sadr keeps in very close touch with the commanders of his former Mahdi Army.

IF the US declares war on Iran, and uses Iraqi soil from which to stage their attack, how long would it take this guy, to "get the band back together", in terms of US military having to fight off both Iranian military, and his Mahdi Army?!?

Gentlemen, the honest, short answer is, "not long at all".

I sure hope that at least ONE of you is getting more than a few sleepless nights about this potential.

Mr. President, a word, please; this hyped up, potential military confrontation with Iran, is one of the most ludicrous creations of your Administration.

We understand that Netanyahu, and Sheldon Adelson, are pushing you to the max to have the US start or trigger this war, as they have tried a number of administrations ago (so that the IDF doesn't have to fight Iran, but the costs in blood and money, will be totally those of the American people).

But the only reason for it, would be economic in nature, because Israel wants Iran broken up, so that it will get lost in its own internal squabbles, and not be a practical, economic threat any longer.

When citizens are defending their homeland, and there's lots of skin in the game, if you will, they will fight, to the death, if they have to, to keep the foreign fighters away from their doors.

And what if Russia and China weigh in on Iran's side?!?

They know, President Trump, what the US has in terms of weaponry, troop strength, manufacturing, and financing.

They also know that at least that we know of, the National Dept is running around $22 trillion right now.

The US government is broke, desperate, and may use this war to attempt to distract ordinary people from understanding, what has happened to the economy since your watch began.

For the monied, it's wonderful; for those of us who are not... not quite so good.

I fear that in order to feed these endless wars and occupations you have approved (by not pulling out our troops from some, or all of these quagmires) we are going to see the reinstitution of the draft in this country, to keep up military strength.

And THAT, sir, will be the moment the fertilizer hits the ventilation system.

And I say this, because many Americans are now awakened to the reality that all wars are economic in nature; how likely, then, are they to respond to a draft when they know the all wars are bankers' wars, and that financial institutions profit big-time, from wars and death?!?

This may lead to riots of such a nature that local police and military members are unable to put them down "with extreme prejudice".

Then what, Mr. President?!?

I would like to politely suggest, that if you are so impossibly incapable of "caging the rage and engaging" with world leaders, this needs to be made the responsibility of someone else, please, who can.

The "mesmerizing effect" you have on your base, doesn't cut it with world leaders who really understand the meaning of the word "negotiation", and always work to "be the adults in the room." with rational judgement, and a willingness to compromise.

Right now, on the international stage, two of those poster people, for being adults in the room, are Sergei Lavrov , and his boss, President Putin; they are constantly trying to take the "military/political edge off" of world situations, and look where negotiations can be win/win; unfortunately, sir, the world, right now, is seeing you churlish; impetuous; ill-mannered, and very much an arrested adolescent, wearing some very luxurious grown people's clothing.