A group of U.S. intelligence veterans urges President Trump to stop his administration’s false claims about Iran being the leading state sponsor of terrorism when U.S. allies, such as Saudi Arabia, are clearly much guiltier.
MEMORANDUM FOR: The President
FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
SUBJECT: Is Iran the “World’s Leading Sponsor of Terrorism?”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY/BACKGROUND
We are concerned by recent strident and stark public statements from key members of your Administration that paint Iran in very alarmist terms. The average American, without the benefit of history, could easily be persuaded that Iran poses an imminent threat and that there is no alternative for us but military conflict.
President Donald Trump addresses the nation about his Iran policy on Oct. 13, 2017. (Screenshot from Whitehouse.gov)
We find this uncomfortably familiar territory. Ten years ago former President George W. Bush was contemplating a war with Iran when, in November of 2007, intelligence analysts issued a formal National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) debunking the prevailing conventional wisdom; namely, that Iran was on the verge of getting a nuclear weapon. The NIE concluded that Iran had stopped working on a nuclear weapon in 2003.
Recalling this moment in his memoir, Decision Points, President Bush noted that the NIE’s “eye-popping” intelligence findings stayed his hand. He added this rhetorical question: “How could I possibly explain using the military to destroy the nuclear facilities of a country the intelligence community said had no active nuclear weapons program?”
We believe that you are facing a similar situation today. But instead of an inaccurate claim that Iran has nuclear weapons, the new canard to justify war with Iran is the claim that Iran remains the “world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.” This is incorrect, as we explain below.
* * *
One of the recurring big bipartisan lies being pushed on the public with the enthusiastic help of a largely pliant media is that Iran is the prime sponsor of terrorism in the world today.
In the recent presentation of your administration’s National Security Strategy for 2018, the point is made that:
“Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, has taken advantage of instability to expand its influence through partners and proxies, weapon proliferation, and funding. . . . Iran continues to perpetuate the cycle of violence in the region, causing grievous harm to civilian populations.”
Those sentiments are echoed by several other countries of the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, for example, declared in October 2015 that: Iran “is the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world, and it is working on destabilizing the region.”
The Saudi foreign minister conveniently declined to mention that 15 of the 19 terrorists who hijacked planes and attacked America on 11 September 2001 were Saudis, not Iranians. And, while Iran was an active promoter of terrorism two decades ago, it is no longer in the forefront of global terrorism. Ironically, that dubious distinction now goes to Iran’s accusers — first and foremost, Saudi Arabia.
The depiction of Iran as “the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism” is not supported by the facts. While Iran is guilty of having used terrorism as a national policy tool, the Iran of 2017 is not the Iran of 1981. In the early days of the Islamic Republic, Iranian operatives routinely carried out car bombings, kidnappings and assassinations of dissidents and of American citizens. That has not been the case for many years. Despite frequent claims by U.S. officials that Iran is engaged in terrorism, we simply note that the incidents recorded annually in the U.S. Department of State’s Patterns of Global Terrorism rarely identifies a terrorist incident as an act by or on behalf of Iran.
Iran’s relationship with Hezbollah also has evolved radically. In the early years of the Islamic Republic, Hezbollah was often a proxy and sub-contractor for Iran. But during the last 20 years Hezbollah has become an entity and political force in its own right. It fought Israel to a standstill in 2006 in southern Lebanon, which was a watershed moment in establishing Hezbollah’s transformation into a conventional army. In the intervening years, Hezbollah, which is now part of the Lebanese government, also has turned away from the radical, religious driven violence that is the hallmark of the Sunni extremists, like ISIS.
Iran’s Asymmetrical Response
After Iran fell under the rule of the Ayatollah in 1979 terrorism, its role in high profile terrorist attacks, such as the taking of U.S. hostages and the bombings of the U.S. Embassy and the Marine barracks in Lebanon, fed understandable U.S. animosity towards Iran. But Iran’s actions were not driven primarily by blind hatred or radical religious views. For Iran terrorism was a way to punch back against more powerful foes, principally the United States, which was providing military and intelligence support to Iran’s neighbor and enemy, Iraq.
Portrait of the late Ruhollah Khomeini by Mohammad Sayyid
The Iranians were also pragmatic and had direct dealings with Israel. During the early days of the Iranian revolution the Mullahs, despite publicly denouncing Israel, happily accepted secret military support from the Israelis. Israel was equally pragmatic. The Israeli leaders ignored the Mullahs and gave the support as a means of helping counter the threat posed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. A classic case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
The public image of Iran as a hotbed of fanatical terrorists has been usurped since the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in east Africa by Al Qaeda and other radical Sunni entities. The U.S. Government’s own list of terrorist attacks since 2001 shows a dramatic drop in the violence carried out by Iran and an accompanying surge in horrific acts by radical Sunni Muslims who are not aligned with Iran. The latest edition of the Global Terrorism Index, a project of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shows that four groups accounted for 74 percent of all fatalities from terrorism in 2015 — Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and ISIS.
Thirteen of the 14 Muslim Groups identified by the U.S. intelligence community as actively hostile to the US are Sunni, not Shia, and are not supported by Iran:
– ISIS (Sunni)
– The Al-Nusra Front (Sunni)
– Al-Qa’ida Central (Sunni)
– Al-Qa’ida in Magheb (Sunni)
– Al-Qa’ida in Arabian Peninsula (Sunni)
– Boku Haram (Sunni)
– Al-Shabbab (Sunni)
– Khorassan Group (Sunni)
– Society of the Muslim Brothers (Sunni)
– Sayyaf Group in the Philippines (Sunni)
– Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan (Sunni)
– Lashgar i Taiba (Sunni)
– Jemaa Islamiya (Sunni)
– Houthis (Shia)
The last major terrorist attack causing casualties that is linked to Iran was the July 2012 bombing of a bus with Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. That departure from Iran’s more recent policy on terrorism was retaliation for what Iran perceived to be Israel’s role in assassinating five Iranian scientists involved with Iran’s Nuclear program, between January 2010 and January 2012 (the dates and names of those attacked are appended).
One can easily imagine the outrage and lust for revenge that would sweep the U.S., if Americans believed a foreign country sent operatives into the United States who in turn murdered engineers and scientists working on sensitive U.S. defense projects.
Special Operations
There have been other terrorist attacks inside Iran bearing the handprint of support from the United States. Author Sean Naylor, Relentless Strike, which details the history of operations carried out by U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) over the past 30 years, sheds light on this uncomfortable truth:
The late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“JSOC personnel also worked with the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), a militant Iranian exile group that had based itself in Iraq after falling afoul of the ayatollahs’ regime in Tehran. The State Department had placed the MEK on its list of designated terrorist organizations, but that didn’t stop JSOC from taking an attitude of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” toward the group. “They were a group of folks that could transit the border, and they were willing to help us out on what we wanted to do with Iran,” said a special operations officer.”
The MEK were classified as a terrorist group, until the United States decided that as long as the MEK would help kill Iranians rather than Americans, that they were no longer terrorists. The MEK’s history of terrorism is quite clear. Among more than a dozen examples over the last four decades these four are illustrative:
- During the 1970s, the MEK killed U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians working on defense projects in Tehran and supported the takeover in 1979 of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
- In 1981, the MEK detonated bombs in the head office of the Islamic Republic Party and the Premier’s office, killing some 70 high-ranking Iranian officials, including Iran’s President, Premier, and Chief Justice.
- In April 1992, the MEK conducted near-simultaneous attacks on Iranian embassies and installations in 13 countries, demonstrating the group’s ability to mount large-scale operations overseas.
- In April 1999, the MEK targeted key military officers and assassinated the deputy chief of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff.
Despite this history, a bipartisan parade of prominent U.S. political and military leaders has lobbied on behalf of MEK and has been well compensated in return.
Benighted Policy So Far
In the ultimate ironic turn, the U.S.-led 2003 war in Iraq played a critical role in Iran’s resurgence as a regional power. Saddam Hussein was replaced by Shia muslims who had received sanctuary in Iran for many years and Baathist institutions, including the Army, were taken over by Iraqis sympathetic to Tehran.
Iran has come out ahead in Iraq and, with the 2015 nuclear agreement in place, Iran’s commercial and other ties have improved with key NATO allies and the other major world players—Russia and China in particular.
Official pronouncements on critical national security matters need to be based on facts. Hyperbole in describing Iran’s terrorist activities can be counterproductive. For this reason, we call attention to Ambassador Nikki Haley’s recent statement that it is hard to find a “terrorist group in the Middle East that does not have Iran’s fingerprints all over it.” The truth is quite different. The majority of terrorist groups in the region are neither creatures nor puppets of Iran. ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Al-Nusra are three of the more prominent that come to mind.
