Capturing the spy drone foils US war rhetoric on Iran

By Ahmet Aslan

One of the most striking events in post-Revolutionary Iranian history unfolded in early December 2011 when Iranian state TV showed a captured RQ-170 Sentinel, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the US for spying. It is one of the most sophisticated planes in the US arsenal and had been kept largely hidden from public eye in order to not risk its top secret spy missions. One of the most striking events in post-Revolutionary Iranian history unfolded in early December 2011 when Iranian state TV showed a captured RQ-170 Sentinel, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) used by the US for spying. It is one of the most sophisticated planes in the US arsenal and had been kept largely hidden from public eye in order to not risk its top secret spy missions. Until now, only a grainy photo taken at Qandahar airbase in 2009 was seen. The photo created a myth around the Sentinel due to its bizarre shape and speculation about its myriad capabilities were widely circulated to project it as something awesome hence its nickname, the “Beast of Kandahar”. That is why the world was shocked — the Americans even more so as victims of their own propaganda — when they saw images of the very “beast”, tamed and put on display by its new masters in Iran. The display scenery was carefully prepared by the Revolutionary Guards to mark the significance of the occasion and to gain the upperhand in the on-going cold war with the US. A banner hoisted next to the Sentinel depicted a memorable quote in Farsi from the late Imam Khomeini: “The US cannot do a damn thing.” The Imam had made the statement in the face of US threats of a military attack during occupation of the US Embassy in Tehran by revolutionary students. The embassy was little more than a den of spies, as the Iranians quickly dubbed it, from which were captured thousands of secret documents exposing the Americans’ illegal activities and their links with agents in Iran. The Imam’s memorable statement was later turned into a slogan of the Islamic Revolution and repeated on many occasions. However, words do not have much effect without action and perhaps that is why the quote had never had so much impact until it was proclaimed on a banner next to the captured US spy plane. Capture of the Sentinel in almost perfect condition caused huge embarrassment, not to mention problems, for the US. Not surprisingly, Washington attempted to play down the significance of the capture of its top of the line spy plane by Iran. Initially, US officials only admitted they had lost an unmanned drone but insisted it was over Afghanistan. They denied it was brought down by the Iranians stating instead “malfunction” had caused its loss. In contrast to the US story, Iranian officials announced they had captured the plane on December 4, some 140 miles inside Iranian territory from the Afghan border. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi finally announced Iran’s technological victory over the US: “Regardless of whether the US believes it or not, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran brought down the aircraft largely intact without assistance from any foreign country.” This was perhaps the biggest single blow that directly smashed US war propaganda that has been going on since its occupation of Iraq in 2003. Hitherto, Iran had had only moderate successes against covert US operations to destabilize the Islamic Republic. These included capturing a major CIA operative, Abdolmalek Rigi who had launched deadly attacks against Revolutionary Guards for several years; breaking US spy rings and capturing a number of CIA operatives inside the country both last May as well as more recently when Iranian television on December 18 showed Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, the CIA spy. Hekmati is of Iranian origin and was trained for nearly a decade by the CIA to penetrate Iran. He came under the Iranian intelligence radar when he was sent to the notorious Bagram Airbase in Afghan-istan from where he was sent into Iran. The US government had the gall to ask for his return. Hekmati’s capture dovetailed that of the drone spy plane. According an article in the Christian Science Monitor quoting from a European intelligence source, Iran shocked Western intelligence agencies, sometime in last two years when it managed to “blind” a CIA spy satellite by “aiming a laser burst quite accurately.” But none of the previous operations, impressive as they were, matched the significance of the capture of the RQ-170 spy plane in near perfect condition. It was a game changer and has made great impact in several aspects. Rhetoric of War While the last active duty US troops left Iraq on December 15, a full two weeks before the stipulated deadline of December 31, 2011, many commentators still cannot fathom why the US invaded Iraq in March 2003. There was no imminent threat to US interests from a badly weakened Saddam regime; it was widely known that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction, duly confirmed by UN Weapons Inspectors, yet the US invaded the country. The US ended up spending nearly one trillion dollars directly on the eight-year war and suffered 4,500 war dead (the actual cost when payments to injured soldiers and other related items are included, it climbs to nearly $4 trillion). Indeed it also caused irreparable damage to US reputation in the world due to the murder of more than 1.5 million Iraqis and the torture inflicted on many in Abu Ghraib Prison. Yet the