The Other Explosion in the Gulf of Oman: Lies, Damn American Lies!

Crescent International

The US is run by lunatics; they should not be holding the levers of power. They should all be locked up in a lunatic asylum, starting with Donald Trump but must certainly include people like Mike Pompeo and John Bolton.

On June 13, when two tankers were hit i

n the Gulf of Oman, it did not take long for Pompeo to accuse Iran. He offered no proof beyond saying that intelligence and the method of attack proved Iran’s guilt. And he refused to take questions from reporters.

The attacks coincided with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Tehran to try and defuse tensions between Iran and the US, at the behest of Trump.

Abe even met the Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei who dismissed Trump’s offer of talks calling him not worthy of responding to.

The Rahbar pointed to Trump’s walking away from 2015 agreement signed between Iran and six other powers. That agreement was arrived at after six years of negotiations.

The two tankers, the Front Altair, a crude oil tanker flying the flag of Marshal Islands, was carrying naphta from the United Arab Emirates to Taiwan.

The second tanker was the Kokuka Courageous, flagged by Panama. It was on its way from Saudi Arabia to Japan via Singapore.

The Iranian Search and Rescue ship Naji picked up the 44 crews members of both ships and took them to its port, Bandar-e Jash.

In a tweet following the June 13 explosions, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.”

He pointed out that the Japanese prime minister was on a diplomatic visit and these explosions occur. Who benefits from such action, he asked.

Unlike American corporate media outlets that parroted Pompeo’s ludicrous accusations, the alternative media was highly skeptical.

Jon Rainwater told Common Dreams: “Mike Pompeo has zero credibility when it comes to Iran.”

The executive director of Peace Action further said: “He's long been actively campaigning for a confrontation with Iran. He has a track record of pushing bogus theories with no evidence such as the idea that Iran collaborates closely with al-Qaeda.”

“Once again Pompeo is not waiting for the evidence to come in,” Rainwater said, “he is picking facts to suit his campaign for confrontation with Iran.”

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of anti-war group CodePink, characterized Pompeo’s speech as a “déjà vu” of former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s infamous weapons of mass destruction speech before the UN Security Council in February 2003. That speech, with alleged chemical vials flashed before the council, made the case for the Bush regime’s invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

“Secretary Pompeo gives zero proof but insists that Iran is responsible for ship attacks in Gulf of Oman this morning,” Benjamin tweeted.

“Lies, lies, and more lies to make a case for war. Let’s not be fooled into another disastrous war!” Common Dreams quoted her as saying.

Charles Pierce of Esquire's was even more scathing in his criticism of the hate-filled nonsense pouring forth from the mouth of Pompeo.

In a column following Pompeo’s speech, Pierce wrote that he is “not buying this in the least.”

“I remember the Iraq lies,” he wrote.

“I know this administration is truthless from top to bottom and all the way out both sides. I don’t trust the Saudi government as far as I can throw a bone saw. And this president feels very much like he’s being run to ground at the moment and needs a distraction.”

"And his Secretary of State is a third-rate congresscritter from Kansas who once advised American soldiers to disobey lawful orders, and who’s fighting way above his weight class," added Pierce. "Also, too, John Bolton is eight kinds of maniac."

As Common Dreams reported earlier, critics warned that the timing and target of the tanker attacks on June 13 suggests they could have been a deliberate effort to “maneuver the U.S. into a war” with Iran.

Iranian has categorically denied any responsibility for the attacks.

Rainwater of Peace Action said what is needed to calm the dangerous tensions of the current moment is an “impartial investigation” into the tanker incident.

But Pompeo’s statement only served to escalate tensions further and move the U.S. and Iran closer to a military conflict, Rainwater said.

“At a time when the world desperately needs cooler heads to deescalate tensions in the Gulf, the US Secretary of State is instead fanning the flames,” Rainwater said.

“Our elected officials need to push for diplomacy now to take us away from the brink of war.”

 Crescent International