You have presented yourself as someone willing to speak hard truths in the face of establishment pressure and not to accept the status quo. You spoke out during the campaign against the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq as a historic mistake of epic proportions. You also correctly captured the mood of many Americans fatigued from constant war in far away lands. Yet the torrent of warnings from Washington about the dangers supposedly posed by Iran and the need to confront them are being widely perceived as steps toward reversing your pledge not to get embroiled in new wars.
We encourage you to reflect on the warning we raised with President George W. Bush almost 15 years ago, at a similar historic juncture:
“after watching Secretary Powell today, we are convinced that you would be well served if you widened the discussion … beyond the circle of those advisers clearly bent on a war for which we see no compelling reason and from which we believe the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic.”
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani celebrates the completion of an interim deal on Iran’s nuclear program on Nov. 24, 2013, by kissing the head of the daughter of an assassinated Iranian nuclear engineer. (Iranian government photo)
LIST OF IRANIAN SCIENTISTS ASSASSINATED IN IRAN
January 12, 2010: Masoud Alimohammadi, Iranian Physicist:
Killed by a car bomb. The perpetrator reportedly confessed to having been recruited by Israeli intelligence to carry out the assassination.
November 29, 2010: Majid Shahriari, Iranian nuclear scientist:
Killed by a car bomb. According to German media, Israel was the sponsor.
November 29, 2010: Assassination attempt on Fereydoon Abbasi Iranian nuclear scientist:
Wounded by a car bomb.
July 23, 2011: Darioush Rezaeinejad, Iranian electrical engineer, unclear scientist
Killed by unknown gunmen on motorcycle. Specialist on high-voltage switches — a key component of nuclear warheads. Assassinated by Israeli intelligence, according to the German press.
January 11, 2012: Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, Iranian nuclear scientist
Killed at Natanz uranium enrichment facility by a magnetic bomb of the same kind used in earlier assassinations of Iranian scientists.
________________________
Signed:
Richard Beske, CIA, Operations Officer (ret.)
William Binney, former NSA Technical Director for World Geopolitical & Military Analysis; Co-founder of NSA’s Signals Intelligence Automation Research Center
Marshall Carter-Tripp, Foreign Service Officer (ret.) and Division Director, State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Bogdan Dzakovic, Former Team Leader of Federal Air Marshals and Red Team, FAA Security, (ret.) (associate VIPS)
Philip Giraldi, CIA, Operations Officer (ret.)
Larry C. Johnson, former CIA and State Department Counter Terrorism officer
Michael S. Kearns, Captain, USAF (Ret.); ex-Master SERE Instructor for Strategic Reconnaissance Operations (NSA/DIA) and Special Mission Units (JSOC)
John Kiriakou, Former CIA Counterterrorism Officer and former senior investigator, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Karen Kwiatkowski, former Lt. Col., US Air Force (ret.), at Office of Secretary of Defense watching the manufacture of lies on Iraq, 2001-2003
Edward Loomis, NSA, Cryptologic Computer Scientist (ret.)
David MacMichael, National Intelligence Council (ret.)
Ray McGovern, former US Army infantry/intelligence officer & CIA analyst (ret.)
Elizabeth Murray, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Near East, CIA and National Intelligence Council (ret.)
Torin Nelson, former Intelligence Officer/Interrogator (GG-12) HQ, Department of the Army
Todd E. Pierce, MAJ, US Army Judge Advocate (ret.)
Coleen Rowley, FBI Special Agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel (ret.)
Greg Thielmann — Former director of the Strategic, Proliferation, and Military Affairs Office of the State Department’s intelligence bureau (INR) and former senior staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee
Kirk Wiebe — former Senior Analyst, SIGINT Automation Research Center, NSA
Lawrence Wilkerson, Colonel (USA, ret.), Distinguished Visiting Professor, College of William and Mary (associate VIPS)
Sarah G. Wilton, CDR, USNR, (Retired)/DIA, (Retired)
Robert Wing — former Foreign Service Officer (associate VIPS)
Ann Wright, Col., US Army (ret.); Foreign Service Officer (who resigned in opposition to the war on Iraq)
We have been at war in far too many times and places in the last 30 years. I believe it is time for us to stop being the bullies and try for some relavant deployment of real diplomacy.
I see no reason to war with lran. You promised not to start anymore wars.
Thank the dieties for you all. My everlasting admiration. May your year be full of seeing your work pay off!
https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/district-of-columbia/dcdce/1:2017cv01370/187894/37/0.pdf?ts=1513147021
Russiagate Is Devolving Into An Effort To Stigmatize Dissent
There is another group of “intelligence professionals” at work. This outfit has a rather different goal which I imagine would end up with all the PropOrNot site owners ending up in prison. The quote below is from the pdf link, and the Zero Hedge link describing the overview follows.
h**ps://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-29/russiagate-devolving-effort-stigmatize-dissent
In 2010 Benjamin Zeigler was Suicides in.an ISRAELI prison where he had been detained for Treason reportedly for trying to leak a report that got to the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s “Foreign Correspondent which at 8.30PM on June 23, 2010 reported the true events in a Dubai Hotel room where a Hamas Politician was assassinated by Mossad Agents who flew into Dubai (then on to Canada) on Genuine Australian Passports arranged by an Israeli diplomat using stolen Australian Identities – then Opposition Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop claimed (as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald) that Kevin Rudd “Should have known about Australia’s Passport Swapping Club” before he expelled the Israeli Diplomat. Kevin Rudd called a press conference for 10.30PM and announced Julia Gillard had challenged him for Prime Minister which he was convinced by 9am not to contest. In 2012 PM Julia Gillard’s unelected Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr (who accepted the casual Senate Vacancy of CIA spy, Libyan born Mark Arbib) pro-actively incriminate two Lebanese Australian suspects who seemed to have reasonable alibi but none the less went to ground when accused by their Foreign Minister who has since exposed in his memoirs published when he retired (after finally being elected from #1 NSW Labor Senate position of an Election lost to To.T Abbott) that as Foreign Minister he was forced to act as an Israeli mouthpiece and foresaw this was going to lose Labor many Western Sydney seats at the Election so took a stand by abstaining on a Palestine vote at the UN allowing Palestinian ascension to UNESCO.
I have been saying this for years
I enjoyed reading a fair description about Iran. This is much different version of George Bushe’s and Donald Trump’s one sided defense of Israel. As an Iranian-American citizen I would like to thank the author of this article.
This won’t go down well with Israel and their Zionist masters
It took Trump a little over three months after the issue of the VIPS memorandum on the facts catagorically disproving the Russian hacking BS… to direct Pompeo to sit down with Bill Binney from VIPS… what ever happened to that profound proof offered to Trump, what good is Pompeo if he’s not going to act on what was and is irrefutable proof of the deep state lies? Will this important information fall of deaf ears. Trump’s hubris and other character flaws denies him the wisdom to understand who his enemies are… Haley, McMaster are a couple of glaring obvious ones.
Trump’s narcissism and attention deficit disorder are his two biggest enemies. He has become putty in the hands of his MIC/Wall Street controllers. The Forever War continues, and the 1% gets fatter (at least until the mushroom clouds wake them up).
What a great article, however it’s too wordy & may need to be seriously dumbed down so Trump, with his notoriously short, twitter obsessed attention span, can make sense of this? Haha? I suggest a picture book with large illustrations that highlight the words, “War is bad”, “Peace is good”? Sunni bad, Shia good? Unfortunately every US President is a marinet puppet being manipulated by unseen, deepstate puppeteers who have already made their plans for the next invasion which will be a toss up between either North Korea or Iran, with Iran as the no.1 first choice as they don’t have nuclear missiles or biological weapons? Perfect fodder for the endless war propagandists & MIC? And don’t forget, Trump & that standup comedian, Nicky Haley are “taking names” & taking notes on whomever has been naughty & nice to the US this year, just like Santa Claus? Ho ho ho Merry Xmas everyone & hopefully a Happy, nuclear free, New Year?
No intelligence professional am I, however I must strongly disagree that the bombings of the US Marine barracks and embassy in Lebanon were acts of terror. It is well documented and not controversial that the US armed forces were actively involved in the civil war in support of the Christian Falange against Shia militia. US warships were firing massive barrages st Shia positions in the mountains and CIA officers were providing targeting information Tell me that isn’t so Ray and I’ll think much less of your integrity, which I have held in high regard.
I remember in a previous article on the subject of terrorism, Robert Parry made an editor’s note pointing out the facts you have just presented. Guess he’s out Christmas shopping and missed this one.
They are still counted by the US Government as terrorist attacks. Your point, that these were valid military targets, is not a crazy argument. The point is that your opinion on this does not matter. It is listed officially as a terrorist incident. I agree with you that it would be more accurate to describe it in the context as an act of war vice terrorism.
