by Michael Snyder
"It is often said that timing is everything, and that is certainly true when it comes to war with Iran. By October 27th, national elections will have been held in Israel to determine the 120 members of the twenty-sixth Knesset. The polls do not look good for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at all, and so he is probably going to be out of a job. Solving the “Iran problem” is the number one thing that Netanyahu wants to accomplish before he leaves, and so the clock is ticking. Even if there was some sort of a dramatic development that prevented the U.S. from attacking Iran, top Israeli officials have already warned that they would just go in anyway.
Of course it isn’t just the Israelis that are facing time pressure. Mid-term elections in the United States are scheduled for November 3rd, and history has shown us that they are often not kind to whichever party controls the White House. President Trump knows that if the Democrats end up taking control of the House and Senate his hands would really be tied at that point. He doesn’t want to leave the “Iran problem” to future administrations, and so he is highly motivated to act now.
If a war is going to be politically beneficial, it should be over by the time an election arrives. Voters like victories. Voters do not like wars that drag on indefinitely with no end in sight. So ideally Netanyahu and Trump would like to see this crisis with Iran wrapped up by the middle of the year. But if Netanyahu and Trump wait too long, the window of opportunity that they currently have may close completely.
This is likely one of the reasons why the Iranians have been working so hard to delay matters. If negotiations can be stretched out long enough, Netanyahu will be voted out of office and President Trump will be saddled with a highly hostile Congress which would not be eager to fight Iran. So the Iranians keep talking about how much they are eager to talk, but meanwhile they are refusing to agree to any of President Trump’s demands. Unfortunately for the Iranians, it appears that time is running out on their little game.
On Tuesday, Marco Rubio was scheduled to deliver a very important briefing to the “gang of eight”… Marco Rubio will deliver a rare briefing to top US lawmakers on Iran at the White House on Tuesday as Washington deploys its largest force of aircraft and warships to the Middle East since the 2003 buildup to the Iraq war.
The audience for the secretary of state’s briefing is reported to include the so-called “gang of eight”, which includes the senior lawmakers from both parties in the House and Senate, as well as the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees. The select group is briefed by the White House on classified intelligence matters, which can include preparations for significant military action. Rubio last publicly briefed the group on 5 January, the day after the US launched its successful operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Normally, this sort of a briefing doesn’t happen unless something really big has just occurred or something really big is about to occur. Many are suggesting that this is a sign that military action against Iran is imminent. Others believe that we won’t see anything happen until the weekend at the earliest. On Monday, President Trump suggested that a war with Iran is something that could be “easily won”…
Since the Iranians are not inclined to give him what he wants, Trump is reportedly envisioning a series of limited strikes that will force Iran to make major concessions. But if the limited strikes do not accomplish that goal, Trump would be ready to initiate a broader campaign…
"President Donald Trump warned his aides that if diplomacy or targeted strikes do not convince Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program, he will consider larger actions, according to a report. While negotiators from the U.S. and Iran will meet Thursday in Geneva to try and find a solution that would avoid military conflict, Trump has been considering other options should the talks fail, according to The New York Times. Both sides have ramped up military preparations in the region in recent days as Trump has been leaning toward carrying out a strike to show Iran that it must give up its ability to make nuclear weapons, Trump advisors told the Times."
This is a huge gamble, because once the missiles start flying a conflict with Iran could spiral out of control very rapidly. On Monday, the Iranians warned that they will respond “ferociously” even to a series of limited strikes…Iran vowed on Monday to retaliate “ferociously” against any attack by the United States and reiterated warnings of a regional conflagration in response to President Donald Trump’s threat of limited strikes. The bellicose rhetoric from Tehran and Washington came as both sides were set to hold indirect talks in Geneva on a potential deal regarding Iran’s contentious nuclear program, with a US official confirming discussions would resume on Thursday without offering further details.
As Iran faces US pressure backed by a build-up of military force in the Middle East, university students have started the new semester with anti-government protests, reviving slogans from nationwide demonstrations that peaked in January and were met with a deadly crackdown.
And the head of Iran’s military is telling us that his forces will “inflict heavy casualties” on us if we attack… "Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Abdolrahim Mousavi warned the United States against any military action against Iran, saying it would suffer heavy losses in the event of aggression. “We have not initiated any war, and in the past our approach was to prevent the expansion of conflict and reduce casualties. However, the actions of the United States have caused us to change our approach, and this time, if they make a mistake, we will inflict heavy casualties on the enemy,” Mousavi said. “Our nation and armed forces are determined to stand to the end against the hegemonic system.”
The Iranians keep hinting that they have some big surprises up their sleeves. Do the Iranians possess weapons that we do not know about? If the Iranians actually decided to use unconventional weapons against Israel, the Israelis would respond with overwhelming force. And then the entire world would descend into a state of chaos.
Speaking of unconventional weapons, the Russians are alleging that the UK and France actually intended to equip Ukraine with nuclear weapons…Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) alleged London and Paris were engaged in a clandestine operation to arm Kyiv with more muscle against Moscow by supplying it with a ‘wonder weapon’. ‘Britain and France realize that the developments in Ukraine leave no chance of achieving their much-desired victory over Russia at the hands of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,’ said a statement today from the spy agency.
However, the British and French elites are not prepared to accept defeat. It is believed that Ukraine needs to be equipped with “wunderwaffe”. ‘Kyiv would be able to claim more favourable terms for ending the hostilities if it possessed a nuclear bomb, or at least a so-called “dirty bomb”."
Let us hope that this report is not accurate. Let us hope that the Russians simply got a hold of some bad information. Because giving nukes to Ukraine would be absolutely insane. Unfortunately, we live at a time when the entire world seems to be going nuts. The kinetic phase of World War III is nearly upon us, and we are going to witness so much death and destruction in the months ahead. So enjoy the last remaining moments of relative peace and quiet while you still can, because everything is about to change."
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