Military Veterans and Patriots

Tag: Iran

  • The State Of Play

    The State Of Play

    I was having a conversation with AuntiE today about the possibility of a hot war between NATO and Russia earlier today. She shared an article from Zero Hedge about statements from the current NATO naval chief, Nederlander Rob Bauer. Bauer seems to think there will be a shooting war within the next 20 years.

    I tend to disagree.

    The ‘three day Special Military Operation’ has put to rest the myth of Russian strength. We are now going on 100 weeks of that particular adventurism. In that 100 weeks, Russia has had somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 casualties, lost nearly 75% of its pre-invasion tank force, had a near-successful mutiny and is now forced to buy arms and ammunition from Iran and North Korea.

    Am I saying Putin, and be crystal clear that he’s the one and only one calling the shots, wouldn’t start something with a NATO country? No, there’s always a possibility, however slight, that he’d make that miscalculation. What I am saying is that even if he did, he’d lose. Badly. And relatively quickly. Hell, the Texas of Europe, Poland, could be in Moscow in a month.

    A poorly armed and equipped Ukraine has forced Russian forces back to a relatively narrow strip along the Black and Azov sea coasts. Right now, during the bezdorizhzhia, or mud season, the lines are mostly static. I expect that to change some once everything freezes hard enough for maneuver warfare to begin again in earnest.

    What does have me concerned is the CCP. Chairman Xi has made it as clear as he can that annexing Formosa is his top priority. The recent election there, the anti-CCP party won handily, won’t help. It is widely considered that Xi took the results personally. I feel the need to remind everyone that the US is bound by legislation to aid Taiwan in the event of a CCP attack.

    The PLARF (People’s Liberation Army Rocket Forces) have missiles that can hit any of the US bases in the Pacific ocean. That renders Guam, Kwajalein, Diego Garcia and the bases in Korea and Japan all but useless for logistical purposes.

    The distances in the Pacific are immense. Los Angeles and Hawaii are 2,231 nautical miles apart. Hawaii to Japan is 3,800 nautical miles. The distance between Los Angeles and Tokyo by cargo ship is 5,081 Nautical Miles. For reference, the distance between Halifax and Southampton England, the most common WWII convoy route, is 2,624 nautical miles. This creates a logistical nightmare.

    I think the only thing holding Xi back at the moment is a major corruption scandal in the PLA. I wrote a little about that scandal in the View a couple of weeks back. It certainly isn’t anything POTATUS has done or is doing. Sooner or later, he’ll get his ducks in a row and go for Formosa.

    Iran and its proxies across the Sahel are flexing. While I’m sure that Israel can take care of both Hamas and Hezbollah by itself, I am concerned about a wider regional war. Iran launched attacks in Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan and Pakistan last week. Pakistan retaliated with a limited strike a few days later, but the tensions are still very high between the two.

    The Houthi are continuing their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el Mandab strait and now in the Gulf of Aden. One of the latest strikes was against the US owned and flagged MV Ocean Jazz. The 10662 DWT heavy lift vessel was previously chartered by the US Navy’s Military Sealift Command.

    The only bright spot about the current issue with the Houthi is the AEGIS system is getting its first real-world testing. The eggheads are using the data collected from each intercept to improve the system. All those improvements are uploaded across the fleet and to the AEGIS ashore batteries. That little fact may come to be useful if the CCP decides it’s gonna get froggy with the Taiwanese.

    Of the three major hot-spots, and yes there are others, I think Iran and the Middle East are the most likely to expand. Let’s be honest, the Ayatollahs version of Islam is little better than a death cult. They aren’t what I’d call rational actors and cannot be expected to do the things that a traditional geopolitical actor would do.

    That said, the one that keeps me up nights is China. Between the distances involved, the near-peer abilities of China and what Vizzini said, it will quickly become a bloody and expensive war.

