Will Trump Doom Israel? By Charles Taylor

     It is fine that Trump has done much to support Israel over the rest of a hostile region, hostile to the West, but extreme caution needs to be taken with the present Iran crisis. We do not know what is going on here, whether Iran did first threaten America, but that is now all academic as Iran has again renewed its threat of destroying Israel. This is as serious as matters could get:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-13/world-war-3-top-iranian-official-taunts-us-not-ready-war-specially-when-israel
  http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/world-war-3-a-top-iranian-official-taunts-trump-they-are-not-ready-for-a-war-specially-when-israel-is-within-our-range
  https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-says-us-doesnt-dare-attack-for-fear-of-provoking-assault-on-israel/

“A senior Iranian official on Sunday dismissed the US military buildup in the region as psychological warfare, saying that the US will not attack for fear of provoking an Iranian assault on Israel. “The US military forces’ deployment in the Persian Gulf is more of the nature of psychological warfare. They are not ready for a war, specially when Israel is within our range,” the Iranian Parliament’s vice-speaker Ali Motahhari said on Sunday, according to the FARS news agency. In addition to its own missiles, Iranian proxies like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip have hundreds of thousands of rockets aimed at Israel. Israel’s energy minister, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned earlier Sunday that escalating tensions between the US and Iran may lead the Islamic Republic to launch a missile assault against Israel.

“Things are heating up,” Yuval Steinitz told the Ynet news site. “I wouldn’t rule anything out. Iran may fire rockets at Israel.” Steinitz added that Iran may also choose to attack Israel by activating its proxies. “The American sanctions are breaking the neck of the Iranian economy, and a new and stronger wave [of sanctions] is still to come,” he warned, suggesting that the danger was unlikely to pass in the near future. Speaking later in the day to the Kan public radio station, Steinitz stressed that he was not privy to any particular intelligence information on Iranian plans, but noted that Tehran was facing drastic economic pressure and “anything could happen” in such a climate. The Iranians could “go crazy” and “declare war on the whole Middle East,” he said. Motahhari’s comments echo those of the head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami, who dismissed the Pentagon’s deployment of the USS Lincoln to the region as a ploy, telling lawmakers at a parliament session in Tehran that it was part of the American military’s regular rotation schedule.

“Commander Salami, with attention to the situation in the region, presented an analysis that the Americans have started a psychological war because the comings and goings of their military is a normal matter,” Reuters quoted parliamentary leadership spokesman Behrouz Nemati as saying, summarizing Salami’s comments to the parliament’s ICANA news site. Meanwhile, the head of the Guards’ aerospace division said the carrier was not a threat, but a target for the Iranians. “An aircraft carrier that has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a serious threat for us in the past but now it is a target and the threats have switched to opportunities,” said Hajizadeh. “If (the Americans) make a move, we will hit them in the head,” he added, according to Reuters.”

     It does not matter what one thinks about Israel or where one lies on the political spectrum; this situation could easily spiral out of control. An attack upon the US warships by Iran, regardless of how this situation developed would lead to US retaliation, and it is on. I doubt whether Israel’s missile defence would cope with hundreds of thousands of missiles fired perhaps simultaneously, or in quick succession. It would be inevitable that Israel would use nuclear weapons, and I for one see that as just human nature, a response to the ultimate existential threat posed by Iran. World War III then erupts instantly and the nuclear exchanges take place over the span of a few hours. Europe then glows in the dark. Then the planet. Not Good.
  https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2019/05/13/britain-warns-u-s-iran-conflict-could-begin-by-accident/

“Britain warned Monday that conflict might break out “by accident” between the United States and Iran amid rising tensions, as European Union powers gathered to thrash out ways to keep afloat the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. The warning came after the United States announced the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf to counter an alleged but still-unspecified threat from Iran, the latest in a long line of such deployments to the strategic region. “We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident, with an escalation that is unintended really on either side but ends with some kind of conflict,” British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters in Brussels. “What we need is a period of calm to make sure that everyone understands what the other side is thinking,” Hunt said. He added that he would “be sharing those concerns” Monday with European partners and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear accord a year ago, saying it does nothing to stop Iran developing missiles or destabilizing the Middle East. The Europeans insist the agreement was never meant to address those issues but has been effective in curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Tensions mounted last week, when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that signatories to the deal now have 60 days to come up with a plan to shield his country from the sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump. Hunt said that “if Iran becomes a nuclear power its neighbors are likely to want to become nuclear powers. This is already the most unstable region in the world. This would be a massive step in the wrong direction.” The meeting between Hunt, his counterparts from France and Germany, and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini comes as the Europeans struggle to keep financial supply lines open to Iran to offset the impact of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s shattered economy.

“We in Europe agree that this treaty is necessary for our security,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. “Nobody wants Iran to get possession of an atomic bomb and that’s been achieved so far.” Mogherini said the talks will focus on “how to continue to best support the full implementation of the nuclear deal.” As the U.S. sanctions bite, domestic pressure is increasing on Rouhani to demonstrate that Iran can still benefit from an agreement based on providing it with economic opportunities in exchange for limiting nuclear development. Maas said the Europeans “are working on the assumption that Iran won’t withdraw step by step from this treaty, but rather meet all of its commitments.” Even so, the EU cannot keep Iran’s economy afloat alone. The Europeans have set up a complicated barter-type system to skirt direct financial transactions with Iran and so evade possible U.S. sanctions. The workaround, dubbed INSTEX, is not yet operational as Iran has not completed its part of the scheme. They have also introduced a “blocking statute” protecting European companies from the effects of U.S. sanctions, but many international corporations do more business in the United States than in Iran and have already severed ties there rather than risk running afoul of Washington. “We have already initiated concrete steps in recent months, especially as concerns the payment channel and INSTEX. Now this instrument needs to be further operationalized and used in order to continue implementing” the nuclear agreement, Maas said.”

     The European intervention is likely to be like all of their interventions, as useless as nipples on a Texan bull, apologies to Texans and to bulls, and maybe nipples too. We wake to the world of The Walking Dead and post-apocalyptic fiction, only it will not be fiction. I am glad that I am a Christian and ready to meet my Maker.
  https://www.amazon.com/How-End-Begins-Nuclear-World/dp/B005CDTVM8
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReGkzhw7s7U
  https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-end-begins-by-ron-rosenbaum-review-by-nathaniel-rich

All Blog Posts Authorised by K. W. Grundy
13 Carsten Court, Happy Valley, SA.