Setting the stage for an attack on Iran

The US/Israeli plan seems to be coming close to fruition.

US Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley’s stealthy visit to the so-called Kurdish autonomous zone in north-eastern Syria was a blatant violation of the sovereignty of a UN member state, at a time when the US is waging a relentless proxy war in Ukraine against the violation of its sovereignty and giving lectures about the importance of respecting that principle.

The declared purpose of Gen. Milley’s visit was to inspect the bases where 900 US troops and their heavy weaponry are deployed, discuss measures to ensure their protection, and prevent the reappearance of the Islamic State group. This is all eyewash. The real aim was very different: to put these forces on alert for any Israeli/American attack on Iran on the pretext it has enriched uranium to weapons-grade levels. They would be prime targets for Iranian retaliation along with US bases in Iraq and the Gulf and the Israeli occupier state.

Two recent developments strengthen the likelihood of US forces in Syria and the Gulf participating, and being targeted for retaliation, in any future war with Iran.

First, the intensified plunder by US forces of Syrian oil from the wells east of Deiraz-Zor in recent days. More than 150 tanker trucks have been monitored transporting stolen Syria oil to US bases in Iraq via the illegal al-Mahmoudi and al-Waleed border crossings.

Second, Milley flew directly from his brief visit to his troops in Syria to Israel, ahead of defence secretary Lloyd Austin. He began is a current tour of the region in Jordan, to inspect the 16 US bases in the country and maybe coordinate with the Jordanian political and military leadership about the coming attack on Iran. He was slated to go to Cairo next and end his tour in Tel Aviv to brief the Israelis on his talks in Cairo and Amman and the plan being readied.

These surprise, or previously unannounced, visits by America’s two top military men to countries neighbouring Israel that are closely aligned with the U and took part directly or indirectly in its wars in Iraq, Libya, and Syria cannot be innocent. They did not come to enjoy the mild winter weather. They came to allocate roles in an offensive plan that is now close to fruition and nearing implementation.

It is hard to know what message International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi delivered during his quick visit to Tehran last Friday. But it is likely to have amounted to a final ultimatum ahead of a US-Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. This is supported by the fact that the Iranians denied Grossi’s claim that he had secured their agreement on reactivating cameras and monitoring equipment.

The US violates Syria’s sovereignty, protects Kurdish separatists in the northeast, steals its oil, and supports terrorist groups in the country. But it decries Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty to protect its Russian compatriots there and is prepared to subject the world to nuclear war over the issue. Could there be any worse examples of hypocrisy, double standards, and destructive instincts?

The US was defeated in Afghanistan and withdrew its forces in humiliation, and prior to that from Iraq. Any attack it launches on Iran at Israel’s instigation would be extremely costly despite the massive imbalance of power. Iran is not Iraq or Afghanistan. It has sophisticated drones and missiles that can reach every US base in the Gulf and every part of Israel — not to mention, according to its American and Israeli accusers, having enough enriched uranium to put together a bomb within days, if it hasn’t already made one.

Setting the stage for an attack on Iran