  • The View From Here

    The View From Here

    Featured Image: West Canada Creek near Nobleboro NY. West Canada creek is one of the premier trout streams in the southern Adirondack region.

    As the Russian war of aggression 3 day Special Military Operation in Ukraine enters its 99th week, the Russian Air Force suffered the loss of two aircraft yesterday. A Beriev A-50 “Mainstay” AEW&C plane -think AWACS- and an Illushin IL-22 “Coot” ISR/airborne command and control plane were hit over the sea of Azov. The Mainstay was shot down, while the heavily damaged Coot managed to make a landing at a nearby airfield.

    In addition a Russian Ilyushin Il-20M was also hit in this area and signaled mayday, including the attempt for an emergency landing in Anapa, Russia, as well as the request for ambulances. There is no information that the plane arrived at the destination but even if then it was certainly severely damaged. The cause for both incidents are still a matter of speculation, but the fact that two valuable Russian birds got hit at the same time and the same region, make enemy fire the most plausible explanation.

    This is a costly loss for the Russians, as there were only 8 of the A-50 and 11 of the IL-22m air-frames ever built. It is believed that Lt. General Oleg Pchela, commander of the long-range aviation of the Russian Air Force, was on board the A-50 aircraft destroyed by Ukraine.

    I’m seeing three theories being bandied about regarding the shoot-downs. First is it was a Russian ‘friendly fire’ incident. I personally find that hard to swallow as we are talking about two C&C birds that are both linked into the Russian ADA net.

    The second theory floating around is some sort of SAM trap executed by Ukraine. While this is possible, sources I trust say the interception by Ukraine has would have been at or near the max range of the Patriot PAC2 missile and outside the range of any of the other ADA missiles Ukraine has access to.

    The third theory, and the one I think most plausible, involves an air-to-air kill with UA SU-27s or MiG 29s armed with AIM 120 AMRAAM missiles. The damage to the tail section of the COOT looks like the damage I’d expect from that particular warhead vice the PAC2 warhead. Anyway, FAFO

    The IRGC took direct credit for a complex missile and drone attack on targets in Iraqi Kurdistan and Northern Syria. The IRGC said it was targeting the “headquarters of spies” and “anti-Iranian terrorist gatherings in parts of the region” with ballistic missiles. The sites struck were close to US locations in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. No US facilities were struck and there weren’t any US casualties, but the strikes were called ‘imprecise and reckless’ by one US official.

    I really wish someone other than POTATUS or the Prostate kid was in charge. This kind of escalation really needs to be answered, as in Operation Praying Mantis answered. Appeasement never, ever works.

    As Admiral Painter said in Red October “This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.”

    **** As I was getting ready to publish this piece, some new information crossed the transom. The IRGC struck Baluch separatist bases in Pakistan. As I’m sure you know, the Pakistanis have fucking nukes, several dozen of them. What Iran is thinking, I don’t know.

    SCOTUS is set to hear oral arguments in Loper Bright v Raimundo and Relentless v Department of Commerce. At issue is a regulatory ruling forcing commercial fishermen to pay the salaries of compliance observers on their boats. The payment requirement is based on an interpretation of federal law by the National Marine Fisheries Service. These two cases are the biggest of the January term.

    These cases stem from a 1984 case called Chevron v National Resources Defense Council, Inc. The ruling in that case created what is known as the Chevron deference. Chevron deference consists of a two-part test that is deferential to government agencies: first, whether Congress has spoken directly to the precise issue at question, and second, “whether the agency’s answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute.”

    While I am not a lawyer, it’s my opinion that Chevron was badly decided. The Chevron deference is what created the modern regulatory state. It’s way past time to overturn Chevron and rein in the regulatory state in all its forms. This may be the Court that does just that. Here’s hoping. . .

    Got a story to share? A comment on anything above? Let us know in the comments below.

  • The View From Here

    The View From Here

    Featured image: The Pond at Old Forge NY. The Pond is the final body of water of the Fulton chain of lakes in the western Adirondacks and is the source for the Moose River.

