Posted on 05/06/2019 7:38:41 AM PDT by NewJerseyJoe
Yesterday, National Security Adviser John Bolton announced the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force. It caught many by surprise as it indicated they were sending a “clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.” Until the release, there were no indications that an Iranian attack was imminent.
Except, perhaps there were indications and nobody put the pieces together.
On April 23rd, a huge story went mostly unnoticed as former Iranian Brigadier General Ali Nasiri from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) allegedly defected to the United States through an embassy in the region. He had with him a treasure trove of documents related to Iranian military and intelligence plans.
Nasiri’s fleeing from Iran has had an extremely negative impact among the hierarchy under his command. On April 19, the IRGC-associated Fars news agency referred to the fate of Nasiri without any further explanation.
“Under an order issued by Mohammad Ali Jafari, the [then] Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander-in-chief, Brigadier General Fat’ollah Jamiri has been appointed as commander of the IRGC Counterintelligence Organization.” This report made no mentioning of Nasiri.
Though neither the Iranians nor the Americans have officially confirmed the defection, events that followed an April 11 meeting in which Nasiri reported came to blows with Hossein Taeb, head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization, seem to support the claim. Nasiri reportedly left the meeting prematurely and then did not show up to work. Soon after it was reported he may have fled the country to another Persian state to claim asylum with the United States.
Iran confirmed that Nasiri was no longer in charge of his intelligence unit, replaced by Brigadier General Fathollah Jomeiri.
There have been several other shakeups in the regime since then. With Bolton’s announcement, all the circumstantial evidence seems to point to a likelihood that Iran has big plans to attack Israel, the United States, or both. While it’s unlikely they would attempt direct attacks, they could use proxies to hit Israel (some would say they already have with this weekend’s rocket attacks), terrorists in the United States, or ships to block the Strait of Hormuz.
The timing also seems to jibe with this theory. The United States continues to tighten restrictions to suffocate Iran’s crumbling economy. As Arutz Sheva speculated shortly after the alleged defection, Iran may be ready for war.
Iran reacted furiously to the new American measure and threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz a narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf where 18 million barrels of oil pass through each day.
This accounts for 30 percent of the world’s oil supply and a closure of the waterway could result in a worldwide economic crisis since the price of Brent crude oil is already at a six-months high.
In reaction to the Iranian threats US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook assured the public that the US military will keep the waterway open at all costs.
“The US military will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, that’s partly to ensure protection of the global commons so that it can be safe for commercial and non-commercial traffic,” Hook said during a press conference.
There isn’t much chatter about all of this on standard channels, but a Twitter user going by the handle “RamsesGoatII” gave a warning in a thread that rightly notes how significant the United States’ presence has grown to with the addition of the strike force as well as the importance of staying diligent at home, whether in the United States or Israel.
Whatever is happening with Iran, this doesn’t appear to be standard saber rattling. A high-ranking intelligence officer for Iran may have spilled the beans on something huge planned, huge enough to put us in a wartime posture. Stay frosty.
He defected the next day after SecState announced 10M USD for information leading to RevGuards, Hezzi and other Iranian proxy terror group prosecution.
If your position is worsening, but you think you still have enough capability to win a conflict, it’s an incentive to start a conflict.
Our 50 th Birthday is for many of us a landmark year.
Not necessarily what we will accomplish, but what we decide is really important.
With whom do we want to spend the rest of our lives with.
What we will do with our remaining time.
My unwritten rule came from my grandfather, and he didn’t mean it as a negative.
“Nothing lasts forever!”
His belief was to enjoy what you have today. Because tomorrow they, it or you might not be around.
P
Bkmrk THE RULES
Stay frosty?
A true story, not a fairy tale or sea story....
I was eating breakfast at the counter of a truck stop one morning when a man came in and sat down. He looked bad. Bad as in his dog had died, his son had turned homo, the city of New York caught the clap from his daughter and his wife had run off with his best buddy kind of bad.
I asked him if he was going to be okay.
He looked at me and told me his darling baby girl had woken him up with a cheerful “happy birthday daddy” phone call. He said “I’m 50 today. Where did my life go?”
I just smiled and told him to call his wife, he would feel better.
The waitress made a fuss over the birthday boy and some older fellas clapped him on the back and wished him a happy birthday.
I hope his day got better.
Good for you.
Turning 40 hit me hard. My Dad had died after I had turned 39. My good manager had left, and I had an Ivy Leaguer who was terrible.
When I turned 50, I started pulling the weeds out of my life’s garden, by tuning out and ignoring the a$$hole weeds.
“When I turned 50, I started pulling the weeds out of my life’s garden, by tuning out and ignoring the a$$hole weeds.”
Good for you!
My career as a long haul truck driver kept the weeds in my garden to a minimum. When I retired I gave the remaining weeds a good dose of Roundup. Worked wonders. ;-)
Ha. I guess that’s how JD Rucker signs off?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.