U.S. Aircraft Carrier Heads To Persian Gulf In “Show Of Force” After Iran Ballistic Missile Test

USS John C. Stennis nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, via Defence Blog

 

Days after Iran unveiled its first stealth destroyer in a televised ceremony on Saturday which saw the warship launched into operation in the Persian Gulf, and after the US condemned Iran’s test firing a medium-range nuclear capable ballistic missile on Sunday, Pentagon officials have announced the U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf in a show of force against Iran.

Top Iranian Commander Identifies US Bases “Within Reach” Of Precision Missiles

 

Threats issued from Iranian officials against U.S. military operations in the Persian Gulf are nothing new, however, it will be interesting to see the White House response to an elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) commander specifically designating that American bases in Afghanistan, the UAE, Qatar, as well as U.S. aircraft carriers in the Gulf are within range of Iranian ballistic missiles.

Amirali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGC airspace division, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency, via Reuters:

They are within our reach, and we can hit them if they make a move… Our land-to-sea missiles have a range of 700 kilometers [450 miles]… and the US aircraft carriers are our targets.

“Arab NATO” Gaining Momentum? Washington’s ‘Plan B’ For Countering Russia

 

All wars initiated or supported by the US establishment — from the occupation of Iraq in 2003, to the second Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, and to regime-change efforts in Syria in 2011 and the occupation of a third of Iraq in 2014 — have failed in their goal of stoking the fire of sectarian war between Sunni and Shia in the Middle East. The failure of this strategy has pushed the US establishment towards two new options: the first, of using the media to reveal Saudi Arabia’s intention to harm the Iranian economy and assassinate its military commanders. The second is to promote and advertise for an “Arab (Sunni) NATO Army”. The goal is to keep the possibility of sectarian war alive.

Iran Targets the Gulf

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Iran offered “support to al-Qaeda in exchange for targeting the Gulf,” according to CIA documents captured last year from Osama bin Laden’s compound.

 

• Our allies are finally becoming force multipliers — joining with America to use its talent and technology finally to defeat the jihadist threat. We should assist and encourage the UAE and Saudi Arabia, not abandon them.

More than 7,000 miles from Washington and far from America’s headlines, a war in Yemen is rewriting America’s strategy against Iran and terrorism.

The three-sided civil war pits two radical Islamist forces — Al-Qaeda’s largest surviving army and Iran’s biggest proxy force — against each other and six of America’s Arab allies. U.S. Special forces carry out covert raids and CIA drones rain down missiles on terror leaders.

Report: Tehran Aims to Claim Iraq, Syria, Lebanon

(Photo Credit: Khamenei.ir via Creative Commons 4.0)

 

Effectively, the three nations would join Iran as a “federal Islamic state,” cementing Tehran’s “Shia Crescent” land bridge through the heart of the Middle East. The political coalitions are all backed by militia proxies of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the report states.

Syria, which has been racked by civil war for nearly eight years, won’t be going to the polls anytime soon but its current government under Bashar al-Assad is closely aligned with Iran politically. That alliance is bolstered by the military presence of Russian military forces and Iranian proxy militias.

Iran threatens to ‘raze Tel Aviv’ as Middle East tensions reach boiling point

Iran has threatened military action against Israel [Getty]

 

IRAN has vowed to destroy Tel Aviv if Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu carries out his recent threats to launch military action against the Islamic republic as simmering tensions in the Middle East reach boiling point.

Angry exchanges between the two countries have intensified recently with the bitter Syrian war spilling over into a wider proxy fight and Iran’s role in the ongoing Yemen conflict enraging Israel and the West.

And Mr Netanyahu ramped up the rhetoric at last weekend’s Munich Security Conference when he accused Iran of seeking to dominate the region with aggression and terror.

The Saudi-Iran Brewing War

 

The turmoil in the Middle East has been instigated in part by fiscal mismanagement. When the money was rolling in with high oil prices, it was assumed, as always, that whatever trend is in motion will remain in motion. Consequently, the government expanded their spending assuming money would continue to flow in. When oil broke, the fiscal mismanagement has been exposed for all to see if they care to look.

Falling oil prices have decimated revenues and trade in the region. Security worries about terrorism, particularly in the US, have led to cuts in airline routes. Then there has also been a long-running diplomatic and trade impasse between Saudi Arabia and its allies on the one hand, and Qatar on the other. Now the good-old-days of easy money and rapid growth has led to concerns about over-capacity, waste, and corruption that nobody cared about when money flowed like oil.

Iran’s rising influence raises Saudi eyebrows

 

While the post-sanction era seems prosperous for Iran, it seems worrisome for Iran’s major foe, Saudi Arabia, which is being confronted by Iran’s rising influence in the Middle East and the anticipation of Iran achieving a nuclear weapon soon.