    There was a shooting today at a school in Iowa. The first calls reporting the shooting at Perry High School went out at 7:37 am. Details are thin, but at least two people have been hospitalized with gunshot wounds and the shooter is dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. It is being reported that the shooter has been identified, but I will not use the name. It seems the shooter was lgbtq, and posts on their now deleted social media paint a disturbing picture.

    https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1742973407648498022?s=20

    How long before this whole incident gets memory-holed? The shooters socials have already been scrubbed. I’d also point out that there have been several other mass shooters from that segment of society and they’ve been scrubbed/memory-holed as well. Seems if the shooter can’t advance an agenda the MSM drops it like a hot rock.

    The Islamic State took credit for the twin blasts along a processional route to the Kerman cemetery in Iran. IS, also known as daesh and ISIS, posted a statement on it’s telegram channels that said two IS members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd which had gathered at the cemetery in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday for the anniversary of Soleimani’s death.

    I said yesterday that the blasts were likely to have been dissident groups in/from Iran. I didn’t expect daesh to take the credit though. This isn’t the first time the Sunni daesh attacked the Shia Iranians. In 2022 Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Shi’ite shrine in Iran which killed 15 people. The also targeted the tomb of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 2017. Hopefully, it won’t be the last time. Frankly, it does my heart good to see one tribe of goat fuckers blow up the other tribe.

    The still unidentified good guy with a gun from that robbery/shooting in a Houston Taqueria has just been ‘no-billed’ by a Harris county grand jury. That means the man will not face any charges as a result of the incident.

    The Harris County District Attorney’s Office mandates that all homicides be reviewed by a grand jury to allow members of the community to determine the appropriate outcome. This process ensures that all such cases are subject to community review at the grand jury and, if necessary, trial level.

    Harris County grand juries are composed of 12 randomly selected residents who meet regularly for a period of three months to review all criminal charges to decide whether there is enough evidence for a case to proceed. If nine or more grand jurors agree that probable cause exists, they issue a “true bill,” or indictment, and the case continues on through the criminal justice system. 

    If nine or more grand jurors determine probable cause does not exist, they may issue a “no bill,” effectively clearing the individual of criminal wrongdoing. The final decision as to whether to indict rests with grand jurors, not with prosecutors.

    This process ensures that members of the community, rather than the District Attorney’s Office, determine the appropriate outcome in all homicides in Harris County.

    https://twitter.com/garyanddino/status/1612159960435298304?s=20

    I’m quite sure that Kim Ogg, the Soros backed, Harris county DA would have loved to stick it to this guy. From my perspective, that shooting probably deserved some sort of charge, but what I don’t know. The first 4-5 shots were fine, the next 2-3 were in that gray zone. The last one though, that was the one that probably should have jammed him up. He dodged a figurative bullet with the no bill. . .

    Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and 60 other reps went to the border at Eagle Pass TX yesterday. While they were there, a group of 60ish people crossed the Rio Grande and attempted to enter the US. They were stopped by the concertina wire strung there by the Texas DPS as part of Operation Lone Star.

    I’m only half joking when I say there should be a few CROWS mounted on the US side of the border with some sort of random automated firing order programmed in. For those who don’t know, CROWS is the common remotely operated weapons system and can be fitted with everything from an M-249 SAW to the M-2 to a Mark 19. A few random bursts from time to time might just slow the crossings. . .

    Ok, so this section isn’t going to feature a single story like I usually do. Instead I’m going to rant about the mess that is the Middle East for a few paragraphs.

    Nearly all of the major maritime shipping companies have abandoned the Red Sea/Suez canal routes because of Houthi attacks in the Red and the Bab el Mandeb. US and other western countries troops are being attacked daily. Hezbollah and the Shia militias across the region are getting froggy. Iran is about to have enough properly enriched uranium to assemble their own nukes. And lost in all the other noise, Turkey is pulling some shady shit with the Kurds, in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. They also prevented the Brits from de-mining a section of the Black sea recently.

