Posted on 11/25/2020 2:51:56 PM PST by Roman_War_Criminal
In threat to Iran, US sends heavy B-52H Stratofortress Bombers to Middle East via Israel FROM TIMES OF ISRAEL: In a highly irregular move, the B-52H Stratofortress planes were seen flying toward Israeli airspace on Saturday en route to the base where they will be stationed, likely in Qatar. The aircraft were spotted on civilian tracking software approaching Israel before they apparently turned off their transponders, rendering them invisible on those applications.
It was the third time in the past year and a half that B-52 bombers, which are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and other powerful munitions, have been deployed to the region in tacit threats to Iran. In previous cases, the bombers were not seeing flying through Israeli airspace. It was not immediately clear what accounted for the change in route.
US CENTRAL COMMAND SAID THE PLANES WERE SENT INTO THE REGION “TO DETER AGGRESSION AND REASSURE US PARTNERS AND ALLIES.”
The planes were ordered on short notice to fly to the Middle East nonstop from their home base in North Dakota, refueling along the way in mid-air. The bombers were accompanied on the mission by F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as KC-10 and KC-135 refueling planes, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
“THE ABILITY TO QUICKLY MOVE FORCES INTO, OUT OF AND AROUND THE THEATER TO SEIZE, RETAIN AND EXPLOIT THE INITIATIVE IS KEY TO DETERRING POTENTIAL AGGRESSION,” LT. GEN. GREG GUILLOT, COMMANDER OF THE US MILITARY’S 9TH AIR FORCE, SAID IN A STATEMENT.
The general said deploying bombers to the region allows their crews to better acquaint themselves with the area and work better with local units.
“These missions help bomber aircrews gain familiarity with the region’s airspace and command and control functions and allow them to integrate with the theater’s US and partner air assets, increasing the combined force’s overall readiness,” Guillot said.
The US has previously deployed B-52 bombers to the region during periods of heightened tensions. This occurred in early 2020 after the US killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike in Iraq. The strategic aircraft were also sent to the region in May 2019, when Iran allegedly attacked a number of US allies in the Persian Gulf and shot down an American spy drone that flew near its airspace.
The deployment of the long-range heavy bombers came amid reports that the Trump administration — and Israel — planned to carry out military operations against Iran before Biden enters office. The US president-elect is expected to take a somewhat softer, more diplomatic approach than Trump, who pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal world powers signed with Iran and employed a so-called “maximum pressure” campaign of heavy economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Though analysts say this effort has created leverage for future negotiations, the tactic has not yet borne fruit in terms of halting Iran’s nuclear efforts — indeed the Islamic Republic has amassed far more nuclear material and at higher levels of enrichment under the campaign — nor has it curbed Tehran’s regional hegemony ambitions. Biden, who was vice president to Barack Obama when the 2015 accord was signed, has said that he plans to return to the agreement as a basis for further negotiations with Iran.
The Trump administration is reportedly planning a bevy of wide-ranging sanctions on Iran to make it more difficult for the incoming administration to rejoin the nuclear deal. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the region over the past week, including a stop in Israel, in which he told the Jerusalem Post that the US would consider a military strike against Iran.
“THE ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN CLEAR ON THAT FOR ITS ENTIRE FOUR YEARS. THERE IS NO REASON THAT WOULD CHANGE TODAY OR TOMORROW,” POMPEO SAID.
Last Friday, Channel 13 reported that Israel and the US were planning to increase pressure on Iran with “covert operations” and economic sanctions during Trump’s final weeks in office. Jerusalem and Washington assess that Tehran will not respond militarily before the end of Trump’s term, according to the unsourced report. The report did not elaborate on the nature of actions that may be taken.
Among other covert operations against Iran’s rogue nuclear program, Israel and the US were reportedly responsible for introducing the Stuxnet computer virus to sabotage parts of Iran’s nuclear enrichment process a decade ago, and for more recent sabotage attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel’s Mossad spy agency spirited out a vast trove of Iranian documentation regarding the regime’s nuclear program, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in 2018. Israel has also been linked in reports to the killings of several Iranian nuclear scientists, and last week The New York Times reported that Israeli agents killed Al-Qaeda’s No. 2 Abu Muhammad al-Masri in Tehran in August at the behest of the US.
Last Monday, the Times reported that Trump had asked top advisers if he had options to strike Iranian nuclear sites during his last weeks in office, but was dissuaded with warnings it could lead to a wider conflict. Trump convened the officials a day after the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had stockpiled over 12 times more enriched uranium than the 2015 nuclear deal allows, the report said, citing four current and former US officials.
Not leaving, but whatever...
The article’s title has an error. When did Trump say he was leaving office? Or another way of putting it, when was Biden fully confirmed as the next President? And, when did all the lawsuits regarding election fraud all expire or be defeated?
I think Trump is acting like he is still and will be in charge for another four.
Before leaving office?
Is he going out for dinner?
Maybe there was a 4am inauguration just like the vote dumps and we slept through that, too.
The B-52’s are a decoy.. Bring in the B-2’s, B-21’s, “Rods from God” and the Hellfires from Drones!
“The planes were ordered on short notice to fly to the Middle East nonstop from their home base in North Dakota”
It would be best if a few of the ICBM’s from that same base be launched prior to the B52’s getting there, so all they’d have to do is mop up operations.
The U. S. command must have gotten wind of some mischief being planned by Iranian leaders who have been conned by the MSM certification of Biden.
B-52s flew to the Middle East. All else is just conjecture.
Gotta exercise those Bomb bay doors.
Your Buddies are taking off again;)
Logistics is the difference between sending a political message and getting ready for a strike. Getting ready for a significant operation is very expensive. You need to move millions of dollars worth of spares and munitions. You need up to hundreds of personnel and other equipment to support each plane. (Depending on what it will do and how long you expect to be using it.)
The reason the entire world laughed at and ignored Obama and his “red lines,” is because he didn’t back them up by moving anything because he wanted to spend those millions of dollars on other things. No logistics, no actual threat. Ignore.
When Nixon was elected North Korea tested him, as they have tested each new president. They shot two American officers on our side of the DMZ. Nixon went full-bellicose. He said he’d bomb them back to the stone age AND, he ordered two aircraft carrier battle groups to move out now and started moving millions of dollars in bombs and support. NK quickly apologized and sent video of the poor sap who fired the shots being executed. When Obama was tested he failed. The North sank the SK ship Chonan. After prodding by the South, Obama sent a strongly worded diplomatic note deploring the incident. I suspect the North chuckles every time they think of it.
Biden isn’t being briefed for a reason.
Secondary consideration: Iran has installed missiles in Venezuela that are in striking range of US soil. Perhaps nuclear tipped.
He’s not leaving till 2025 you @$$holes!
“Iran has installed missiles in Venezuela that are in striking range of US soil. Perhaps nuclear tipped. “
Nonsense.
Don’t leave or Biden Obama will be bombing us!
HA! Not bloody likely. Somebody’s on meth.
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