StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Along with the snatching of 15 British sailors and marines, and the continuing crisis of wits between the West and that nuclear saber rattling twit in Iran (Ahmadinejad) has come this past weekend’s increase in Internet chatter about a coming "sneak attack by the U.S. on Iran this Friday."  For whatever the significance, the rumor has it that the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities will come on Good Friday.  The following is purely my opinion.  And yes, I know full well that yesterday was April Fool’s Day.  But if you read the  other articles on this subject (and the defenses thereto) you have to conclude that at least some people believe it.  And that very fact is why I "wonder."  And also BTW, I have a real problem with other people taking credit for my writing (who the hell is Pecanpie9 who did so on RCP???)! 

I believe that it was only a few weeks ago that Internet rumors had it that Israel would unilaterally attack Iran with missiles (I wonder if that rumor was started in the same place).  But that time came and went.  It has often been rumored that Israel would attack Iran as a U.S. proxy (some back in 2005 and repeated again in January (Report: Israel has plans for nuclear strike on Iran).

One source of word of this coming attack is Rumor of U.S. Sneak Attack on Iran Planned for Next Week? See the credibility references for Webster G. Tarpley here.

Another source for this Internet chatter is the Jerusalem Post article, ‘US ready to strike Iran on Good Friday’

The United States will be ready to launch a missile attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities as soon as early this month, perhaps "from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on April 6," according to reports in the Russian media on Saturday.

According to Russian intelligence sources, the reports said, the US has devised a plan to attack several targets in Iran, and an assault could be carried out by launching missiles from fighter jets and warships stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted a security official as saying, "Russian intelligence has information that the US Armed Forces stationed in the Persian Gulf have nearly completed preparations for a missile strike against Iranian territory."

Sorry folks, but I simply don’t buy it!  Despite the absolutely incontrovertible truth that Iran is escalating the "conflict" by taking the British sailors hostage and making them appear on camera to admit their "guilt," I seriously doubt that World leaders will be goaded into a strike against Iran at this time.  The provocation is there…the precedent is there (in Iran’s taking hostage the Americans in 1979).  What is lacking is the soundness of strategy (and timing)…what is lacking is the exhaustion of all other avenues of diplomacy (many in blogdom reject the concept of diplomacy with Ahmadinejad).  Frankly, without much further discussion, such actions would not only exascerbate an already bad situation, but would also lead IMO to direct attacks on Israel, and to an acceleration of World wide terrorist activities.

With all due respect to those who have elsewhere posted on this, I simply do not believe this subject has any credibility.  I will come back to you on Friday night or Saturday morning, with either an update detailing which Iranian nuclear facilities have been blown away (and with egg on my face, a nuclear holocaust confronting the World and a conflagration in the Middle East), or another installment of "you simply can’t believe everything that you read on the Internet" these days.  But then again, who am I to doubt this?  If you Google U.S. attack Iran Good Friday you get 719 hits and if you search U.S. attack Iran you get 9,044 hits.  So clearly, I could be "wrong."  But I don’t think so.

Current Affairs, International Issues, National Security, Opinions