    And why? Because of the feckless retards in the US NatSec agencies. Let’s be totally honest here, Biden’s hand-picked Iran envoy, Rob Malley, was in the employ of the Ayatollahs. Biden’s NSA, Jake Sullivan, an incredibly, deeply stupid man, is supposedly running the entire Middle East response himself.

    The Houthi aren’t going to stop because of a sternly worded letter. Hell, they probably can’t even read the fucking thing. It’s my understanding the Brits (of all people) wanted to smoke some of that particular tribe of goat fuckers but were told to stand down by Sullivan.

    The problems in that region are going to continue until we finally sack up and lay down some hate. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a direct hit on one of the US warships in the region before the current administration decides to do anything. And even then the response will be “proportional”.

    I say, fuck that. It’s time to send a bunch of them to Allah. Power and strength is all they understand.

  • Guess How the Biden Admin Responded to Senators Demanding Answers About Pentagon Official’s Ties to Iran

    Guess How the Biden Admin Responded to Senators Demanding Answers About Pentagon Official’s Ties to Iran

    The Biden administration has not been quick to provide answers or an explanation about a senior Pentagon official’s reportedly close ties to the Iranian regime and members of Congress are ramping up pressure for details about how someone who frequently communicated with Iranian officials for help with talking points before making public remarks ended up in a sensitive post in the Department of Defense. 

    Ariane Tabatabai, who currently serves as chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, reportedly worked with an Iranian program to influence opinion in Tehran’s direction as Townhall previously reported.

    More than thirty U.S. senators signed on to a rightfully pointed letter sent on September 29 to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding answers by Friday for what they say is a “simply unconscionable” reality in which a “senior Department official would continue to hold a sensitive position despite her alleged participation in an Iranian government information operation.”

    The senators’ letter again reiterated what is — so far at least — known about Tabatabai’s ties to Iran:

    On Tuesday, September 26, Semafor reported that Ariane Tabatabai, who currently serves as chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (SOLIC), was part of a so-called Iran Experts Initiative that “senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials initiated [in] a quiet effort to bolster Tehran’s image and positions on global security issues – particularly its nuclear program.”

    According to communications that Semafor reviewed, Ms. Tabatabai agreed to join the Iranian government-linked Initiative in early 2014, after meeting a Germany-based Iranian diplomat in Prague. On at least two occasions, Ms. Tabatabai “checked in with Iran’s Foreign Ministry before attending policy events.” The report details one occasion in which an Iranian think tank chief, who acted as an apparent liaison to the Iranian Foreign Minister, dissuaded Ms. Tabatabai from participating in a conference in Israel when she asked for his feedback. The report also indicates that Ms. Tabatabai potentially sought the Iranian government’s input on a congressional briefing that she was invited to give in July 2014.  

    Concerns about Ms. Tabatabai are not new. In March 2021, shortly after Ms. Tabatabai was appointed senior adviser in the Office of the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Iranian dissidents noted Ms. Tabatabai’s long history of echoing the Iranian regime’s talking points. In April 2021, several House members requested a review of Ms. Tabatabai’s security clearance. In response, the Biden administration dismissed these allegations as “smears and slander.”  

    The latest allegations reported in Semafor, however, indicate that Ms. Tabatabai may have been engaged in a relationship with the Iranian regime well beyond what even her strongest critics alleged. The fact that the Department initially responded to these latest allegations by rushing a full-throated defense of Ms. Tabatabai, rather than taking the time to ensure that our national security has not been compromised, suggests that you are protecting hiring missteps rather than prioritizing national security. 

