Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War

[JackMcThorn]

From the middle east - granted it is an op-ed but it starkly contrasts the firehose stream particularly from X. And I don't think threads are meant to be one-sided.

Whole article at this address. I'll highlight parts of it below.

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2...ng-here-is-why

Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war.

The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in.

But this narrative is wrong. Not because the costs are imaginary, but because the critics are measuring the wrong things. They are cataloguing the price of the campaign while ignoring the strategic ledger....

----

When you look at what has actually happened to Iran’s principal instruments of power – its ballistic missile arsenal, its nuclear infrastructure, its air defences, its navy and its proxy command architecture – the picture is not one of US failure. It is one of systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades.

----

An arsenal built over decades, dismantled in days...

Iranian ballistic missile launches have fallen by more than 90 percent from 350 on February 28 to roughly 25 by March 14, according to publicly available data. Drone launches tell the same story: from more than 800 on Day 1 to about 75 on Day 15.

The figures drawn from US and Iranian military statements differ in detail but converge on the trajectory. Hundreds of Iranian missile launchers have been rendered inoperable. According to some reports, 80 percent of Iran’s capacity to strike Israel has been eliminated.

Iran’s naval assets, fast-attack craft, midget submarines and mine-laying capabilities are being liquidated. Its air defences have been suppressed to the point at which the US is now flying nonstealth B-1 bombers over Iranian airspace, a decision that signals near-total confidence in air dominance.

----

But this framing inverts the strategic logic. Closing the strait was always Iran’s most visible retaliatory card, and always a wasting asset. About 90 percent of Iran’s own oil exports pass through Kharg Island and then the strait.

China, Tehran’s largest remaining economic partner, cannot receive Iranian crude while the strait is shut. Every day the blockade continues, Iran severs its own economic lifeline and alienates the one major power that has consistently shielded it at the United Nations. The closure does not just hurt the global economy; it accelerates Iran’s isolation.

Meanwhile, the naval assets Iran needs to sustain the blockade – fast-attack boats, drones, mines, shore-based antiship missiles – are being degraded daily. Its naval bases at Bandar Abbas and Chahbahar have been severely damaged.

The question is not whether the strait reopens but when and whether Iran retains any naval capacity to contest it.

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

🇺🇸 BREAKING! Joe Kent, a Trump-appointed Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned, citing opposition to the ongoing war on Iran.

In a statement, Kent said his decision followed deep reflection and a conflict with his conscience regarding U.S. involvement in the conflict:

"After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2033902159268327926

[Ravenlocke]

-- GEROMAN -- time will tell - 👀 -- reposted

PatriotTakes 🇺🇸


Trump on Joe Kent in 2022: “A very incredible guy and with a tremendous future in my opinion. …a very special person.”

https://x.com/patriottakes/status/2033941879876649191

[Ravenlocke]

-- GEROMAN -- time will tell - 👀 --

US Embassy in Baghdad (Green Zone) is under attack again - the drones are most probably fired by Iraqi resistance groups

https://x.com/GeromanAT/status/2033953790043254985

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
DD Geopolitics

🇺🇸 BREAKING! Joe Kent, a Trump-appointed Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned, citing opposition to the ongoing war on Iran.

In a statement, Kent said his decision followed deep reflection and a conflict with his conscience regarding U.S. involvement in the conflict:

"After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.

I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby."

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2033902159268327926

Kudos to him and his high integrity. But watch this space: the Washington establishment is already doing everything they can to trash him.

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

🇬🇷🇺🇸 Greek media reports the American aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Red Sea as part of the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran, is expected to return to NATO’s naval base on Crete next week.

The vessel is reportedly returning for refueling and possibly to investigate a major onboard fire on March 12.

The fire began in the ship’s main laundry area. More than 600 sailors were left without beds and have since been sleeping on floors and tables.

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2033894303160770678

[Ravenlocke]

Theresa Finn 🇩🇪

Translated from German
Good day!

Israeli settlers have set a Palestinian on fire in Ramallah in the West Bank.

They tied him up, doused him with gasoline, and set him ablaze.

https://x.com/Theresa_Finn_/status/2033913750718451868

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz claims Iran’s senior security figure Ali Larijani was killed in overnight airstrikes.

The statement, reported by Reuters, also says Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani was killed.


https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2033864174032343410

[Ravenlocke]

dana reposted

Korobochka (コロボ) 🇦🇺✝️

Joe Kent's resignation might not be randomly timed.

He's the leader of counter-terrorism operations.

He's resigning to tell us that they asked him to set Iran up for a false flag.

https://x.com/cirnosad/status/2033953158029054117

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics
6h
🇺🇸🇸🇦🇩🇪 A U.S. medevac flight evacuated personnel from Saudi Arabia to Ramstein Air Base overnight following a sustained day of drone attacks.

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2033868899502969109

[sdv]

https://youtube.com/shorts/Aktzu5jnlq0

A summary from Kim Iverson on the 'proof of life' videos for Netanyahu. In the full video, Kim does give benefit of doubt for some of the 'oddities', but she points out that he is left-handed and has always been so, yet he uses his right hand to hold the cup to 'drink the coffee'. Disappearing teeth in the first video and disappearing ring in the third video are enough evidence for me to dismiss all three videos as AI generated, so I am of the opinion that he is 'gone' or deep underground on life support.