Also, the USS New Jersey was shelling from offshore at targets in Beirut at the same time, thus a war zone
I suppose it’s no big deal but the guy in that picture from 2004 is some actor, not OBL. The last known picture of the real OBL was from 2001.
God bless the authors for the effort on this Raasti. there is a further truth that is alluding us all, and is big enough that it can prove to be the test for this huminaty et all. the attack has been very sublime. from when we are very young, the ‘absolute’ language of life, has thought us all, that 2 is from 1plus1. now how in a very conspicuous way, with relations to another apple per say, the number 3 came to play? those who know should also know that God always wins.
Thanks again to the authors for some real news,
mj
The warmongers will not look at the facts , there is no mileage in it for trump as he is planning for his future income with Arabs and Israel’s and the Billions he is going to earn .
Date of memo?
I thank God for the conscience driven intelligence professionals like Ray McGovern and all the rest.
More info on Evil at link below.
—————————————————————————
1,000 days of war: The starvation plan for Yemen
#YemenWar
Presenting themselves as shocked bystanders to the growing famine in Yemen, the US and UK are in fact prime movers in a new strategy that will massively escalate it
Dan Glazebrook
Tuesday 19 December 2017 11:48 UTC
Thursday 21 December 2017 6:39 UTC
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/new-plan-yemen-370140801
Great piece of information. But it’s way too long for the president to read. Can you please re-do it in a short coloring book format and include Crayons?
Better make it 280 characters or less
Huge VIPS memo too long to read just sad
@ Abe Hahaha…. Indeed way too long and complicated for Mr. Average American to grasp.
Israeli support for terrorist forces in Syria has been verified.
Israel’s possession of sarin nerve gas and its advanced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities make Israel the primary regional suspect in chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
Given Israel’s declared upcoming attack on Lebanon and Syria, and the ongoing potential of direct Israeli attack on Iranian forces in Syria or Iran itself, all of which may drag US military forces into a catastrophic conflict, all scenarios for military escalation must be considered.
It is incumbent on veteran intelligence analysts to examine all reasonable scenarios.
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity have neglected to address Israel, a known state sponsor of terror, as a prime suspect in the Khan Shaykun chemical incident.
VIPS is qualified to provide an intelligence assessment of Israel’s possession of sarin and other chemical weapons, Israel’s military drone capabilities, and Israeli operation of Russian military aircraft.
KHAN SHAYKHUN – AN ISRAELI CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK?
Israel is a legitimate suspect in false-flag chemical attacks in Syria delivered by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Russian-made aircraft, or both.
The April 2017 alleged air attack at Khan Shaykhun may have involved either a Polish or Israeli operated Su-22 aircraft, an Israeli drone attack, or both aircraft and UAV.
In response to the Khan Shaykhun attack, Raytheon Tomahawk land-attack missiles launched from US Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean targeted Al-Shayrat air base near Homs, Syria.
Israeli sources indicate that 14 of the Syrian Air Force’s approximately 40-strong fleet of Sukhoi Su-22M (export designation of the Su-17) aircraft were destroyed in the attack, with damage to the air base’s two main runways.
The Israeli-Saudi-US Axis has used terrorist forces, including Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorist supplied via NATO-member state Turkey, to degrade Syrian military capabilities, possibly in preparation for a direct attack on Syria by Israel.
Israel has widely announced that its plans for an upcoming military attack on both Lebanon and Syria.
According to US sources, Russia and Israel were notified about the attack on the Shayrat air base shortly before the cruise missiles hit their targets.
ISRAELI AND POLISH SU-22 AIRCRAFT
The Su-22 aircraft was designed as a high speed, medium range, low level ground attack / recce aircraft. Very rugged, reliable, and easy to maintain, these aircraft are the main striking arm of the Syrian Air Force. Su-22 squadrons are based near Damascus, at T4 near Homs and at Shayrat.
Since the second half of 2012, Syrian Air Force Su-22s have been involved in combat operations against the Al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorist forces in Syria, that have been supplied mainly via NATO-member state Turkey.
NATO-member Poland is a major operator of Su-22 combat aircraft. Israel also possesses multiple Su-22 aircraft used for a variety of purposes.
Poland and Israel have extensive cooperation in developing upgrades package for the Su-22 largely based on Israeli avionics. Israel also developed and delivered ‘smart munitions’ for the Su-22.
ISRAELI SARIN NERVE GAS
Israel obtained operational nuclear weapons capability by 1967, with the mass production of nuclear warheads occurring immediately after the Six-Day War. The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment has recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared chemical warfare capabilities, and an offensive biological warfare program.
Israel signed but has not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). A 1983 a report by the CIA stated that Israel had undertaken a program of chemical warfare that included both “offensive and protective areas”. CIA identified a “CW nerve agent production facility and a storage facility” at the Dimona Sensitive Storage Area in the Negev Desert. Citing Israel’s “well-developed Israeli chemical industry”.
The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness Ziona was identified as a headquarters for Israel’s chemical weapons program.
190 liters of dimethyl methylphosphonate, a CWC schedule 2 chemical used in the synthesis of sarin nerve gas, was discovered in the cargo of El Al Flight 1862 after it crashed in 1992 en route to Tel Aviv. Israel insisted the material was non-toxic, was to have been used to test filters that protect against chemical weapons, and that it had been clearly listed on the cargo manifest in accordance with international regulations. The shipment was from a U.S. chemical plant to the IIBR under a U.S. Department of Commerce license.
In 1993, the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment WMD proliferation assessment recorded Israel as a country generally reported as having undeclared offensive chemical warfare capabilities. Former US deputy assistant secretary of defense responsible for chemical and biological defense Dr. Bill Richardson said in 1998 “I have no doubt that Israel has worked on both chemical and biological offensive things for a long time… There’s no doubt they’ve had stuff for years.”
ISRAELI DRONE ATTACKS USING CHEMICAL WEAPONS
In addition to Israel’s known arsenal of both nuclear weapons and chemical warfare agents, including sarin nerve gas, Israel has extensive resources and infrastructure for producing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The threat posed by unmanned aerial vehicles and Israel has already materialized on the battlefield. The current ability of Israel to mount a lethal chemical weapons attack through a drone is very high.
Israeli drones clearly have the capacity to deliver both conventional explosives and chemical warfare agents.
Insufficient evidence of an “air dropped” munition at the alleged “impact site”, a shallow hole dug in the asphalt of a road in in Khan Shaykhun, indicates that another mechanism was used for the dispersal of sarin from this location.
While an improvised ground detonation scenario has been presented, UAV dispersal of sarin would better account for the absence of aerial munition evidence.
Drone dispersal of sarin would allow for highly targeted contamination of pre-selected areas, like a hole dug in the middle of a road, while keeping terrorist forces in the surrounding area safe from exposure to the lethal sarin.
Local (embedded with Al-Qaeda) or remote-controlled dispersal of sarin by UAV can easily be coordinated with a conventional aerial attack under either of two scenarios:
– a Syrian military flight operating in accordance with the de-confliction regime
– a false flag Israeli or Polish Su-22 attack staged parallel to a Syrian military flight
keyword Operation Susannah
There is much more than can and needs to be added to the case against listing Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. It is true that Khobar Towers has been used as one of the accusations to support the charge of sponsoring terrorism, and as my five-part series for Inter Press Service in 2009 (http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/06/exclusive-part1-al-qaeda-excluded-from-the-suspects-list/) showed, that Bush administration indictment of Saudi Shia allied with Iran was a massive cover-up of the truth, engineered by Prince Bandar through FBI Director Louis Freeh.
But it is equally important to refute the Zionist myth that Iran was behind the 1994 terror bombing of the AMIA Jewish communist center in Buenos Aires. My original 2008 piece in The Nation (https://www.thenation.com/article/bushs-iranargentina-terror-frame/) shows how the original case made by Argentine intelligence with Israeli help was not based on any actual evidence. Years later, I discovered that Alberto Nisman, who wrote the Argentine indictment of Iranian officials, was relying entirely on the testimony of Mujahideen E-Khalq officials for the bogus notion that the terror bombing was planned at a specific meeting in 1994. That revelation is here: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/08/indictment-of-iran-for-94-terror-bombing-relied-on-mek/
Furthermore the Bulgarian bus bombing of 2013, which the VIPS memo accepts as an Iranian-Hezbollah job, was not only unproven, but Bulgarian investigators were questioning that conclusion, when the government was pressured by the Obama administration and Israel to agree to a compromise formulation that Hezbollah responsibility was a “reasonable hypothesis”. My article on that episode is here: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/02/201321810059550903.html
There is far more evidence than I can cite in this note that the long series of alleged Iranian or Hezbollah-sponsored attempted terrorist attacks in a number of countries that Israeli and pro-Israeli sources have continued to cite to maintain the notion of Iran as state sponsor of terrorism all begin to fall apart when they were investigated.
