Will Persian Gulf Tanker War Become a Shooting War? By Ron Paul
(2019-07-23 at 04:46:10 )

Will Persian Gulf Tanker War Become a Shooting War? By Ron Paul

The United Kingdom got a taste of its own medicine this week as Iran seized a British tanker, the Stena Impero, just two weeks after United Kingdom Royal Marines seized a tanker near Gibraltar carrying two million barrels of Iranian oil.

As could be predicted, the United States and United Kingdom media are reporting Irans seizure of the Stena Impero as if it were something out of the blue, pushing the war propaganda that "we" have been attacked and must retaliate.

Media criticism of the United Kingdom is limited to claims that it has not put enough military into the Persian Gulf, not that it should never have seized the Iranian ship in the first place.

The truth is, the United Kingdom seizure of the Iranian ship was calculated to force Iran to retaliate and thus provide the pretext the neocons need to get their war.

As usual, President Trumps National Security Advisor John Bolton is in the thick of this operation.

Mr. Bolton Tweeted that he was so surprised - but pleased - by the United Kingdom move against the Iranian tanker.

However it is becoming clearer that Mr. Bolton was playing a role behind the scenes pushing London to lure Iran into making a move that might trigger the war he has long been yearning for.

The ramping up of tanker wars comes just as the Pentagon has announced that it will send 500 United States troops to Saudi Arabia - the first such United States deployment since the United States withdrew its troops in 2003.

At that time, then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz hailed the move out of Saudi Arabia as denying al-Qaeda one of its prime recruiting tools - United States troops in their holy land.

What will 500 troops do in Saudi Arabia?

Some say they will help prepare the Prince Sultan military air base for a possible United States air squadron deployment.

We must be clear on how we got to the very edge of war with Iran.

President Trump pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) promising he would exchange it for a much better deal for the United States.

He quickly re-applied all previous United States sanctions on Iran and demanded that our allies do the same.

The United States policy would be to apply "maximum pressure" to Iran which would result in Iran capitulating and agreeing to all United States demands.

United States economic warfare against Iran would bring the country to its knees, the Administration claimed, and would deliver a big win to the United States without a shot being fired.

But the whole plan has gone terribly wrong.

Iran did not back down or beg for mercy in the face of President Trumps actions, and the Europeans have at least attempted to keep the JCPOA agreement alive.

And the United Kingdom following neocon orders has led the country in a serious and unnecessary crisis that does not look to be easily resolved.

How could the United States administration have miscalculated so badly?

Many of us could have told President Trump that the neocons always promise a "cakewalk" when they are talking up a military action.

Time and time again - Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria - they promise a quick victory and deliver a quagmire.

The United States of American people overwhelmingly do not want to go to war with Iran and the president wants to be re-elected.

Will he return to the political base that elected him on promises of getting along with the rest of the world, or will he continue to follow his neocon advisors down the road to a failed presidency?

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