    Iran continues to threaten U.S. military personnel in the Middle East and remains intent on assassinating American citizens here in the United States. Given these facts, we find it simply unconscionable that a senior Department official would continue to hold a sensitive position despite her alleged participation in an Iranian government information operation. While we note that Assistant Secretary of Defense for SOLIC Christopher Maier, who is Ms. Tabatabai’s current supervisor, testified before the House on Thursday that the Department is “actively looking into whether all law and policy was properly followed in granting my chief of staff top secret special compartmented information,” we urge you to suspend Ms. Tabatabai’s security clearance immediately pending further review, as the State Department did with her former supervisor, Robert Malley. 

    What has been reported and is so far known about Tabatabai is, as the senators note, alarming. But there’s still more that needs to be uncovered to understand exactly how this all came to pass. 

    To that end, the senators requested — with a deadline of Friday (October 6) — answers to the following queries:

    1. On what date did the Department of Defense learn that Ms. Tabatabai had served as part of the Iranian government-linked Iran Experts Initiative? 

    2. On what date was Ms. Tabatabai granted a security clearance, and what was the sponsoring agency that made the determination to grant Ms. Tabatabai a security clearance? 

    3. Has Ms. Tabatabai’s security clearance been subjected to a periodic reinvestigation and, if so, on what date was Ms. Tabatabai’s most recent periodic reinvestigation completed? 

    4. Was Ms. Tabatabai subjected to any additional counterintelligence screening, to include a polygraph investigation, as part of her security clearance investigation or any subsequent review of her eligibility to hold a security clearance or access restricted or special access information? 

    5. On her Standard Form-86, did Ms. Tabatabai list her contacts with: 

    a. Former Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif; 

    b. Academic Adnan Tabatabai; 

    c. Mostafa Zahrani, the head of the Iran think tank IPIS; and/or 

    d. Former Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh? 

    6. Was Ms. Tabatabai read into any special access programs (SAPs)? 

    a. If so, was she subjected to enhanced security vetting, per SAP security policy, or was she granted a waiver? 

    b. If she was granted a waiver to be read into SAPs, which DoD official approved the waiver? 

    Already, the Biden Department of Defense has ignored inquiries from lawmakers in the House of Representatives, failing to respond to a letter raising similar concerns from the House Armed Services Committee.

    So, will the DoD respond to the letter from dozens of U.S. senators? Or continue hiding information about Tabatabai’s activities and knowledge inside the Pentagon? 

    Even if Tabatabai had zero access to sensitive information in the Pentagon — which is unlikely — the Biden administration’s apparent attempts to withhold information or cover up the issue only adds to the appearance of wrongdoing. It’s time for Secretary Austin and the DoD to show their cards so appropriate oversight and accountability can be carried out. 

    Original Here

  • REPORT: Iranian Official Admits Islamic Regime Involved in ’83 Horror Bombing That Killed 220 Marines

    REPORT: Iranian Official Admits Islamic Regime Involved in ’83 Horror Bombing That Killed 220 Marines

    Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP

    Bob Hoge | RedState

    The Islamic Republic of Iran’s representative in Lebanon, Sayyed Issa Tabatabai, claimed in an interview that the despotic regime was involved in multiple terror attacks in the Middle East in the 1980s, including the 1983 Beirut truck bombing which killed 220 Marines in their barracks.

    The audio recording was obtained by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). It’s unclear when it was made. 

    Tabatabai said he was authorized to carry out martyrdom operations:

    According to the MEMRI translation of Tabatabai’s interview with the IRNA, Tabatabai said, “I quickly went to Lebanon and provided what was needed in order to [carry out] martyrdom operations in the place where the Americans and Israelis were.” He added, “The efforts to establish [Hezbollah] started in [Lebanon’s] Baalbek area, where members of [Iran’s] Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) arrived. I had no part in establishing the [political] party [Hezbollah], but God made it possible for me to continue the military activity with the group that had cooperated with us prior to the [Islamic] Revolution’s victory.”