The Coming Fracture Of Saudi Arabia

 

The Bible’s book of Galatians, VI teaches, «as you sow, so shall you reap». And for Saudi Arabia, which has overtly and covertly supported rebellions in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Ethiopia, Philippines, and Lebanon that have led to civil wars and inter-religious strife, the day of reckoning may soon be at hand. The present Saudi king, Salman bin Abdul Aziz, is the last of the sons of the first Saudi king, Abdul Aziz al Saud, who will ever sit on the Saudi throne. After Salman dies, Saudi leadership will pass to a new generation of Saudi royals. But not all the descendants of the first Saudi king are happy about how the future succession may turn out.

The Winds of War

 

This is a video of Putin explaining the balance of power from the Russian viewpoint. He is absolutely correct in saying that an anti-missile system neutralizes opposition. It would certainly embolden the war hawks into believing that they could defeat Russia and rule the world at the expense of American and Russian citizens.

Montesquieu, who influenced the Founding Fathers in creating the Constitution, met the political leader and soldier known as the Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736). The political discussions between these two men helped Montesquieu understand the evils of government and forged the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and the right to bear arms. The Prince of Savoy was considered, even by Napoleon, as one of the seven greatest strategists in military history. He fought against the Turks (1683-1688, 1697, 1715-1718) and he fought against the French in the War of the Grand Alliance (1689-1691). He was also the teacher of Frederick the Great of Prussia (b 1712; 1740–1786) who he shaped into a brilliant military strategist.

Western Democracy Gone Mad

For decades, but especially following the U.S. overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, the U.S. government has tried to promote the establishment of democracies in the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere around the globe.

This should come as no surprise.  Centers for the Study of Democracy have become an integral feature of universities throughout the United States and Western Europe.  They replaced older schools of realpolitik that used to be taught.  Professors, politicians, and international organizations aggressively promote the doctrine of democracy.

IRGC Deputy Commander Salami On The Might Of Iran’s Islamic Revolution In The World And The West’s Threats To Iran From Within And Without

Hossein Salami (Source: Tasnimnews.com)

 

Last month, in a number of speeches, Hossein Salami, deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), focused on the might of Iran’s Islamic Revolution at home and its impact on the region and on the world, and also on threats to it and to the Islamic world by the West and its agent – Sunni Saudi Arabia.

On July 4, 2016, at a Memories of the Iran-Iraq War conference, Salami attributed Islamic Iran’s steadfastness to its independence from the superpowers, to global recognition of its greatness, and to its martyrs. He said that Iran is the only country that challenges the world order and does not submit to the dictates of the superpowers.

Bloody Alliance (I)

BERLIN/RIYADH (Own report) – Saudi Arabia can use German technology of repression and skills provided by the German police for the suppression of its opposition, which last weekend culminated in a mass execution. In recent years, the German government has authorized the supply of telecommunication surveillance products to Riyadh, worth more than 18 million Euros. The German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation organized, among other things, training courses in counter-terrorism for Saudi Arabia’s GID intelligence service. Saudi Arabia even treats non-violent protests by its heavily discriminated Shia minority as “terrorism.” The German Federal Police is training Saudi border police officers within the framework of an official project, formally approved in 2009 by Germany’s Interior Minister at the time, Wolfgang Schäuble. According to reports, the training includes exercising the use of assault rifles and crackdowns on demonstrators. It has also been provided, at least temporarily, to members of the religious police force. This cooperation in repression is an element of a comprehensive economic cooperation guaranteeing German enterprises large sales and billions in contracts. Above all, it serves Berlin’s strategic Middle East policy objectives.

Iran Serving As Russia’s ‘Ground Force’ In Syria

Iran waging ‘ethnic cleansing campaign’ in Syria

Iranian militants have begun acting as Russia’s de facto “ground force” in Syria, where they have begun waging “an ethnic cleansing campaign” in order to eradicate opposition to the embattled President Bashar al-Assad, according to leading members of Congress, defense officials, and outside experts.

A Pentagon official who was not authorized to speak on the record confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon that the United States “continue[s] to see Iranian-sponsored forces providing support to the Syrian regime in their fight against Syrian opposition forces.”

It is now believed that Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces are acting as Russia’s “ground force” in Syria, helping Moscow to clear out primarily secular opposition forces battling to depose Assad, according to lawmakers and regional experts.

Iranian troops and Hezbollah ‘massing in Syria for ground battle against rebels’

Hundreds of Iranian troops have reportedly crossed into Syria ahead of a ground operation supporting Bashar al-Assad against his enemies.

Sources in Lebanon claim that the soldiers arrived 10 days ago and will be supporting government forces, alongside fighters from the Shia Islamist group Hezbollah, against rebels in northern Syria.