I would suggest that all the evidence on the issue, when finally pulled together, will support a much stronger case for the withdrawal of the designation of Iran as state sponsor of terrorism.
Thanks for that good additional info.
In a sane world , we’d have good relations with Iran by now. Too bad Israel won’t allow such an outcome.
Thank you Gareth Porter for this insight into the false “evidence” against the targets of those who control US policy. It is usually at best guessing and groupthink “consensus” and more commonly fabrication.
It is interesting to watch the “Come on!” social coercion of the opportunists who buy the oligarchy accusation du jour. They have interests to protect and investments in the fabrications, and are ready to denounce skeptics.
Thank you Mr. Porter for pointing out these further cases of evidence-free Iranian terrorism accusations that the VIPS seem to accept as fact. I found it surprising that an article taking as its purpose correcting false accusations against Iran would nonetheless buy (with no skepticism whatsoever) several purported incidents of “Iranian terrorism” the perpetrators of which have never been unambiguously established. In my opinion, what an objective investigator would conclude, given the intense efforts to blame Iran for the Bulgaria and Argentina bombings specifically and global terrorism generally, is that, rather than a campaign of terror being directed by Iran, there appears to be a concerted, longstanding and potentially deadly campaign aiming to paint Iran as a sponsor of terrorism.
Consortium should address their support for CIA handlers of terrorists. Mr. Graham Fuller, a contributor to this website, is also wanted for arrest by the Turkish government for his connection to the Gulen terrorist organization. This organization is alleged to have played a role in the attempted coup of Erdogan in 2016 and has funneled millions of dollars from US taxpayers through their network of charter schools distributed throughout the country.
WHO YOU CALLING A TERRORIST? THE GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY IS OPERATING AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION – NOT TO SPEAK OF THE USA FUNCTIONING IN A SIMILAR MODE.
It does appear that the US attempted to overthrow democracy in Turkey as it did in Iran and around the world, to support its tyrannical goals, especially to get zionist campaign bribes. By now the CIA must controlled by zionists like Fuller plotting coups. The control of US mass media by the CIA and zionists is a clear example of the complete zionist subversion of our former democracy. They are truly racist traitors.
Nothing happened in the Tonkin Gulf.
Saddam Hussein did not have WMD.
Iran is not a sponsor of “terrorism.”
Of those in positions of power – which ones care?
“Global full spectrum domination.” ALWAYS the intent of action by the US led Western Empire.
This is unchanged from August 6, 1945 after which EVERY SINGLE DAY the US has slaughtered innocent people for the policy I stated – nothing what-so-ever has slowed it in any meaningful way. Each and every congress and president have fully endorsed this policy.
The difference between Trump and Obama is the degree of vulgarity nothing more. Although I find Obama’s practice of looking through colorful books and choosing who he will kill that day, ordering the slaughter of innocent people and then going home and kissing the kids and reading them a story as something far worse than vulgarity.
Each time Trump does something to diminish US power and standing in the world I rejoice. All he is doing is bringing the authoritarian Neo-feudal system out into the open like pealing off the Schwarzenegger skin to reveal the monster robot below a machine made to protect the elites above all else with no human emotion to bother with.
Right to the point. Excellent post.
Yes, the oligarchy of greed and aggrandizement soon dispenses with the burden of disguise.
Their religion is money and power, and they come to rejoice that the admission outrages civilization.
Let them boast and celebrate their tyranny over the world, as they celebrate their tyranny over the US.
The world sees them as the criminal demagogic tyrants they strive to be, and so does most of the US.
Humanity will celebrate when the US oligarchy rots in mass graves in their gated communities.
“I think that the undecideds could go one way or the other.” — George Bush, 1988
S. Hussein “oil for euros” was punished by 9/11 and torching the people of the Iraq and Northern Africa; M. Gaddafi’s Gold backed currency punished by smashing Libya into chaos. Venezuela now refuses USD for its oil and has joined Brics, China has developed currency and bonds, fully convertible on-bearer- demand into gold (Shanghai and HK foreign exchange markets) and Nikki Haley, a Trump like Ambassador, with a bad case of Colin Powell hidden agendaitis, blames the “pot =Iran” for the ISIS, Al-Qaeda and Al Nursa infections offered by the “kettle”. Recent events, revelations, incursions in Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Turkey, Boliva, and Syria all show that the underlying driving force of the ME Chaos must be somthing completely different from its religion and race are the problem propaganda.
The underlying cause “has been”, “is” and “will remain” western interest intention to steal the oil, gas from its Arab owners.
The western quest for Arab Petroleum Gas and Oil began in 1860’s; Germany offered to build a road from Berlin and Bagdad; the Ottomans would sell its oil to Germany, Rothschilds et. were aghast. In 1896 the first Zionist Congress, established that the JEWISH PLIGHT would be the propaganda that would convince the world that the Jews were entitled to the oil rich lands owned by the Arabs. Of course the actual intended beneficiaries was not to be the Jews at all; the Jews were merely the fence erected to protect the oil and gas until it could be extracted, produced and sold.The rest is current history.
On the spot :) Haley really has a bad case of hidden Colin Powell agendaitis, it seems chronic already.
I think Trump’s turnabout on foreign policy is one of two things. Either he was lying to us from the git-go, and is really just another shill for the MIC and the Israelis; or he’s had his “trip to the woodshed”, and has been told exactly what he needs to do if he wants to keep his job and live.
I applaud VIPS efforts, and I wish them all the luck in the world. But I suspect Trump will continue to toe the line.
TRUMP IS SIMPLY A PSYCHOTIC SCUM – DON’T BOTHER TRYING TO ANALYZE HIM. (sorry FOR THE ALL CAPS – MY NEW KEYBOARD KEEPS ME INADVARTENTLY TRIGGERING IT.) Damn, did it again……..
On a laptop, I superglue small aluminum plates over the nine useless troublesome keys like Caps Lock that trigger unwanted modes, and tape corrugated cardboard over the mousepad to avoid cursors shooting away when a typing finger gets too close. You can cut thin aluminum from roof flashing, and make a short foot on one side using pliers.
Is anyone aware of a critical analysis of the recent allegations that Hezbolah is involved in illegal drug activities in the US as a means of funding themselves?
The concept seems implausible and impractical, not to mention too contrived.
Thanks
i truly doubt that allegation as well…most of the “Product” in the ME is well managed by the CIA and other US military cartels..these black funds and the 6.5 trillion dollars unaccounted for by the US military go along way towards financing “critical analyses” and other dis-information and psy=ops, black-ops…regards….d
you should know that the US Government (CIA, DEA) have been involved in running drugs from at least the Vietnam war
I haven’t seen a critical analysis, but —
I’ve seen plenty enough to convince me that the source of the allegation is Mossad and its lawfare front, Shurat Hadin (Israel Law Center). Shurat Hadin’s mission is taking down the finances for Israel’s perceived enemies through lawsuits mostly filed in the U.S. http://israellawcenter.org/
This cablegate leaked State Dept. cable will probably tell you all you want to know about Shurat Hadin. https://search.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/07TELAVIV2636_a.html
If you want more, there’s a new book out co-authored by the group’s director that brags about its (mis)deeds and collaboration with Mossad, Harpoon. https://www.amazon.com/Harpoon-Inside-Against-Terrorisms-Masters/dp/0316399051 (.) I haven’t made my way through the entire book yet, but it’s informative if you can withstand the stench.
On Shurat Hadin and its pursuit of Hezbollah finances, see also this article from a couple of days ago: http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/The-Israeli-NGO-that-went-after-Hezbollahs-money-before-US-jumped-in-out-518564
Barry Seal, and the movie about his supposed exploits is worth a look to see who the real drug smugglers are. That and a google search on Chip Tatum
Timely report from VIPS
For over a year, Pres Trump has been subjected to false collusion allegations
Will that experience allow him to appreciate false nature of current allegations against Iran?
Both false claims promote conflict harmful to USA
My bad, sources say Iran responsible for 14% of American Military deaths, not 50%. Still, Saudi Arabia isn’t responsible for that many American Military deaths, they’re our military allies, unlike Iran, who are more than happy to facilitate the deaths of American servicemen, lackeys of the “Great Satan.”
Iran Is Responsible for More Than 1,000 American Military Deaths Since 9/11
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/421159
Iran Responsible for Killing 14 Percent of U.S. Troops in Iraq
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-responsible-for-killing-14-percent-of-u-s-troops-in-iraq/
Politifact: Michael McCaul says Iran to blame for more than 1,000 U.S. casualties in Iraq, plot to attack D.C.