US did not benefit from lucrative contracts to exploit the vast oil resources of Iraq, as was anticipated prior to the invasion. The occupation of Afghanistan should also be taken into account. It has also cost the US dearly, in terms of manpower and economic loss. It was not initially clear why the US had embarked on such a disastrous course but subsequent events have shown that the US had its eyes on the bigger prize: Iran, the sole obstacle to US-Israeli domination of the Muslim East. During the US’s 10-year occupation of Afghanistan, which is ongoing, an unprecedented political, military and intelligence effort was launched to destabilize Iran and pave the way for regime change through supporting their agents inside Iran. This was augmented by threats of air strikes on the Islamic Republic’s power sources as well as nuclear installation. The US used every opportunity to try and weaken Iran. However, thanks to the support of the Iranian masses, robust deterrence of the armed forces and the handy work of Iranian intelligence, all such US attempts have failed. Realizing that regime change is not an option in Iran anymore, Washington is now going for the second best option: containment of Iran’s influence in the region. The US has shifted its war policy to increasing economic and political isolation of Iran, which would be reinforced through heightened rhetoric of war to exert psychological pressure on Iran. According to this thinking an anxious Iran will be forced to focus on its own security unable to exert influence in the face of regional developments, especially during the post-US occupation era. Capturing the “beast” turns the tables The drone is a perfect tool for spying on countries that have a credible air defence system. The drone uses stealth technology to evade radar detection, can fly at extremely high altitudes and can stay in the air for prolonged periods of time to gather intelligence. The Sentinel has multiple state of the art sensors; it can intercept communications in the area as well take air samples to keep a close eye on Iran’s nuclear program. More importantly it has a psychological effect on the targeted countries since the aircraft can violate their airspace at will and capture images of their most heavily guarded secret installations without facing any resistance. But the Revolutionary Guards have been preparing themselves for capturing the “beast”. They mastered their knowledge of the drone collected from previously downed US drones, and bought some equipment from the Russians. Moscow had delivered the Avtobaza ground-based electronic intelligence and jamming system to Iran three months ago. It is designed to jam side-looking and fire control radars on aircraft and manipulate the guidance and control systems of incoming enemy missiles. Combining their knowledge, skills and creativity with Russian equipment they set up an ambush to catch the prize. When the Sentinel trespassed into Iranian air space, Iranian specialists first jammed the aircraft communications and forced it to switch to autopilot. On autopilot, the Sentinel is programmed to follow GPS signals to navigate to its home base. It is well known by the Pentagon that the GPS navigations were the weakest point of the UAVs as they are prone to manipulation. Iranians were also aware of this and exploited the simple weakness without having to crack the remote-control signals and communications from the US control centre. Once the plane was on autopilot, the Iranian experts sent their signals from the ground and manipulated the drone’s GPS coordinates to make it land at a nearby Iranian airbase that has similar coordinates to the drone’s home airbase in Afghanistan. This way the drone’s computer assumed it was actually landing at its home base in Afghanistan. This is why the self-destruct mechanism of the drone did not work. The Russians provided the Avtobaza system to Saddam Husain before the US invasion but they could not make good use of it. Even the Russians themselves could not use the system effectively during the war with Georgia in 2008 as they were helpless against Israeli-supplied Georgian drones and suffered casualties due to information provided by these drones. With their achievement, the Iranian electronic warfare units have gained great respect in the world. But more importantly, Iran has foiled the US war rhetoric by showing that Iranian airspace is not a park for US or Israeli planes. They have advanced technology to detect stealth aircraft, and capability to disable them through jamming. The US air warfare doctrine has been built upon using satellite guided missiles for attacking enemy targets. By bringing down the drone, which had a more sophisticated satellite navigation system, the Iranians have shown they have the capability to control advanced US missiles in midair and perhaps re-direct them against US targets. Further, once Iranian specialists decipher the drone’s codes they will be able read the data stored in its computer on possible targets marked out by the US. Hence they will know the mind of the enemy. Marking out these targets was a result of a long and arduous process for the CIA; the Iranians can either replace the position of these targets now or reinforce the defence around these areas. This of course would make a US airstrike too risky if not impossible. By capturing the drone Iran has turned the tables in its psychological war with the US. The US might still continue its belligerent war mongering but everyone and most importantly the Iranians know that US threats of war are a lot of hot air.

