Forgive me for not being able to trace the post querying if Pepe Escobar’s interview was still on Nima’s channel. Not as far as I could tell.
Judge Nap put out some great stuff Friday.
Anyway here is Pepe laying it all out for us at ZH
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A bit of perspective from John Helmer:
I’m not too keen on the UN SDG- & WHO PPT-supporting, Goldman Sachs’ Baron O’Neill’s invention myself. There’s some funny stuff going on innit? Just exactly who is all in it together is what I’d like to know. Not many commentators (least of all most of Judge Nap’s) seem to have any handle on this. Stay skeptic!
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That was a dense read, phew.
Kit Knightly at OffG has a good view of the big stage I think.
BRICS eh?
Sounds very logical. So much to disrupt, ie so much to gain.
Not much doubt they’ll go in then - following a script simliar to Eye-raq. Except in Iraq they were guaranteed to at least win the direct conflict.
I wonder how they have calculated and rationalised the possible losses. If this includes long term harm to the brand, they could be arranging for a long period of flailing in quicksand.
There is so much obfuscation, outright propaganda, and attempts at ‘negotiation’, that it really is difficult to know what is going on. I’m with you; stay sceptic.
I’m trying to follow the news right now. Did the US bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities? Did the Iranian air defense systems let three B2’s (not exactly fast agile missile systems) in and out of Iranian airspace without shooting them down? Were the Iranians in on it allowing Donald to appease Adleson, Hegseth, et al. Were the three sites bombed (if they were bombed) inoperative and clear of any nuclear material? Or is this just more of the Apprentice, oops, I mean Donald’s theatre? If it wasn’t so flippin serious, it would go down well as the ultimate spy drama on Netflix.
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Thank you for this. In today’s world, you can only trust yourself (what a nightmare!).
I’m seeing kayfabe. More energy has gone into social media than the floor of Fordow. Will there be an equally soft response towards the yanks?
However. None of us really knows what’s going on in China and Russia. Putin has his fight to deal with and according to financial circles, China is struggling (I take this with salt). If I was either, I’d focus on my own affairs whilst watching the yanks over extend and wither. Debt is the weapon.
B2 has a maximum ceiling of 50,000ft (9.47 miles). Only S500 or 550 can take them out. They’re difficult to detect electronically and were likely close to the target when picked up.
Pains me to say it, but the B2 is an incredible weapon.
Trump’s version. I’ll be amazed if this is true:
“…the strikes were a spectacular military success…Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated…”
Trump’s speech: (video)
https://swentr.site/news/620185-trump-address-iran-strikes/
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I’ve seen one single Iranian claiming that the facilities are damaged but repairable.
Not the best statement, but it goes against Trump’s claim.
Wonder what the Chinese got from this? Data? Testing? Trials?
In the theatre this is a coup, the US get to claim bragging rights …though it’s hard to see how such a quick Trumpian dart in and out can have done much real damage - like, what was the problem?
[edit] Iran hasn’t waited for the fog of war to clear.
Major damage in cities across Israel in 1st Iran strike after US bombings
So what’s changed? The threat to Israel wasn’t nuclear in the first place and one can presume Israel is now going to see more of Iran’s best weaponry.
If that’s all the US us going to do, I wonder if Iran might decide to keep Israel as the main focus, in order to leave Trump a superficial get-out. For the US, the theatre seems what matters at the moment.
If there is going to be theatre there has to be satire
At least I think it’s satire - rings partly true…
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Edit: Pepe Escobar: “For the moment this is an enormous PR stunt. It smells and walks and talks like a gigantic Rat. So far we have not seen anything remotely approaching severe damage anywhere”.
Mohammad Marandi & Pepe Escobar: U.S. STRIKES IRAN… And Iran’s Response Is Pure DESTRUCTION
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Ritter: “The best that we could accomplish is that we did damage to one entrance and one exit of a facility that has five exits”. (The facility had been evacuated anyway). “These attacks accomplished nothing in terms of retarding or limiting Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. The acts were purely an act of political theatre for a president who’s desperate to be seen as being a decisive leader but all he showed was American impotence”.
I rest my case your honour!
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On the theme of @Kieran_Telo’s first post of this thread
Michael Hudson: War on Iran is fight for US unipolar control of world
Economist Michael Hudson explains how the war on Iran seeks to stop countries from breaking away from U.S. unipolar control and dollar hegemony, and disrupt Eurasian integration with China and Russia
Curiously perhaps, Hudson doesn’t mention BRICS specifically but there seems a lot of overlap.
However this site, Ben Norton’s https://geopoliticaleconomy.com, has kept track of the attacks by both the US and Israel across the region, on various countries.
A good round-up from Jan 2024:
The US military is attacking Yemen, Iraq, and Syria, while Israel bombs Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Both are threatening Iran. Is a large Middle East (West Asia) war coming?
Link, Is a huge war coming? US bombs Yemen, Iraq & Syria. Israel bombs Gaza & Lebanon. Both threaten Iran.
This leaves little doubt that the recent attacks on Iran by Israel and the US are not only part of a joined-up policy, but the policy has wider and much bigger targets.
You can’t say they don’t think big.
I’m not sure Trump is doing any of the thinking; as he seems to be able to say whatever he likes, it’s probably better that way.
ED
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Fascinating analysis from Alastair Crooke which also explores the possibility that the attack may have been pre-orchestrated with Iran and possibly Russia. Why were there no air defences?
Alastair Crooke : Trump’s Grave Miscalculations.
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