Politifact, rated “Mostly True”
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2015/oct/05/michael-mccaul/michael-mccaul-says-iran-blame-more-1000-us-casual/
Wikileaks: CHEMICAL WEAPONS, IRANIAN AGENTS AND MASSIVE DEATH TOLLS EXPOSED IN WIKILEAKS’ IRAQ DOCS
https://www.wired.com/2010/10/chemical-weapons-iranian-agents-and-massive-death-tolls-exposed-in-wikileaks-iraq-docs/
Iran supplied many of the Iraq insurgency’s deadliest weapons
https://www.wired.com/2007/02/picture_this_de/?intcid=inline_amp
In the interests of expediency. Name taken is not I, and I am not WC. Just sayin.
O, be some other name!
What’s in a name?
Just sayin’.
The sources you are citing are decidedly pro-Israeli and not known for objectivity. The allegation that Iran was waging war against the U.S. in Iraq is just nonsense. The Iraqi Shia groups, particularly the one associated with Moqtada Al Sadr, were not relying upon Iran for direction or weapons as they, the Iraqis, pursued their own goals and objectives.
The reality is that Iran was very cautious about doing anything to provoke the United States. They were fully aware that the Bush Administration was looking for a pretext to go after Iran militarily. Why would Iran encourage attacks on US forces and risk becoming a justifiable combat target when the US was doing the dirty work for Iran of killing thousands of Sunni rebels?
1) Bush’s National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft pointed out in the 1999 book “A World Transformed”, co-authored with George H.W. Bush, when Iran’s Rafsanjani personally facilitated the release of the Lebanon hostages in late 1991, the Bush administration “didn’t do anything.” Goodwill, as it turns out, did not beget goodwill (In other words, Bush welched on a promise to Iran, and there goes the trust)……2) May 2nd 2003, Iran, through the Swiss Ambassador, presents the US State Dept. with a “Roadmap” to mending Iran/US relations. Everything for both sides was on the table to be negotiated. US Top State Dept. officials decided not to reply (Ignored) to Iran’s offer to normalize relations….. 3) The downing of Iran Flight 655 in July 1988 by the US Navy…… 4) 1953 overthrow of their democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh complements of the CIA’s Operation Ajax…. 5) Multiple times sanctions place on Iran lead by the US……. 6) November 2001, Iran assisted the USA (via the 6+2 meeting at the UN) in the taking of Kabul with a plan of freeing up the Northern Alliance. Iran’s plan succeed for the US to take Kabul from Taliban. Then in a January 29th 2002 speech George W Bush labels Iran a part of the “Axis of Evil” thus worsening relations….7) 2017, Iran is found to be certified by the US government to be COMPLIENT with the multination nuclear agreement, yet more sanctions are imposed on Iran by the USA. JCPOA, noting that “according to Article 29, the US is committed to refrain from any policy intended to affect ‘the normalization of trade and economic relations with Iran.” Also, President Donald Trump is reported to dissuaded other foreign leaders from doing business with Iran at the 2017 G20 summit, thus a violation of the agreement …….8) 2010 to 2012, Israeli Intelligence assassinates 5 Iranian scientist. Oct 2011, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich supported “taking out [Iranian] scientists,” and presidential candidate Rick Santorum called the killings “A wonderful thing”…….. 9) Four fairly recent wars just outside Iran’s borders, twice in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria….. 10) Continued bad mouthing by the goons in the Trump administration…… 11) December 2011 US CIA Drone flying in Iran airspace then falls out of sky..….12) 2010 Cyberattack called “Stuxnet” on Iran by Israel and the US July 18th ….. 13) The US has up to 42 military installations surrounding Iran (My count, I could be wrong). I provided a link for a map to verify, or do your own search: https://www.juancole.com/2012/02/ring-of-iranian-bases-threatens-us.html this does not count Israeli military or ships at sea in the area..…. Now who are the real terrorists? (As I study this, the list keeps getting bigger and bigger)….. 14) US support of SADAM’S INVASION of Iran in Iran/Iraq war (Sadam used chemical weapons on Iran and no world condemnation)…….. 15) On March 14th, (2016) Iran announced that it will never pay the $10.5B that a U.S. court demanded it pay for the 9/11 attacks. The same Bill-Clinton-appointed judge who had ruled, on 29 September 2015, that Saudi Arabia has sovereign immunity for 9/11 and so can’t be sued for it, ruled recently, on March 9th that Iran doesn’t have sovereign immunity and fined Iran $10.5 billion to be paid to 9/11 victims and insurers; but, on March 14, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Iran won’t pay, because, as the Ministry’s spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari put it, “The ruling is ludicrous and absurd to the point that it makes a mockery of the principle of justice while [it] further tarnishes the US judiciary’s reputation.” Source: by Eric Zuesse March 16th 2016……
Great post david. Really puts things in perspective.
Some day I have to insert “Operation Merlin.” The list is so long, no one will read it…. Operation Merlin: United States covert operation under the Clinton Administration to provide Iran with a flawed design for a component of a nuclear weapon ostensibly in order to delay the alleged Iranian nuclear weapons program, or to frame Iran….. As per Wiki
Just because Saudi citizens are responsible for 9/11 and other terrorist incidents doesn’t mean Saudi Arabia sponsored that terrorism. The majority of those terrorists hate Saudi Arabia just as much as they hate America. The Kingdom has had to contend with attacks by Sunni extremists just as frequently as America has had to, if not more so. Sunni extremists want to see the monarchy fall, they see them as Western sympathizers, enemies of the cause, and “not good Muslims.” This memorandum totally fails to recognize that, and paints all Sunni terrorism as being the fault of the Saudi government. It’s not an honest assessment. Sounds like the authors are Iranian sympathizers, pushing disinformation. There’s no other explanation for the failure to adequately address these points. I mean, yes, SOME Sunni terrorism is promoted by Saudi Arabia. But the majority of Sunni terrorism, and the worst terrorist attacks to date, have been promulgated by entities opposed to the government and opposed to the monarchy. The Saudi government, unlike the Iranian government, actually ally with us to rid the world of their terrorist citizens.
“Just because Saudi citizens are responsible for 9/11 and other terrorist incidents…”–holdup there, mouthpiece. You’re over-shilling.
I question your premise. Show me who is responsible for 9/11. You know, like evidence, investigation and–hypothetically at least–prosecution and sentencing. Old fashioned, rule of law type stuff. (Maybe even Newtonian physics?) Because, aren’t terrorists just politicized criminals? Couldn’t we use law enforcement and treat them like criminals, murderers? How is going to war benefiting anyone but the war-mongers?
Our allies, KSA and Israel are the bad guys, in case you haven’t noticed…which sort of makes us the problem. But hey, Mr. Taken, I don’t expect to convince you, only give hope to any other rational mind still paying attention.
“You can arm me to the teeth/ You can’t make me go to war”
https://youtu.be/3Or1AWlgBqc
Outstanding reply.
Saudi aid to ISIS and Al Nusra (Al Qaeda in Syria) in Syria and Iraq has been truly massive. Even if these terrorist groups dislike the Saudi government, they are willing to take its money. The same goes for Qatar. ISIS would never have become a major force without Saudi and Qatari money and aid, and there literally would have been no war in Syria if Saudi Arabia and other Sunni countries had not paid to support various Sunni terrorists there. Moreover, the Wahhabi mosques and schools exported around the world by Saudi Arabia are a major source of various kinds of Sunni terrorists on a global scale. In the 21st century Iran has done nothing like this.
Now I’m pretty sure this may be Nikki herself speaking. What a treat!
Name Taken , I suggest you take a new name , because you’ve thoroughly trashed that one.
” We finally know what Hillary Clinton knew all along – US allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding Isis ”
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/hillary-clinton-wikileaks-email-isis-saudi-arabia-qatar-us-allies-funding-barack-obama-knew-all-a7362071.html
” U.S. Relies Heavily on Saudi Money to Support Syrian Rebels ”
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/world/middleeast/us-relies-heavily-on-saudi-money-to-support-syrian-rebels.html
“Just because Saudi citizens are responsible for 9/11 and other terrorist incidents doesn’t mean Saudi Arabia sponsored that terrorism.” If that statement were true why did the Saudi Government throw everything but the kitchen sink in to preventing the JASTA bill from being passed which finally allows the families of 911 victims to have their day in court and sue the Saudi Government. The declasified 28-pages confirms that Saudi government officials aided and abbetted the 911 hijackers including prince Bandar better known as Bandar Bush. Slap a $50/bbl fee on all Saudi Arabian oil imported to the US. Starve those MFS.
