Posted on 08/06/2021 6:25:33 AM PDT by Kaslin
A week ago, the MT Mercer Street, a Japanese-owned tanker managed by a U.K.-based company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, sailing in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman, was struck by drones.
A British security guard and Romanian crew member were killed.
Britain and the U.S. immediately blamed Iran, and the Israelis began to beat the war drums.
Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said action against Iran should be taken "right now."
Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned Israel could "act alone." "They can't sit calmly in Tehran while igniting the entire Middle East -- that's over," said Bennett. "We are working to enlist the whole world, but when the time comes, we know how to act alone."
Wednesday, Gantz ratcheted it up, "Now is the time for deeds -- words are not enough. ... It is time for diplomatic, economic and even military deeds. Otherwise the attacks will continue."
Thursday, Gantz went further: "Israel is ready to attack Iran, yes. ... We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran. The world needs to take action against Iran now."
And what do the Americans say?
"We are confident that Iran conducted this attack," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. "We are working with our partners to consider our next steps and consulting with governments inside the region and beyond on an appropriate response, which will be forthcoming."
Iran, however, has repeatedly denied that it ordered the attack.
What makes the attack puzzling is its timing, as it occurred just days before the inauguration of the newly elected president of Iran, the ultraconservative hardliner Ebrahim Raisi.
Query: Would Raisi have ordered a provocative attack on an Israeli-owned vessel, just days before taking office, when his highest priority is a lifting of the "maximum pressure" sanctions imposed on his country by former President Donald Trump? Why?
Would Raisi put at risk his principal diplomatic goal, just to get even with Israel for some earlier pinprick strike in the tit-for-tat war in which Iran and Israel have been engaged for years? Again, why?
If not Raisi, would the outgoing president, the moderate Hassan Rouhani, have ordered such an attack on his last hours in office and risk igniting a war with Israel and the U.S. that his country could not win?
Could the attack have been the work of rogue elements in the Iranian Republican Guard Corps? Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid claim that Saeed Ara Jani, head of the drones section of the IRGC, "is the man personally responsible for the terror attacks in the Gulf of Oman."
Or was this simply a reflexive Iranian reprisal for Israeli attacks?
For years, Israel and Iran have been in a shadow war, with Iran backing Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and the Shia militia in Syria and Iraq.
Israel has both initiated and responded to attacks with strikes on Iranian-backed militia in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and by sabotaging Iran's nuclear program and assassinating its nuclear scientists.
But whoever was behind the attack in the Gulf of Oman, and whatever the political motive, the U.S. was not the target, and the U.S. should not respond militarily to a drone strike that was not aimed at us.
No one has deputized us to police the Middle East, and we have not prospered these last two decades by having deputized ourselves.
With America leaving Afghanistan and U.S. troops in Iraq transiting out of any "combat" role, now is not the time to get us ensnared in a new war with Iran.
Lest we forget. It was in an August, 57 years ago, that the Tonkin Gulf incident occurred, which led America to plunge into an eight-year war in Vietnam.
President Joe Biden's diplomatic goal with Iran, since taking office, has been the resurrection of the 2015 nuclear deal from which former President Donald Trump walked away. In return for Iran's reacceptance of strict conditions on its nuclear program, the U.S. has offered a lifting of Trump's sanctions.
Whoever launched the drone strike sought to ensure that no new U.S.-Iran deal is consummated, that U.S. sanctions remain in place, and that a U.S. war with Iran remain a possibility.
But, again, why would Tehran carry out such a drone attack and kill crewmen on an Israeli-owned vessel -- then loudly deny it?
Since he took office, Biden has revealed his intent to extricate the U.S. from the "forever wars" of the Middle East and to pivot to the Far East and China. By this month's end, all U.S. forces are to be out of Afghanistan, and the 2,500 U.S. troops still in Iraq are to be repurposed, no longer to be designated as combat troops.
Those behind this attack on the Israeli-owned vessel do not want to reduce the possibility of war between the United States and Iran.
They want to make it a reality. We ought not accommodate them.
These goofballs in charge of our country wouldn’t know how to run a war. They’re too busy going after us and spending funny money.
Biden ended our self sufficiency with oil for a reason.
I can’t imagine us winning a war against anyone at this point.
With America leaving Afghanistan and U.S. troops in Iraq transiting out of any "combat" role, now is not the time to get us ensnared in a new war with Iran.
There is great profit to be made from war. There is great interest in perpetually stoking its fires.
Or course the Shrub and his DOD did not know when to quit a war. They proved they could win the battle and kick butt against goat herders and Hussein. Yet twenty years later we are surrendering the field.
I'm sorry, I didn't see any part where this involved the USA
_ould an outgoing democrat administration poison the _ell for an incoming Republican one?
Forgive the missing double yous, someone seems to have removed the double you keys from every single keyboard in the place!
Nothing is too great or too petty...
Wars are won in the field and lost in Washington.
Every. Single. Time. since WWII
We owe Iran one. No hostage died in ‘79 but think of all the roadside bombs since. Where were they made? Decent question.
“I can’t imagine us winning a war against anyone at this point.”
I certainly have to agree with you. Everytime a democrat is in office, our military goes to hell, and then when a republican gets in the oval office, then they have to play catch up for all the damage that the dems do in bringing down the military. It’s all just a vicious cycle.
How many Iran forces in Syria? Easy target?
No mention of the most likely perps: CIA of DoD.
Billions are at stake here. Fat contracts. Slots for Generals and Admirals. Peace is the last thing these people want.
And we never “won” anything in the ME. We ousted Saddam. We killed Bin Laden. That’s all. Any other touted victories are chimerical.
> I’m sorry, I didn’t see any part where this involved the USA <
I looked it up. The MT Mercer Street flies the flag of...get ready for this...Liberia. (It’s a ‘flag of convenience’, usually done to avoid taxes and stricter regulations.)
So, yeah. The ship’s owners should go ask Liberia for help.
We know with total certainty where the EFP roadside warheads were made.
“But whoever was behind the attack in the Gulf of Oman, and whatever the political motive, the U.S. was not the target, and the U.S. should not respond militarily to a drone strike that was not aimed at us.”
—
Just change a few words to see the author’s inner Chamberlain emerging:
“But whoever was behind the nuclear attack on Israel, and whatever the political motive, the U.S. was not the target, and the U.S. should not respond militarily to a nuclear strike that was not aimed at us.”
I’m curious about the details of this “drone attack”.
Buchanan has been lost in his own world for years. Fails to realize that global politics no longer conform to his views
I think Thatcher said one time she could trace the decline of the British Empire to the invention of the telephone.
I recall when I was first appointed as a regional manager in a new organization. After three weeks I called my boss and began bringing him to speed on some things as had not heard a word from him since he said: you are hired. After about 2 minutes he cut me off and said why are you calling. I said to update him on some important matters. He said what do you need. I said nothing. He ended the call at that point saying, you are there to run that region, if I have a problem I will call you. If you have a problem, call me. Otherwise, stay off the phone: Click.
Loved that guy...we had a bang up few years under him. When he left, had the exact opposite, a meddling idiot.
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.