The latest warmonger's lie to start a war with Iran

Remember in 2002 when the neocons in Washington told us that we had to attack Iraq because of 9/11, eventhough Iraq had nothing to do with it?
So now Iran is being blamed for the attack on Saudi oil fields, and anonymous warmongers claim that they have proof.

The United States has identified the exact locations in Iran from which a combination of more than 20 drones and cruise missiles were launched against Saudi oil facilities over the weekend, a senior U.S. official told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin on Tuesday. The official said the locations are in southern Iran, at the northern end of the Persian Gulf.

What a coincidence! That also happens to be around Iran's major oil fields.
What's more, the Saudi air defenses would have stopped it if it came from Yemen.

Saudi Arabia's air defenses have been aimed south for months, to protect against missile attacks launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, so they were useless against the missiles and drones coming in from the north, the official told Martin.

Let's put a pin in that for now.
Washington immediately dismissed the Houthi's claim of responsibility for the attack. Why? Because the Houthis don't have the knowledge or the means to carry it out.

But U.S. officials have cast doubt on the Houthis’ claim, arguing that the sophisticated nature of the attack suggested that it was beyond the capabilities of the rebel group.

The NY Times is even more direct.

Analysts say this is what the Houthis appear to have used to hit the Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia a few months ago. But the Quds 1 lacks the range to get from northern Yemen to the oil installations in Saudi Arabia.

The range, scale and precision of the latest attack — including the successful penetration of Saudi air defenses and the avoidance of obstacles like power lines and communication towers — far exceeds anything the Houthis have ever done.

So it's all wrapped up. The Houthis aren't capable of doing it, and we have proof that Iran did it. We just can't show it to you.

It makes a good story if you have no long-term memory.
Because this happened less than a month ago.

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A drone attack launched by Yemen’s Houthi group on an oilfield in eastern Saudi Arabia on Saturday caused a fire at a gas plant but had no impact on oil production, state-run oil company Saudi Aramco said.

A Houthi military spokesman said earlier that the group had targeted the Shaybah oilfield with 10 drones, in what he said was the “biggest attack in the depths” of the kingdom, the world’s top oil exporter, by the Iran-aligned group.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih described Shaybah as a “vital facility”.

That oilfield is 900 kilometres away from Yemen.
Literally everything about this Houthi attack is the same as Saturday's attack, except for fewer explosions. So what the fuck is the NY Times talking about?

To make this even more interesting, I happened upon this report by the UAE following the Houthi attack from last month.

The report also reveals critical Saudi defence weaknesses to the weaponised drones used by the Houthis.

It reports that from January to May there were 155 such attacks against Saudi targets in Yemen and throughout the Gulf, a much higher figure than previously admitted.

“The attack on the Lahj Military Base demonstrates a weakness in Saudi air defences and the lack of capacity in electronic war if we take into account that these drones are basic and are not launched on tarmac,” the report says.

“Air defences such as the Patriot are not capable of spotting these drones because the systems are designed to intercept long and medium range Scud missiles.”

Najran airport has been hit repeatedly by Houthi drones despite being protected by a Patriot battery, the report reveals.

155 drone attacks? U.S. Patriot missiles unable to detect and stop them?
Why that sounds a lot different than what we are being told.

Recall that the Houthis had brought down a U.S. drone just a few weeks ago. That was the second U.S. drone they shot down just this summer.
Recall that the Houthis have been hitting Riyadh with missiles for over a year.

All the evidence points to the Houthis being more than capable of not just being responsible for this attack, but for repeating this attack in a matter of weeks.

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>All the evidence points to the Houthis being more than capable of not just being responsible for this attack, but for repeating this attack in a matter of weeks.

Exactly. And they WILL repeat the attack unless the Saudis stand down on their war against Yemen.

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Mark F. McCarty

and probably most of the UN, they are going to have a harder time getting anyone on board the Pompeo Holy War train. We are going to have to show our allies totally verifiable evidence that Iran lobbed those drones, and it looks like we can't do that.

