While most Americans lost interest in Iran after the hostage crisis was over once President Reagan was sworn into office on 20JAN1981, do note that there was zero coincidence here as Robert Parry points out in this article:
President Jimmy Carter was struggling to secure the release of 52 American hostages seized at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, and Republican operatives again were alleged to have gone behind the President’s back.
The hostages were kept in Iran until Reagan was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1981. Over the years, about two dozen sources including Iranian officials, Israeli insiders, European intelligence operatives, Republican activists and even Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have provided information about alleged contacts with Iran by the Reagan campaign.
This October Surprise controversy finally drew some official attention in 1991-92 around the question of whether Ronald Reagan’s secret arms sales to Iran in 1985-86 the Iran-Contra Affair had originated several years earlier via his campaign’s contacts with Iran during Carter’s hostage crisis in 1980.
As this clip indicates, Iran came back into the US news cycle in the mid-1980s with the Iran-Contra Affair. However, dealing with the enemy was justified to hide the money trail but make no mistake, the US and Iran were still at war. The US really wants the heady days of the 1970s when its puppet, the Shah of Iran, allowed the US a place in the Middle East to “spread democracy” (sarcasm)
While this war has had its seasons, the events of the past week launches the US Empire into a brand new season of war, not just with Iran, but with all their allies in the region, as the extra kick the US gave Iran by a “combo” murdering of Iran’s top general who was on a peace mission between Saudi Arabia and Iraq brokered by Iraq AND Iraq’s general has resulted in the last straw in the Iraq-US “relationship”. If Iraq had a Facebook page it would read:
While Iraq will chart its own course now in off-loading their invader, partial re-builder and since 2014 their “protector” from ISIS, Iran can now count on many more allies in their new and refreshed mission to USXITME (US Exit Middle East).
While many are oblivious as to what Iran’s response was, it was actually the first time the US forces had been directly and accurately targeted since WWII. The Saker explains with a little background:
- It is has now become pretty clear that Iran took several steps to make sure that the US would know when and where the strike would happen. Specifically, Iran warned the Iraqi government and the Swiss diplomats who represent US interests in Iran.
- Yet, at the same time, Iran issued the strongest threat it could possibly issue: it told the US that *any* counter-strike aimed at Iran would result in a strong Iranian attack on Israel.
- The US quite clearly took the decision not to retaliate and to “forget” Trump’s promise to strike at 54 Iranian targets. I want to stress here that this was the correct decision under these circumstances.
- It also appears that the Iranians were able to somehow retrofit some kind of terminal guidance capability on missiles which originally lacked it.
- The level or precision of the strikes was absolutely superb and quite amazing.
When one looks at the data, you have to wonder whether every commander of the 35 “US” bases (on foreign soil) have s**t their pants or not.
.. which means that the missiles were, indeed, guided, and guided very accurately, striking targets of less than ~50m size with a high degree of reliability (in this particular area 3/3 ..) .. the Iranians are very proud of their capability to conduct true precision strikes with an accuracy every bit as good as any Russian and/or US missile.
That is the real effect of a good old slap in the face:
With Iran’s new capabilities as demonstrated by two simple surgical strikes that caught the US Patriot missiles blindsided, and the fact that Russia will be offering their S-400 series defense systems to Iran and S-300 series defense systems to Iraq, the bases in the Middle East staffed by US troops are each very vulnerable as The Saker points out in the scenario below.
… remember the Iranian reply that it had 35 US bases within missile range? Now imagine this first one:
- Iran fires 10-12 missile on each and every one of the 35 US bases listed and targets barracks, fuel and ammo dumps, key command posts, etc. How many casualties do you think that such a strike would result in?
Next, let’s try the same thing with Israel:
- Iran fires 2-3 missiles but carefully aims them as Israeli air force bases, personnel barracks, industrial sites (including chemical and nuclear sites, not even necessarily military ones! Dimona anybody?), the Knesset or even Bibi’s personal residence. Can you imagine the panic in Israel?
How about the KSA?
- Iran fires a large amount of missiles aimed at *truly* crippling the Saudi oil installations, National Guard barracks, airfields, etc. We already know what the Houthis could do with their very limited resources. Just imagine what Iran could do to the KSA (or the UAE and Kuwait) if it wanted to!
If only this show of asymmetrical force in the Middle East would be “data” for some critical thinking on the part of the US Military, US Government and US Deep State to defend the troops they have now placed in harms way.
Maybe having Trump watch some Vietnam War clips (you know, the war he was granted one medical and four educational deferments for, which kept him out of that conflict?) and see how the US Empire extracted itself from Southeast Asia. This could easily be done in the Middle East and the rest of the world would respect the US much more if they took that mature move.
Maybe having Trump watch some Revolutionary War clips, and see how the British Empire extracted itself from their thirteen colonies in America.
At the end of the day, the United States would be much more healthy internally, and less of a bully externally. We can only pray for such a day as that.
-SF1