    The list of atrocities they allegedly carried out in the name of Jihad is lengthy:

    Iran and its chief strategic ally, the U.S.-designated terrorist movement Hezbollah, in Lebanon have been blamed for bombing the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983 in which 63 people, including 17 Americans, were murdered, and dual suicide truck bombers blew up the barracks of American and French members of a multinational force in Lebanon in 1983, in which 220 U.S. Marines, 18 U.S. Navy sailors and 3 U.S. Army soldiers lost their lives. Fifty-eight French troops were also murdered in the terrorist attack.

    The state-controlled Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quickly moved to suppress news of the interview when they found out about it: 

    The MEMRI report continued, “It is noteworthy that the part of the interview in which Tabatabai acknowledged receiving Khomeini’s fatwa ordering attacks on American and Israeli targets in Lebanon was removed by IRNA from its website shortly after publication. This is apparently because no official representative of [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Republic, or of Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, had ever said that Iran had any involvement in ordering, planning and carrying out the massive bombings in Lebanon against U.S.,” wrote MEMRI.

    American officials have long suspected Iranian involvement in myriad terrorist acts across the world. Yet, somehow former President Obama thought it wise to enter into a nuclear deal with the country that our own State Department deems a “state sponsor of terrorism.” Last month, meanwhile—on 9/11, unbelievably—President Biden released $6 billion in frozen Iranian money in order to secure the freedom of five prisoners. 

    Said Iran expert for the American Enterprise Institute Michael Rubin:

    Americans have astonished both Iranians and the victims of Iranian terrorism with the diplomatic contortions undertaken to avoid holding Iran to account. Now that the supreme leader’s representative has confessed, the questions are: (1) Will Americans who carried water for Iranian terrorism apologize? (2) Will Iran pay compensation to the victims of their terror? If [President] Biden prices five Americans at $6 billion, the U.S. should demand no less than $289.2 billion from Iran today.

    Iran has always strenuously denied involvement in the bombings. It’s unclear whether this apparent new admission by a top-level official will change the tenor of relations between the two countries. 

    Neither Biden nor Obama has a strong record of holding the Islamic Republic to account, though, so I wouldn’t hold my breath expecting the president to do so now.

    Original Here

  • Pentagon: Yes, our official was an Iranian envoy. What of it?

    Pentagon: Yes, our official was an Iranian envoy. What of it?

    Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP

    JAZZ SHAW | HotAir

    One of the unsung anti-heroes of the Biden administration’s disastrous, failed effort to restart the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal was Robert Malley. He was Biden’s point man in the negotiations with Tehran that eventually collapsed in the face of Iran’s continually escalating demands. Malley reportedly walked into the negotiations offering Iran so many concessions up front that they couldn’t believe their eyes. Taking that as the United States’ “starting position,” they thought they could ask for the moon and proceeded to do so. But now, thanks to some leaked Iranian documents revealed by Jay Solomon at Semafor, we’ve learned that three of Malley’s top aides were covertly working as influencers on behalf of Iran. And these were the people supposedly structuring the negotiations on our behalf? You would think heads would already be rolling, but at least thus far, the Pentagon doesn’t even want to comment on the matter. (Free Beacon)

    The Pentagon isn’t saying whether it is concerned, or plans to take any action, over a report Tuesday alleging that a senior Defense Department official is part of an Iranian influence network.

    The report from Semafor, based on emails from senior Iranian officials, detailed a vast communications network, known as the Iran Experts Initiative, linked to the hardline regime in Tehran. That network, the emails suggest, includes the Pentagon official Ariane Tabatabai as well as other “influential overseas academics” who reported to Iran’s foreign ministry and helped push Tehran’s talking points with American policymakers. The existence of this network was outlined in a cache of Iranian government documents reviewed by Semafor.

    Tabatabai, who required a security clearance for her Pentagon job, and two others affiliated with the influence campaign also served as aides to Biden administration Iran envoy Robert Malley, who was suspended from his post earlier this year for allegedly mishandling classified information. It is unclear whether Malley’s suspension is related to his connection to the Iranian influence network documented in the Semafor report.