As for the new supreme leader in Iran, it is possible that he is deep underground and if he uses any kind of electronic device to communicate with the people, his location could be pinpointed. But, in the fog of war, he could also not be living or on life support. As leadership figures they probably have a very high value for a nation at war.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Aktzu5jnlq0

[Ravenlocke]

Max Blumenthal

The Israel lobby that got Trump into the Iran disaster is now in panic mode over Joe Kent's resignation

Josh Block – the disgraced former CEO of The Israel Project, whose outfit collapsed after he fell for a months-long hidden camera investigation – falsely claims Kent's wife "works" for The Grayzone and libels us as "funded by the regime in Tehran"

Heather Kaiser co-authored one freelance piece for The Grayzone in 2023 about wasteful USAID spending in Ukraine. That's the full extent of her involvement.

I look forward to hearing more from Kent now that he's free from the vise grip of Israeli control over the Trump White House

https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2033928780280983799

Max Blumenthal

Joe Kent, a special forces vet who lost his wife to ISIS in Syria after military leadership sabotaged US withdrawal, is the one Trump natsec official with the courage of his convictions

Kent, who ran for Congress to "make peace non-partisan," explicitly blames Israel for manufacturing the war in which his wife, Shannon, was killed, and for doing the same in Iran

He appeals to Trump to "reflect on what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for" – a clear reference to Israeli control over the administration

I know many admin insiders feel the same as Kent, but are too intimidated by Trump and the dark forces driving this war

https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2033912573557342323

[Ravenlocke]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
DD Geopolitics

🇮🇱⚔️🇮🇷 Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz claims Iran’s senior security figure Ali Larijani was killed in overnight airstrikes.

The statement, reported by Reuters, also says Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani was killed.


https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2033864174032343410

Max Blumenthal
@MaxBlumenthal
·
3h
These are silly post-hoc justifications for killing Larijani, as any other self-respecting IRI leader would have:

-Suppressed foreign-backed regime change riots designed as the bridge between the 12 Day War and the current assault
-Authorized retaliatory attacks on US bases in the region
-Lashed out at Israel and the US for imposing war on Iran

The real reasons why Larijani was killed:

-Israel seeks to deny Trump an off ramp by hardening Iran's political hierarchy and eliminating top negotiators
-Netanyahu needed a PR "win" after his pledge to Trump of regime change through decapitation strikes was exposed as a ruse

https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/2033917417621967264

[Ravenlocke]

Arya Yadeghaar

Right now in Tehran:

Iranians singing the national anthem with a military salute.

https://x.com/AryJeay/status/2033963933539696834

[Ravenlocke]

Arya Yadeghaar

Another wave of missile launches headed towards the Negev

https://x.com/AryJeay/status/2033939434735858161

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

🇺🇸🇸🇾🇱🇧 BREAKING! The US wants to activate Al-Julani and his ISIS gang to fight Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The U.S. has urged Syria to consider deploying forces to eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus is hesitant, fearing deeper involvement in regional conflict and rising sectarian tensions, five sources told Reuters.

https://x.com/AryJeay/status/2033899506383593848

[bojancan]

March, 17

Trump To Demand 100 BILLION Extra To Pay For Iran War

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=y1-odu3-VVI

White House PANICS After SHOCK Dropsite Report



“Pathetic”: Iran Foreign Minister DESTROYS CBS Anchor on Trump Strikes

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uGsbM3HUXK4

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ECA9WH4Xd-Q

[Kryztian]

Joseph Kent, the the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, just resigned.




As the saying goes, truth is the first casualty of war, but never in history, has an administration done such a horrendously atrocious job of manufacturing lies that so few people believe. And Kent's resignation makes it even harder, as he clearly spells out what most Americans believe to be the underlying truth of why the United States is engaged in the most senseless military action possible.




(People in censored Great Britain, the image of the tweet and letter are found in the beginning of video below.)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=s3opWS2hZL8

[Ravenlocke]

Pepe Escobar

Being assassinated by a ghastly death cult is a supreme honor.

These were some of Larijani's last words, in writing, to all the lands of Islam:

“Think of the future of the Islamic world. You know that America is unfaithful and Israel is your enemy. Pause, reflect, and consider the region’s future. Iran advises you sincerely and does not seek to dominate you."

Unity. Corrupt petro-monarchs will never get it. The Arab street does.

The death cult psycho killers can kill everyone in sight - that's the only thing they do.

Yet that will not affect an extremely resilient and decentralized system - as in the Mosaic - which is NOT dependent on individuals.

Continuity of government remains in effect.

An apocalyptic death cult cannot decapitate a systemic structure .

https://x.com/RealPepeEscobar/status...09412860203048

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Kryztian (here)
Joseph Kent, the the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, just resigned.




As the saying goes, truth is the first casualty of war, but never in history, has an administration done such a horrendously atrocious job of manufacturing lies that so few people believe. And Kent's resignation makes it even harder, as he clearly spells out what most Americans believe to be the underlying truth of why the United States is engaged in the most senseless military action possible.




(People in censored Great Britain, the image of the tweet and letter are found in the beginning of video below.)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=s3opWS2hZL8

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/178073

"I always thought he was weak on security. Very weak on security. It's a good thing that he's out." – Trump on Jeo Kent, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, who was appointed by Trump and who resigned today citing opposition to the ongoing war on Iran.