Israel in America and America in Israel: where fact meets fiction

By Abu Dharr

As if a meteorological blizzard was not enough during this past winter, Washington is now afflicted by a psychological blizzard. The media mouthpieces are blowing hot and cold — declaiming wildly what an observer would call an arctic chill that is descending upon the political tundra between the Knesset and the White House. Readers of Crescent International who have been following the Zionist script through their understanding of world developments know better than to slip into emotional shelters when manufactured squalls and twisters erupt in Tel Aviv and Washington. Need we remind those who are vulnerable to mainstream media sensationalism that the regime in Washington and its Dr. Loveless opposite number in Tel Aviv consider Islamic Iran to be the most dangerous government in the world? Due to the forward character and onward pace of Islamic Iran’s duly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — a trait that reminds us of the late Imam Khomeini — the USraeli ruling class may be playing its next-to-last grand scheme of deception by harping on a political castigation of “Iranian nuclear and missile programs.”

Much has been said and intimated about “I’m a Zionist” Biden who was received in his political homeland by his Zionist bosses. They used the opportunity during his official visit (March 10th) to declare that there will be 1,600 new homes constructed in (Islamic) Jerusalem — contrary to all the efforts that have gone into winning over the Palestinian Authority to the American sponsored confidence building measures. The Israeli Zionists flipped the diplomatic bird on their American Zionist Biden, thereby causing ladylike Hillary to pick up the phone and have an extended 45 minute exchange of undiplomatic words with manlyNetanyahu… (Naughty Hillary! This may not be good for your family, as Chelsea, remember, is engaged to the “tribe”). The twin-city drama starring Biden, Hillary, Netanyahu, and loose-canon Lieberman (the Israeli Foreign Minister, not the American senator) among others began flashing to the world audience such theater as, “Netanyahu bows to US demand for Jerusalem building freeze,” “US will raise the heat until Israel toes the line on Iran,” and “US ponders denying Israel arms needed for conflict with Iran.” What a show! All of this is show business. Hollywood has come to Washington. Should anyone be surprised?Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s waswaas, who compensates for the lack of a middle finger with an overflow of foul language, has a college degree in dancing or a related field of “rhythmical steps.” You must give it to him: he is putting on a good show. Shallow politicians from Arabia to America are entertained; they, as always, will release their imagination and restrict their mind. The Obama-Emanuel series will have its ups and downs; it will also have its intermissions. And the popcorn politicians will follow each episode with their power of imagination and their impotence of mind.

Meanwhile, far away from this Washingtonian movie house, the facts on the ground are roaring with details. In the real world, the Yahudi-led Obama administration is busy putting together a US-led coalition whose purpose it is to clamp even more severe sanctions on Islamic Iran, beginning with some UN Security Council resolutions and ending with who knows what military action they have on their drawing boards. Statements such as “We are going to put as tight a squeeze on Iran as we possibly can” have been made. They just do not fit the Hollywood script that is being played up by the political actors in the Washington amphitheater. You would have to put on binoculars to catch such statements as, “The [US-led] resolution will target the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] and its vast network of companies, which the United States estimates may include up to one-third of Iran’s total economy.” The full picture is coming into focus: as the US plays up its artificial disagreement with Zionist Israel it escalates its genuine hostility against Islamic Iran.

Another piece of information missing from the mainstream Zionist sponsored media is the fact that in late February a high-level Israeli group visited China, according to a solitary news item in the Financial Times. This Israeli mission to China included Stanley Fischer, governor of Israel’s central bank. You know something is brewing when an all important economist like Mr. Fischer goes to China and explains to the Chinese the US-led planned sanctions regime against the Islamic Republic in Iran.