    You can read the full report from Semafor here. It’s a lot to go through, but the details paint a very twisted picture of international intrigue. The Iranians set up a prodigious international influence network called the Iran Experts Initiative. Through that group, they enlisted influential people in Europe and the United States who would write op-eds favorable to the Iranian regime and support policies arguing in favor of allowing Iran to pursue its “peaceful” nuclear power program.

    Ariane Tabatabai, who still works at the Pentagon, was one of three people on the Iran Experts Initiative List who wound up working as aides to Robert Malley. So if you were wondering how the Biden administration wound up offering such a generous deal to the Iranians only to have it thrown back in their faces, this might go a long way toward explaining it. Tabatabai was also, perhaps unsurprisingly, no fan of Israel. In one of the uncovered emails, she complains about the Israelis “spreading misinformation” when engaging with Saudi Arabia. As for Malley, he was suspended from his position earlier this year after his security clearance was yanked for allegedly mishandling classified information.

    Curiously, the Pentagon has had very little to say about these revelations. But yesterday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller dismissed the report, telling reporters that it was based on information “from almost a decade ago.” That may be true for much of it, but the situation between the United States and Iran is still a shambles today. And Tabatabai is still on the payroll. Do we really want a documented Iranian influence peddler handling our affairs at the Pentagon? Miller also said that the situation “isn’t raising red flags” inside the Biden administration. Seriously?

    In 2021, Tabatabai was tapped for a position in Biden’s State Department. The GOP raised plenty of “red flags” at the time and argued that her ties to the Iranian regime should disqualify her from having a Top Secret security clearance. The Biden administration dismissed these concerns as “racist smears” and ignored the objections, despite the fact that her father was considered a member of Hassan Rouhani’s inner circle.

    Republican Congressman Jim Banks summed up the situation nicely. He said, “A high-level official at the Biden Defense Department was briefing Iran’s foreign ministry and ghostwriting essays for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Congress needs to investigate any communications between Ariane Tabatabai and the Iranian regime since Biden took office [and] the Pentagon must review Ms. Tabatatai’s security clearance.”

    What in the Sam Hill is going on with the Biden administration? Why are we so much nicer to our nation’s adversaries than we are to our supposed allies? I could take a guess, but I’ll leave that question to the readers’ imaginations.

    Original Here

  • Drone Attacks in Iran and What they Mean

    Drone Attacks in Iran and What they Mean

    This past weekend there were multiple drone attacks on Iranian military targets. There have been no claims as to who carried out the attacks. We do know, however, that the drones were launched from within Iran.

    The Ayatollahs have claimed none of the strikes were successful, and even if they were the damage was minimal, except where the damage was substantial, but no military targets were hit and the fact that we’re convening an emergency session of the Supreme National Security council is mere coincidence.

    Advisor to Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted about the not-so-good night the Iranians had yesterday.

    Needless to say, the goat shagging Ayatollahs did not take it well. They summoned the Ukraine Ambassador. The supreme security council issued a statement saying Podolyak’s tweet would “cost Ukraine dearly.”

    Seeing as Iran has already sent 1000 suicide drones to Russia, I don’t see what else they can do. I mean, the plant where those drones are made was just blown up.

    Now on to who dunnit. Let’s be honest, there are only two countries that it could have been. The US and Israel. I suppose there is an outside chance it was Ukraine, but I just don’t see that as likely.Considering the State Department’s slavish devotion to the Iran nuclear deal, that kinda rules out US involvement.

    That leaves us with Israel.

    Israel, as they always do, make no claims or denials for this attack. There is a long history of Israeli covert ops in Iran, very few of which are acknowledged. In fact, the only one I can think of was the theft of half a ton of Iranian nuclear documents back in 2018. Bibi went on TV and showed a lot of the docs.