Bravo, VIPS! — Mind you, prerequisite to sanity if any kinda US/Israeli/Saudi war against Iran is to be seriously contemplated is some real kinda cognizance of a much bigger picture, looking to the north, east, south, and west:- Following an acrimonious history, Russia and Iran — which sit vis a vis one another on the Caspian Sea — have by now for some time patched up their differences and learned to get along with one another just fine. And, let’s face it, Putin is simply not gonna sit back passively and allow potentially hostile forces, NATO or other, to invade, set up nuclear fortresses in, and militarily occupy a land so close to its southern border. As for China, with Putin’s full approbation as far as Central Asia is concerned, Xi is right now making a massive financial (and PR) investment in reinventing and reconstructing the Silk Road of old as what is intended to become the primary means of commerce between China and Europe — and with this massive project predicated upon a rail-link directly through Iran into Turkey and on to Europe beyond. Is China seriously expected, then, when a war against Iran erupts, to simply sit back; to watch so much expensive water flow under the bridge; and not to cry out over its spilt and precious milk? To its east, energy-dependent Turkey borders Iran, and, despite the Sunni/Shia divide, engages in mutually vital commerce with its neighbor — as indeed Turkey does with Russia, too. Moreover, despite its long-standing NATO membership, Turkey has, right now, just about had its fill of US (plus Izzis4raeli) meddling in its general vicinity. And a war with Iran right next door would certainly be the straw that’d break Erdogan’s back. Looking a bit further west, several European nations have recently sought to repair and restore ancient economic relations with Iran, so their financial interests would be very severely impaired by any such war. As for Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to the south and the south-west, Iran could surely continue to count upon ideological solidarity from the Shia majority which, if fomented into a full-blown rage, could very seriously imperil the security of both Izzis4rael and Saudi Arabia, and the other Gulf States (less Qatar), too. Would Trump’s America thereupon leap to the defense of the latter — on the tired and delusional premise that, truly, the US could bring peace to the Middle East? I presume that Turkey — a nation with the second largest military in NATO — would leap to the defense of Qatar, and I further predict it would soon mend its differences with Assad in Syria in the event of any subversion of Iran, if only to spite the US (and Izzis4rael) by doing so. From a Turkish point of view (and I have lived here for all of a decade), what the fuck is the US doing in this part of the world in the first place when its actual abode lies far on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean? #BDSUSA — a mantra that, the way things are going, I do believe all the peoples of Europe (if not the EU itself) will be chanting before very long in any case.
Postscript:- I’ve just now learned (12/22/2017) that, as of yesterday, Iran is signaling that, in 2018, it will be joining Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union as a full member. But for a successful CIA coup a la Ukraine — and just assuming there may be no war inflicted upon Iran — then this portends yet more damage to the U$ dollar as the international reserve currency. Which sure as hell means, in effect, that the CIA — and the Pentagon, too? — will be paying very close heed to what’s pending. And then just wait for the day when, justifiably frustrated with the thwarting of its former aspirations to EU membership, Turkey will affiliate with Russia and Iran in their EEU. (And maybe even, before too long, neighboring Greece too — who knows how things might yet turn, and turn out?) Dikkat, in any case — the US is surely close to the point of altogether losing it.
While Mich of what is said in this memorandum is true, several key points are neglected:
-the Sunni terrorists responsijble for terrorism around the world are not supported by the Saudi government. In fact, they stand in opposition to the Saudi government, actively working towards their downfall. The members of the Kingdom are seen as traitors and Western sympathizers.
-roughly half of the American troops killed in Iraq were killed at the hands of Iranian soldiers and Iranian militants sympathetic to the Iranian regime.
The point is that Sunni terrorists are not, for the most part, agents of the Saudi government. The same can not be said of Iran. The regime itself is responsible for the death of American servicemen and Shia terrorists are nearly always working for, or with the support of, the Iranian government. All that being said, it is absolutely reasonable to classify Iran as the #1 state-sponsor of terror.
1. There is much documentation and reporting of indirect Saudi government support of all Sunni jihadist groups via cut-out private donors for generations, as well as the certainty of its attacks in Yemen. To deny that they know and approve of this would be silly. Yes, they are said to be afraid of the jihadists coming home, just as the US is afraid of them, but both support them anyway.
2. Most US casualties in Iraq appear to have been due to IED roadside bombs, nearly all placed by Sunni groups. The US media carefully avoided mention of the long border with KSA which no doubt supplied them.
3. The Sunnis in Iraq had the primary motives against the US, having been displaced from government jobs and from the former military and not rehired. The US- supported government explicitly discriminated against Sunnis and ethnically cleansed Baghdad. So your claim that most US casualties were caused by Shiites is very unlikely.
4. There appears to be little or no evidence that Iran is doing more than defending itself against continuing US aggression since 1953. Stop the aggression and suddenly you have no “terrorism.”
5. The evidence of seventy years shows beyond any doubt that the US is the “#1 state-sponsor of terror.” Odd that you would be looking for another one amongst countries with insufficient ability and motive.
Thank you Sam F for debunking Name Taken’s B.S. Also I would like to point out that killing foreign soldiers (ie. US Marines in Lebanon, or US soldiers in Iraq) is not by definition terrorism. It is part of war.
Terrorism:
“the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.”
“Name Taken” sounds like a tag for Nikki Haley. Maybe it’s just the name chosen by a Nikki wannabe? Sure sounds like her idiot voice……
The VIPS have done their duty. However, their sound plea will not be heard by the Orange Haired One nor his cabal of oligarchs, militarists, deep state actors and predatory corporate capitalists, let alone their paid representatives in Congress, all of whom seem to have embraced the Three D’s: depletion, destruction and death.
The two most pressing problems on the planet are:
1. The ‘slouching toward’ a neighborhood near you of catastrophic climate change
2. The more immediate threat of nuclear annhilation
Yet, the American populace seems, for the most part, to be abnormally quiescent while the Republican congress and administration are blitzkrieging the American landscape and scaring most of the rest of the world. These morons must be enthralled with the ease with which this is happening. And where is, to quote Sheldon S. Wolin, the ‘inauthentic opposition’? Yes, I mean such stalwart resistance fighters as Chuck Schummer, Nancy Pelosi, and the Joan of Arc of our time Hillary Play for Pay Clinton? Well, unfortunately they are still here greasing the wheels of this corrupt, deadly duopoly euphemistically called American Democracy. The time is getting short for a real changing of the Guards and, given speed of the forces bearing down on us, is increasingly a very, very long shot.
Or just say, ‘hey Mr President quit taking orders from Tel Aviv or is it now Jerusalem’, in any case cut it out.
Re: the VIPS memo, Eric Zuesse recently published an article on how Iran came to be called the “top state sponsor of terrorism.” It’s a highly informative read. https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/11/15/how-iran-came-called-top-state-sponsor-terrorism.html
Thanks Paul that was a very informative read. I like Eric Zuesse. Joe
Very interesting article; thank you.
What if they threw a war and nobody came? My dear old dad was in some of the worst combat in WWII (check out
the Texas 36th division in the mountains of Italy in the winter). When the draft was coming nigh for me I asked his advice. He told me the charade in Vietnam was about money, and he could have me in Canada real quick. Duck this any way you can. Then he dragged me over to the picture window in the living room and pointed across Ridgewood Av, down Laurel St. and said “the war starts for you when you see them coming up the street……..That Street…..
louis colson, I think your Dad was a very special man. His advice was exactly right and would be the very best American Foreign Policy. I also think that General George Washington would have agreed. The time for America to fight is when under direct threat; all else is theory.
I’ll include a link to underscore the futility of battle that relates to another battle by the Texas 36th., for people unfamiliar to battle, to read. The bottom line is, that the mostly poor but deeply honorable, pay the actual price of battle and your Father understood that. All else is theory as Sam F. always points out on this forum. Also, read the link that Abe provides by Graham Fuller and you will see geo-strategy on a very high level, but it’s only one theory out of many. The highly placed intellects in our government bureaucracy always come up with a logical argument or metaphor for War, like the Domino Theory which was absurdly wrong. When the enemy comes down your street; take them on, good advice…
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/texasmilitaryforcesmuseum/rapido-river-crossing-36th-div-italy-wwii-t1085.html
The 36th Texas National Guard Division – the T-Patchers as they called themselves – were involved in the 20–22 January 1944 Battle of the Gari River (erroneously identified as the Rapido River), a bloodily repulsed and ill-conceived American assault during the Italian Campaign of World War II.
In early 1944, the Allied advance through Italy remained bogged down south of Monte Cassino, which was a crucial point in the Axis defensive positions of the Winter Line (also known as the Gustav Line).
As a result, Allied commanders planned to outflank the Germans with Operation Shingle, an amphibious landing at Anzio. To assist in the landing, Allied forces to the South were to launch attacks in the days leading up to Operation Shingle by seizing German positions across the Garigliano and Rapido rivers. It was hoped that German forces would be drawn away from Anzio to counter these attacks.
