Militia claim ignored about 4 dead U.S. airmen; Gulf Arabs’ strong second thoughts about the U.S.; Washington forced to lift Russian sanctions because of a war of choice for which there’s no price tag.
The harbor of Doha, Qatar. (Joe Lauria)
THURSDAY
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
4 US Airmen Killed in Downed Refueling Plane
The U.S. military said four airmen were killed when their refueling plane crashed in the deserts of western Iraq. U.S. Central Command said the plane wasn’t downed by “hostile fire,” while the Islamic Resistance of Iraq “claimed responsibility for downing a US KC-135 refueling aircraft and conducting 37 attacks on US bases in the region over the past 24 hours,” Iran’s Press TV reported.
“According to the resistance’s statement, its fighters intercepted and struck a US KC-135 refueling aircraft over western Iraq, forcing it to crash. … The second aircraft, also reportedly targeted by the Islamic Resistance, sustained damage but was able to make an emergency landing at a location under US control,” Press TV said.
The New York Times report didn’t mention the militia’s claim, deeming it too unimportant to report. The Times simply takes Central Command’s word for it. The Times report just hints of a collision between the two planes, with the second landing safely. Why entertain the possibility that the U.S. is lying and that both sides lie in war? Because it’s called journalism.
Gulf Arabs Reassessing US Relationship
Gulf Arab states are rethinking their longstanding ties with the United States after the beating they are taking in just the first 13 days of war against Iran. Reuters reports:
“The U.S. may have pulled the trigger on the Iran war, but it is the oil-producing Gulf that will pay the price, Gulf sources and analysts say, signalling unease in ties between a region under Iranian attack and the superpower it relies on for protection.
Behind the scenes, resentment is mounting in Gulf Arab capitals at being drawn into a war they neither initiated nor endorsed but are now paying for economically and militarily, with airports, hotels, ports and military and oil installations hit by Iranian strikes, said three regional sources, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak publicly.
‘It is not our war. We did not want this conflict, yet we are paying the price in our security and our economy,’ Ebtesam Al-Ketbi, President of the Emirates Policy Center, told Reuters.”
The Gulf states still blame Iran for hitting them. They pretend they are neutral because they told the U.S. it can’t use the bases on their lands to attack Iran. But the bases have played an essential role in the U.S. military assault nonetheless. When Spain told the U.S. its bases couldn’t be used the U.S. moved its aircraft and munitions to Germany.
“For decades, relations between Washington and the Gulf states rested on an implicit trade-off: Gulf energy and capital — including hundreds of billions of dollars spent on U.S. arms, advanced technology and goods and services — in return for U.S. protection, said Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics.
Gerges said the war had shaken those assumptions. Now, he said, Gulf states would accelerate efforts to diversify their foreign and security partnerships, realising ‘they cannot really rely on the United States to protect their energy, oil, gas, their people and their sovereignty.’”
“Sources close to Gulf Arab government circles say frustration with Trump privately runs deep across the region. Many believe he dragged the Gulf into a war shaped heavily by Israel, without sharing a plan and acting hastily and without fully weighing the political and economic fallout for allies.”
US Lifts Oil Sanctions Against Russia
Reacting to the global economic disaster that it engineered by choosing to go to war with Iran, the United States on Thursday was forced to “temporarily” lift its oil sanctions against Russia for 30 days to try to bring the soaring price of oil under control.
“To increase the global reach of existing supply, Treasury is providing a temporary authorization to permit countries to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in a social media post. “This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.”
Russia welcomed the news and saw it as vindication that the world needs its oil to bring about a stable price. There was no gloating from Moscow though the move was clearly a humiliation for Washington.
No Price Tag on the War
Bessent told Sky News there was “absolutely not” a price that would be too high to continue the war. No amount would cause him to tell Trump to pull the plug because it was costing too much, he said.
What is it costing the American taxpayer now? Reuters reported that the first six days cost at least $11.3bn. Do the math. That’s nearly 2 billion a day to wreck the world economy and destroy innumerable innocent lives.
Bessent is taking a page out of the Madeleine Albright book. She infamously said about killing half a million Iraqi children with U.S. sanctions to hurt Saddam Hussein that “We think the price is worth it.”
Judas Iscariot and Loki in the crowd ?
Friday the 13th occurs in any month that begins on a Sunday
———
On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest and torture of hundreds of Knights Templar, a key historical event linking the date to misfortune.
Historically in Britain, Friday was the traditional day for public hangings, reinforcing its reputation as an unlucky day.
1940: Buckingham Palace was bombed by German forces.
1970: The devastating Bhola cyclone hit the Bay of Bengal.
1972: Uruguayan Flight 571 crashed in the Andes, known as the “Andes flight disaster”.
2012: The cruise ship Costa Concordia sank off the Italian coast.
2020: The COVID-19 pandemic saw major global shutdowns, with a key U.S. national emergency declared on March 13
So in reality ? I never abscribed to the Friday the 13th stuff .
When I was about 6 or 7 I found a five dollar bill on the floor at the carwash .
Ruined it for me , just can’t make it up .
The vast majority of the world’s people have long been capable of thinking for themselves.
If the people in their liberal Ivory towers would begin to wake up from their idealized dreaming and come down to Earth, “instead of just following” the old habits of instructing ‘others’ how to go about bringing progressive change for all, from on high, the world would immediately begin to be a better place for all and sundry.
“When enough people want peace, the direction of events eventually changes”.
Perhaps those in Ivory towers have time and tide to wait for the envisaged changes; what of the rank and file of the global populace existing from day-to-day on the pittances thrown down from on high by the people with the power of totalitarian authority?
What is now coming to light, more out in the open, is that Liberal rhetoric has been nothing more than a subtle means of placation, under cover.
The “false flag” of generations gone by!
Even though this article speaks about war and confusion, there are still signs of something good trying to grow underneath it all.
People and countries are starting to think for themselves instead of just following old habits. They are asking, “What truly protects us? What truly serves our people?” This kind of questioning is healthy. It means the world is waking up.
We are seeing that many nations, even those caught in the middle, do not want more fighting. They want safety, stability, and a chance to live in peace. When enough people want peace, the direction of events eventually changes.
The stress on old systems—political, military, economic—shows that they cannot continue the way they have. When something stops working, life pushes us toward something new. Surely, this can be the beginning of a more balanced world, where no single power controls everything.
And the fact that people are paying attention, asking questions, and not accepting every official story— is a encouraging sign. Awareness and clarity are the first steps toward change.
So even in difficult times, there is movement and learning, and a gradual shift toward something more honest and more equal. The world is not falling apart, but seeking to rearrange itself in a more correct order. And from that rearranging, something wiser can emerge.
The world is not waking up. It is still just selfishness. Because they are suffering from US/Israeli actions, they blame Iran and say they want something new. If they were waking up they would be blaming US/Israel.
I think you are right.