According to some news reports, China imports nearly 540,000 barrels of oil a day from the Islamic Republic. Enter the American-Israeli Saudi subordinates and Emirati underlings. These Zionist loyalists cloaked in Islamic rituals will have no choice but to obey the imperialist master in doing war against Islamic self-determination and Islamic Iran. It is precisely because the confrontation mode and level of Tel Aviv and Washington against Tehran is rising that it needs a Biden-Hillary and even Obama sideshow.

For those who are watching the movie “The Crisis in Israel’s Relationship with the US” get ready for a rude awakening. The smell of gunpowder in Palestine cannot be compared to the buttery flavor of your parlor kernels that explode when exposed to dry heat. The US Treasury said in mid-March it imposed sanctions against two firms in Ghazzah — the Islamic National Bank and al-Aqsa Television — because it claimed they have ties to Hamas. US President Barack Hussein Obama owes his presidency to his Yahudi employers’ keen awareness of the up-and-coming Islamic continental consolidation of political will — their damage control to the jungle of Bush’s policies. This white Obama with a racial tan also said in mid-March that there was no crisis in ties with Israel, despite a high-profile diplomatic feud over Netanyahu’s plans to build 1,600 homes in Islamic East Jerusalem (al-Quds). In his words, “Israel is one of our closest allies, and we and the Israeli people have a special bond that’s not going to go away.” The same week, Obama the Yahudi employee said that the US would pursue “aggressive sanctions” to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon that could potentially spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East! “That’s why we’re going to go after aggressive sanctions. We haven’t taken any options off the table. We are going to keep on pushing…,” he said.

Also in the first week of March, US Centcom Commander General David Patraeus when asked about how the Persian Gulf states in the Arabian Peninsula see a US military attack on (Islamic) Iran said, “…there are countries who would like to see a strike, us or perhaps Israel, even…” Some reports say that the United Arab Emirates foreign minister, after the assassination of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, remarked that his country and Israel see eye to eye on the Iranian issue.

The Saudi officials are as jittery about Islamic self-determination in Iran as are the Israelis. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have journeyed on their political pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, meeting with the king, the defense minister, and other strained and impatient officials.

In the real world the Israelis are hurting. The waves of ‘Aliyah — the tens of thousands of “Jews” who were moving to the “Promised Land” from hither-and-yon — are now history. The demographics of the Holy Land area are quickly shifting. Islamic self-determination is on its way in; secular and ungodly political trends are on their way out. The US can no longer afford to foot the Israeli bill free of charge as was the case in the past half century. Even Israel’s first line of defense, the Palestinian authority, is crumbling like a house of cards. Some late news just coming in is that the Fatah faction in Lebanon — a few thousand strong, located mainly in the south around ‘Ain al-Helwah, a group that has long been on the side of the Palestinian authority of Mahmud ‘Abbas — has gone over to Hizbullah.

With Mubarak attempting to recover from surgery in Germany, official Egypt is in a monkey’s swing. Who knows what the next grab for power will be? The octogenarian rulers of Arabia are dying off along with their credibility. The Jordanian tribal regime is taking away Jordanian citizenship from Palestinians it deems to be “security threats.” Israel in these circumstances is in mortal danger, as it should be. It knows this better than anyone else. Will it buy itself more time for survival by going to war and delaying the Islamic death blow to Zionism? Can it avoid what appears to be an “anti-Semitic” backlash in the US where treasury and troops have been stretched to the breaking point all the way to Afghanistan and Pakistan to protect Israeli interests?

Stay tuned, as AIPAC just convened in Washing-ton, DC assembling as it has in the recent past the confluence of religious bigotry (evangelicals), corporate priorities (capitalists), and political opportunists (imperialists and Zionists). And be advised that while you have the freedom to tune into their theatrics, you should not lose sight of their vista killing fields: the Holy Lands. They put on three-piece suits in Washington, after disrobing from their military gear in Tel Aviv. Will the real American please stand up!