Lieutenant General Mark Clark, Commanding General (CG) of the United States Fifth Army, tried to cross the Gari river with two regiments (the 141st and 143rd Infantry) of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Fred Walker.
The American assault was opposed by two battalions from the German 15th Panzer Grenadier Division under General-Lieutenant Rudolf Sperl.
After crossing the gari river in boats, the Americans were cut off from reinforcements and support and subjected to heavy fire and counterattacks by the Germans stationed on the west bank of the river.
General Walker decided against committing the division’s last regiment, the 142nd Infantry, and the battle concluded on the evening January 22. No significant gains had been made in either assault, and the original objective of luring away German forces was entirely unsuccessful.
American troops suffered over 2,000 casualties in the failed assault. After two days of fighting the survivors retreated back across the river; two American regiments were essentially wiped out in the attack.
Clark criticizing Walker’s execution of the battle plan and Walker responding that the entire battle had been foolhardy and unnecessary and that Clarks’s plan, which he, Walker, had protested against, had all but guaranteed failure.
What became known as the Battle of the Rapido River was one of the largest defeats suffered by the U.S. Army during World War II.
It was announced on 20 January 1946, that the US 36th Division Veteran’s Association had unanimously called for a Congressional inquiry into General Mark Clark’s actions during the 36th Infantry Division’s disastrous crossing of the Rapido River on the night of 20 January 1944. The petition read:
“Be it resolved, that the men of the 36th Division Association petition the Congress of the United States to investigate the river Rapido fiasco and take the necessary steps to correct a military system that will permit an inefficient and inexperienced officer, such a General Mark W. Clark, in a high command to destroy the young manhood of this country and to prevent future soldiers being sacrificed wastefully and uselessly.”
Two resolutions were heard in the House of Representatives, one of which claimed the incident was “one of the most colossal blunders of the Second World War…a murderous blunder” that “every man connected with this undertaking knew…was doomed to failure.”
Clark was absolved of blame by the House of Representatives but never made comment on the “Rapido River” episode following World War II.
Thank you Abe…
Incredibly impressive list of signers of this important document-the big question, of course, is will it matter, i.e. will it be read and analyzed by zionists surrounding trump. If so, will it have an effect?
I have a lot of problems understanding how his military advisors. mcmaster, mattis, kelly would buy in so deeply into what I see as a purely Israeli driven exercise, ie war on Iran. Mattis has come out recently and said that the Us will not atk Iran-very good but I’m very wary of Mcmaster. He and pompeo went over recently to a zionist think tank (Foundation for Defense of Democracies)yand it was a pander fest with Iran the prime evil, and killing the nuc agreemt as the group consensus.
“With Israel occupying Syria’s Golan Heights and Turkish troops occupying a northern ‘buffer zone’ stretching from Azaz in the west to Jarabulus on the Euphrates River in the east, US troops continuing to carve out a permanent presence in Syria’s eastern most regions threatens to fulfill a decades old conspiracy to divide and destroy the Syrian state.
“Recently declassified documents from the US Central Intelligence Agency reveal that as early as 1983, the US was engaged in virtually identical covert and overt operations aimed at destabilizing and overthrowing the Syria government.
“A 1983 document signed by former CIA officer Graham Fuller titled, ‘Bringing Real Muscle to Bear Against Syria’, states:
“‘Syria at present has a hammerlock on US interests both in Lebanon and in the Gulf — through closure of Iraq’s pipeline thereby threatening Iraqi internationalization of the [Iran-Iraq] war. The US should consider sharply escalating the pressures against Assad [Sr.] through covertly orchestrating simultaneous military threats against Syria from three border states hostile to Syria: Iraq, Israel and Turkey.’
“The report also states:
“‘If Israel were to increase tensions against Syria simultaneously with an Iraqi initiative, the pressures on Assad would escalate rapidly. A Turkish move would psychologically press him further.’
“That a virtually indistinguishable agenda has transcended decades and multiple presidencies allows observers of Syria’s current conflict to sidestep tempting political diversions and focus solely on the strategic overlay of the actual conflict.
“Despite claims across the Western media that Turkey and the United States are at odds – and specifically at odds regarding their respective illegal occupations and operations within Syrian territory – their decades long collaboration in the attempted division and destruction of the Syrian state indicates that in all likelihood, this collaboration continues, albeit behind a veil of feigned conflicting interests.
“Likewise, attempts to portray Israel as a rogue nation amid this ongoing conflict affords US policymakers flexibility through plausible deniability. Airstrikes targeting Syrian forces impossible for the US or even Turkey to justify, are tolerated by the ‘international community’ when carried out by Israel.
“Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other lesser members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are similarly used to launder various aspects of US foreign policy targeting Syria through, including the arming, training, and funding of various terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) itself.
“Should the US-NATO-Israeli-GCC axis be more overtly apparent, such flexibility would be significantly negated.”
US Expands Defacto Syrian Invasion
By Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2017/03/us-expands-defacto-syrian-invasion.html
Former senior CIA official Graham E. Fuller does not appear on the Intel Vets signatory list.
VIPS’ humble Mister “only a small player in this game” must be busy fending off yet another “absurd” case.
http://grahamefuller.com/why-did-turkey-issue-an-arrest-warrant-against-me/
Those were the days (1983)
“Small player” Graham E. Fuller humbly talking “the language of real power and muscle”
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP88B00443R001404090133-0.pdf
Iraq is still “the key”.
More truth put out for all to see. We need to keep challenging people to question what they are being told by all the state controlled media. Of course regulars here know the whole Iranian terrorism scam is bogus, but we need some carefully explained material to refer to when our friends act as if we are daft. Challenge your friends to look at this article, then discuss it with them, in a non-pushy way. We have to spread the truths we know so well to others, who often do not have a clue. Be gentle, don’t be condescending or belittle others views. Just gently ask if they would like to look deeper…….
As a loyal American patriot, you need an enemy of the republic to keep you with a program that you might otherwise discern as chaotic, dysfunctional, violent, grossly unfair and serving the interests of only a tiny ultra-wealthy minority. China, Iran and Russia are all different enough from America in key ways to serve as bogeymen to scare our populace into unity* and compliance. (*Note: this doesn’t work if you possess a functioning brain with which to think.)
The most powerful trigger to rally the troops is religion. Russia is Orthodox, competitors of Rome and Western Christianity since the Great Schism of 1054. Why did that happen? Basically because Western society collapsed into the Dark Ages after Rome fell and Byzantium still thrived in a dangerous new world of invaders from the East and of Islamic faith. The Holy Roman Empire’s entire survival strategy was to tear down and tear apart the surviving Eastern Empire, a process that seemingly has persisted to this day. Of course, Iran is Islamic, never mind they are not the same Muslims that Western Christians fought for hundreds of years in the Holy Lands during the Crusades. Still, as those Muslims have been largely vanquished by the West and contained by Israel, the Persian Shia will do just as well, thank you very much. The very notion of religion, often conflated with philosophy in the East (see Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc) is so very different from Western spiritual groupthink that the Chinese and other Asians have always been easy to paint as nothing more than subhuman savages worthy of only subjugation and domination by Godly Christians from Western Europe (and their North American inheritors to the “Truth” and Power).
After examining the religious roots of these clashes of civilisations for more time than any reader here has left in his lifespan, we can then proceed to consider the effects of the myriad of other aspects of culture, technology, language, natural resources, etc, etc, that just might be bigger influences on our sorry, highly formalized**, present day relations with these countries than the facile narratives fed to us by our “leaders” and their tools in the media. (**Deviate from the conventional narrative at your own risk.)
The clash of civilizations is indeed rooted in their failures as civilizations. Their religious differences concern only the most ignorant, controlled by religious organizations that will never admit their essential irrelevancy to moral education, and serving only as demagoguery operations of warmongering tyrants.
The study of moral education and tyranny are the first requirements of civilization, disabling the demagogic “facile narratives fed to us by our ‘leaders’ and their tools in the media.” The US is in conflict with civilizations because it is no longer properly part of civilization, no longer a democracy, for its people no longer have free mass media and free elections, the tools of democracy that have been taken over by economic concentrations, whose rise was not foreseen by its founders.
Don’t think I was legitimizing the fault lines between civilisations, starting with religion as perhaps the most convenient one deliberately chosen by leaders interested in dividing, then ruling mass populations. Aside from race, which applies to China vis-a-vis the West though not Iran so much, which is in origin an Indo-European country like the West, and certainly not Russia, what works better to define the “other” from “us?” The “enemy” from the “friendlies?” “Strangers” from “family?” It’s almost a natural, not requiring a very heavy lift at all by those who would divide and conquer. How people dress, what food they eat, what sagas they tell, and even what languages or accents they use become a lot more trivial in comparison, especially if we are trying to understand how specifically Russia, China and Iran have come to be accepted by our leaders, our media and everyday folks as our big bad enemies. The identity of a culture’s gods has always been a very convenient demarcation for where a faction of powerful men should impose their rule. In the West, we’ve been nominally fighting for “Christendom” (whilst really fighting for a king or emperor) since that whole meme outcompeted the ancient Greco-Roman gods on the European peninsula. For most of ensuing history, that was even a bigger imposed motivation than the “freedom” and “democracy” malarkey ostensibly are today. Not sure I made that clear the first time through. Good follow-up discussion might be, why does Israel seem to break that mold where it is actually elevated above the West’s own interests? Is it merely Western guilt over the Holocaust? And when does the statute of limitations expire on that? Just on the basis of simple math, it might be more advantageous to cultivate Russia, China and Iran as our best friends rather than Israel.
I know that you were not seeking to legitimize the fault lines between civilizations, and religion is indeed an appropriate example, Demagogues can use it because its organization contains an implicit structure of irresistible threats upon the individual by community and social group, and its rationales are non-rational and therefore easily manipulated by assertions with no rational basis.
For example, telling the Christian fundamentalists that “Christ was a Jew” although he founded a distinct religion, and that “the Jews had an empire in Palestine taken from them” (like every other group during the million or so years that all of our ancestors migrated from SE Africa) as though that justifies an empire in the present. The fundies do not really believe their religion, they are afraid of it, so they are easily moved toward or against Jews and Muslims by propaganda.
The idea that all Jews deserve special privileges because some of their ancestors were persecuted, although there are no surviving victims of WWII among them, and no special privilege is accorded to other classes of victims, is purely a demand by zionist opportunists. They hope for money and power from other zionist opportunists, in business relations and group promotions, and merely need an excuse to pretend that they act with virtue. They could not be more hypocritical, as for them money=power=virtue and no one has rights but themselves.
It will be interesting to see the ground shift when the opportunists decide that China and its supporters have more money and influence than the Jews and their supporters. Perhaps we could test that with a myth that Christ was a Taoist or communicated with multiple gods. Perhaps China will start sponsoring radio and TV evangelists.
While this is useful further documentation of this fact well-known to those outside the yankee media propaganda bubble, it is disconcerting that such articles need to be produced and even more disconcerting that those inside the propaganda bubble accept as dogma, contrary to proven fact, that it is Iran, not the wahabi Saudi types who are the chief source of terrorism.
Yes, the DC careerists are happy to support what the CIA/MIC has declared via mass media to be the consensus of bribery sources, and the future public opinion of the sheeple. It simplifies the job of being an oligarchy shill.
It would be good to know how China plans to buy into the US oligarchy, which would be the quickest, simplest, safest, and most profitable defense strategy available. Same for Russia. The US politicians are for sale, and the US produces almost nothing but debt and markups, so buy your shares and control the capitalist madmen.
Perhaps the Israelis aren’t selling.
Yes, China/Russia would have to buy into the zionist-controlled mass media and CIA/MIC via sympathetic US citizens.
Perhaps promises and bluster to those zionists who are not jewish, along with higher offers.
Perhaps claims that they are militantly anti-communist and pro-oligarchy.
The VIPS presents a reasoned argument, but I believe Trump will never read it. Any information he receives on Iran is likely to be filtered through the opinions of his son-in-law and Kushner has probably made himself immune to reproach by his close association with Netanyahu.
I believe you’re right. In the highly unlikely event Trump learns these facts, he’ll be completely unfazed by them. He lives in TrumpWorld, a special place where things like “facts” and “reality” are as uncommon as verified UFOs in what is commonly called the “real world”.
Maybe if Trump got dozens – or better , hundreds – of Tweets with the link and an urgent plea for him to read the article , he might take notice and decide he better see what all the commotion is about.
Or , we could all just sit back and wait for the inevitable war……
Many thanks to VIPS for this.
I don’t think he has the attention span to read anything over 10 words.
More Info on the treachery being enacted with our tax dollars. See link below.
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May 13, 2017
The War Gangs and War Criminals of NATO to Meet in Brussels
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-war-gangs-and-war-criminals-of-nato.html
Well, this may inform him if Trump can find someone to read it to him.
Trump is not the only US citizen that would need having this read to him or her.
After the threats uttered by Mrs. Haley today, which sound very much like Randy Newman’s satirical “Let’s drop the big one” it is very good to read all those names supporting this memorandom, it reassures the world that there is, of course, another side to the US which is aware of all this dangerous warmongering nonsense going on. The world needs to know that the US does not only consists of “morons”.
Haley sounded like a character from a Metro Goldwyn Meyer western.
Isn’t it ironic that at the exact same time that the #MeToo campaign is making the world aware of how much bullying women have experienced in the workplace at the hands of powerful men, we have Haley the brutal bully! Talk about abuse of power! Look no further than Haley’s threats to any state that does not submit to US empire. “We will be keeping a list”….. OMG! Haley’s threats at UNSC and UNGA triggered my chilling memories of being married to a batterer. “Do what I want or you will be punished.” He would withhold whatever he knew I wanted and needed and didn’t care —- much like Trump’s lack of concern for those who will be punished if they do not submit to US bullying. Coincidentally, he worshipped Haley’s and many Zionist’s biblical war god who also taught the same lesson. “Kill them all”; “Show no mercy!”
Thank you, VIPS, for speaking truth to power.
Having interviewed Mr. Binney, it seems that DT should read this very well written and persuasive letter. If the US admin does not break away from the zionist/MIC warmongers who surround it, then it will capitulate to them.
Yet we have seen more admin bluster and careless meddling than action in Syria, and no major attack yet in NK.
If DT is allowing destructive CIA/SOC operations only to keep the warmongers from attacking himself, then he should install leaders to decapitate the warmongering agencies instead of the nations they threaten.
If he is persuaded that threats will prevent foreign encroachments or counter-imperialism, he should be advised against that theory, because in fact threats build up the foreign MIC and its demagogues, causing those problems rather than solving them.
Gladstone 1860: “We have no adequate idea of the predisposing power which an immense series of measures of preparation for war on our part has in actually begetting war. They familiarise ideas which lose their horrors…”
It is important news that MEK killed 70 Iranian government officials including its president in 1981, likely a US Reagan operation continuing today under neo-Brzezinskiism. This article seems to accept uncritically the idea of Iranian “terror” operations in that era, but notes that these were in retaliation for worse provocations.
“the zionist/MIC warmongers”
There’s a strong case for the Israelis being the terrorists behind the terrorists. War profiteering bankers used radical Jewish supremacists as boots on the ground to start a religious war. For readers who haven’t seen it, a relatively succinct account is in
“War Profiteers and the Roots of the War on Terror”
http://warprofiteerstory.blogspot.com
Yes, zionist campaign bribery and control of mass media are clearly the causes of US foreign policy in the Mideast, beyond the MIC campaigns for war anywhere. The US has no interests at all in the Mideast, other than correcting the destruction caused by its massive sell-out to the zionists. The excuses are empty: we can buy oil from whomever has it like everyone else, and the Jews have no more right to an empire there than anyone else. The corruption of US elections and mass media by money power have destroyed democracy and the tools of democracy, without which it cannot be restored, without an historic bloodbath. This is the real cost of corruption by economic power.
It may be worse than that Sam. Rumors have it that Israel has infiltrated our Nuclear facilities and other crucial places while at the same time have their nukes pointed at various locations on our Planet in order to take it out. Studying the Fukushima disaster and looking at the towns infrastructure as the tsunami came rumbling in, shows no 9.0 quake as this Alaskan knows what that would do to a town 120 kilometers from the epicenter. Just a thought from the clandestine community.
Washington has long had its own interests in the Middle East.
Since WW II, Middle East oil has been recognized as, “a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history” according to State Department documents from the Truman administration. Decades later, there is still no documentary evidence that this view has been abandoned.
Washington does not see itself as “everyone else.”
US strategic planning calls for the control and not just purchase of ME oil. Washington planners have long surmised that controlling the oil reserves of the Middle East means “substantial control of the world” in the words of an FDR adviser. Iran was an enabler of US plans under the Shah; it’s been a threat since it stopped following Washington’s orders.
to paraphrase chomsky,
it is pointless speaking truth to power because power already knows the truth.
In 2015, Trump was planning regime change in Iran during his presidency.
When Flynn was fired for taking money from the Russian government and not reporting it, I checked, and discovered that Flynn was paid to go on Russian TV, where he promised that Trump would force regime removal in Iran, and for good reasons.
The liberation of Iraq and Libya made them free countries, i.e., US/UK/EU firms were free to plunder their natural resources, with obscene profits, and the same can be expected in Iran.