    The timing of this makes me think there are several reasons behind it. I think the new Israeli government is flexing a bit. The previous coalition government was seen as being a bit weak when it came to Iran’s involvement with the palestinian terror groups. This strike, especially because it was launched from inside Iran, is meant to send a message to the Ayatollahs. It doesn’t hurt that the regions where the strikes occurred are not particularly friendly to the regime in Tehran. I know it doesn’t get the coverage it did, but there are still large protests happening around the country.

    The choice of targets was also a bit interesting. The fact that the facility that produces the Shaheed suicide drone was hit isn’t important by itself, Israel has struck that type of facility before. However, the drones produced there are going to Russia for use in Ukraine. Up till now, Israel has been very reticent about supporting Ukraine. I think that has just changed, at least quietly.

  • So – Just “Who” Is Driving This Ship?

    So – Just “Who” Is Driving This Ship?

    Some very strange reports continue to surface

    And by that – what do I mean?

    4 ships off UAE in Gulf of Oman warn they’ve lost control

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — At least four ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates broadcast warnings Tuesday that they had lost control of their steering under unclear circumstances as authorities reported “an incident” was underway in the area.

    It wasn’t immediately clear what was happening off the coast of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman.

    The vessels — oil tankers called Queen Ematha, the Golden Brilliant, Jag Pooja and Abyss — announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were “not under command,” according to MarineTraffic.com. That typically means a vessel has lost power and can no longer steer.

    The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations only warned ships that “an incident is currently underway,” without elaborating. An Oman Royal Air Force Airbus C-295MPA, a maritime patrol aircraft, was flying over the area where the ships were, according to data from FlightRadar24.com.

    The U.S. military’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British Defense Ministry did not immediately return calls for comment. The Emirati government did not immediately acknowledge the incident.

    The event comes just days after a drone struck an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman, killing two crew members. The West blamed Iran for the attack, which marked the first known assault to have killed civilians in the yearslong shadow war targeting commercial vessels in the region.

    Iran denied playing any role in the incident, though Tehran and its allied militias have used similar “suicide” drones in attacks previously.

    Israel, the United States and United Kingdom vowed a “collective response” to the attack, without elaborating.
    https://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/the-mix/4-ships-off-uae-in-gulf-of-oman-warn-theyve-lost-control-4188292

    And now another ship appears to be in trouble

    https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1422628237230882818?s=20

    So – what exactly is taking place on the high seas?

  • Israeli Ship Targeted

    Israeli Ship Targeted

    MV Hyperion Ray

    Israeli media is reporting that an Israeli owned vehicle carrier ship has been struck by an Iranian missile or UAV today. MV Hyperion Ray was struck just off Fujairah on the coast of the UAE.

    The damage to the ship is considered minor, and there were no casualties reported.

    This attack comes as tensions between Jerusalem and Tehran are high. Late last month, an Iranian missile was reportedly fired at an Israeli ship, MV Lori, between India and Oman, striking and damaging it. In February, Iran allegedly attacked the Israeli-owned cargo vessel MV Helios Ray, owned by the same consortium that owns MV Hyperion Ray, which was damaged by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.

    MV Hyperion ray was built in 2015 and is Bahamian flagged. Her length overall (LOA) is 656 feet with a 116 foot beam with a dead weight tonnage of 20903 tons. She was bound from Kuwait to Fujairah.

  • BREAKING: Iran attacks Israeli Ship

    BREAKING: Iran attacks Israeli Ship

    The LORI, the ship believed to have been struck by an Iranian missile today.

    There are reports circulating that an Israeli ship, sailing from Tanzania to India, has been struck by an Iranian missile. The damage was relatively minor and the ship is continuing towards India.

    Details are scarce at this time, but the ship is believed to be the LORI, a container ship owned by israeli businessman Udi Angel. The attack is believed to have occurred at 0000 UTC this morning.