Probably because they didn't do it! And once that starts looking clear to the world, the last remnants of US credibility will fly away for good.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@Fishtroller 02

We are going to have to show our allies totally verifiable evidence that Iran lobbed those drones, and it looks like we can't do that.

If we had proof it was Iran we would have shown it to someone by now.
Aren't we monitoring the airspace around Iran?

And what is Iran's motivation?
It's not worth the risk for Iran if they were caught.

OTOH, if Iran gives the weapons to the Houthis...that makes a Hell of a lot more sense.

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@gjohnsit how the Iranians stealthily moved their country to the West of KSA to send missiles from that direction, judging from the hits. And then to move it back without our satellites seeing it. Incredible!

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

dervish's picture

@Fishtroller 02 the United States.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

snoopydawg's picture

Saudi Arabia's air defenses have been aimed south for months, to protect against missile attacks launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, so they were useless against the missiles and drones coming in from the north, the official told Martin.

I read a comment on some story about how if the missiles came from Iran then they would have flown over or close to many American bases, ships, etc and would have been picked up on radar. If they did and weren't then we should quit spending so much money on the defense systems. Russia says that their defense systems could have picked them up and so the Saudis should buy theirs.

You'd think that after the Iraq debacle people would at least question why we need to knock off Iran and come to the Saudis defense. But apparently iran wants us all to die and so we should just go to war with them. And since the Saudis are our ally.... more dead Americans? Not a problem.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

more than two weeks ago is not true. C'mon, this is just basic science.

Seriously, I love it when people actually remember things. It's like doing that is illegal or something.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

@jim p We have ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia!

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lotlizard's picture

One striking thing about a lot of politicians’ “green“ proposals so far is that, although the really rich folks got really rich on fossil fuels, the elite is going to make the little people and the poor pay more for everything in order to get off fossil fuels.

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lotlizard's picture

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/09/links-9-17-19.html#comment-3211816

Did anyone notice Mr Trumps response in press conference to repeated questioning aimed at committing him to blaming/attacking Iran for the recent drone attacks?
He repeatedly said he would not take any action until
“We…find out definitively who did it.”

. . .

This cretin with a 7th grade reading level looks like a statesman next to the gang of war criminals from the Bush II and Obama regimes. Incredible.

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earthling1's picture

are not capable of this kind of accurate targeting, why have all defenses pointed south?
Major doublespeak.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Bisbonian's picture

@earthling1

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Pluto's Republic's picture

They have retaliated against Saudi Arabia with coordinated precision over a dozen times since then.

Yemen announced their new war capability in the region on July 7, 2019. The recent attack on a Saudi oil field is not unusual. It is one of many precision-weaponry, retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia by the Yemeni military during 2019. Iran is not participating. It is not in their geopolitical interest to do so.

Yemeni armed forces display new domestically-built missiles, drones

Middle East – Yemen [Updated: Sun Jul 7, 2019 02:38PM ]

Yemeni Armed Forces have unveiled new domestically-built ballistic and winged missiles plus drones during a ceremony in the capital Sana’a. This latest equipment could change the balance of power in favor of Yemen.

This is known known.

Yemen’s military has been using advanced technology all year in their counter-attacks — these are domestically-built drones and missiles. Experts throughout the region, including Lebanon, participated in the weapons redesign. The US, the Saudis, and Israel are all well aware that Yemen has been producing and delivering an advanced level of deterrent power in the region.

Blaming Iran is a lie and a false flag to pave the way for an illegal and unjustified attack on Iran.

Please pass it on.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

@Pluto's Republic

The Yemeni defense minister further noted that the next stage of retaliatory attacks against the Saudi-led forces of aggression will be the greatest and most painful, unless the aggressors broker peace and put an end to their military campaign and siege against the Yemeni people.

we are lying about the whole thing.
where is the press to blow the whistle on these guys?
this is nuts.

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snoopydawg's picture

@irishking

Yeah they will never tell us the truth about anything the PTB don't want us to know. The press that would tell us have been censored into silence. Twitter is doing its job to see to this.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@irishking

We are doomed to watch the continuing nightmare of lies unfold before us.

If Iran is attacked by the hideous DC cartel, I think that will be the final straw for me.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato