War Clouds Continue to Gather

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

First, allow me to explain that, yes, I know it is not popular, today, to point out the obvious.  Ok.  Maybe I should have phrased that this way:  “…to point out what SHOULD be obvious.”

Before I proceed, I’d like to encourage my readers to browse the websites of foreign news services.  If I have learned anything at all (since Al Gore invented the Internet) it is this:  The US mainstream media cannot be trusted.  They have an agenda and that agenda does not necessarily include dissemination of the truth.  As a card-carrying member of the press for many years, I have always been aware of the left-leaning bias of the US media.  That is not to say the same leftist bias does not exist in overseas media because it most certainly does.

Having said that – were you aware that right at the moment the Obama Administration is announcing plans to cut the US defense budget the US is preparing for another war in the Middle East?  Did you know that we have been quietly building an armada of naval assets in the Gulf of Oman just off the shores of Iran?  Did you know this naval armada consists of warships from the US, the UK, France, Israel, and others?  

Looking west a bit we see US, French, and British warships, standing off the Syrian coast, facing off with Russian warships including a Russian aircraft carrier task force.

My regional newspaper is printed in a military town, home to one of the largest military bases in the US, and yet, I see very little information in it’s pages concerning this build-up of military might in the waters of the Middle East.  Why?

I’ll make the answer as straight forward and simple as I possibly can.  There re two parts to the complete answer: 1) Obama is seeking reelection.  2) Obama is seeking to reduce the military budget to gain more money to spend on his leftist agenda for America.

At the risk of being called an “alarmist” allow be to make it plain:  I AM alarmed.

So when will this war begin.  Well, let me put it this way:  The Iranians should carefully watch Obama’s poll numbers.  If those numbers continue their slide downwards, the Iranians are going get the heck bombed out of them. 

Americans are extremely reluctant to change Presidents in the middle of a war.  Obama knows this and is expected to act accordingly. 

Some conservative writers and commentators expect that war in the Middle East is currently scheduled for October 2012. That would be the famed “October Surprise.”

On the other hand, those in my camp believe the Iranians, in all their hyped-up passion, will do something stupid like firing on a tanker or a US warship or aircraft, or even worse, make an attempt to close the Straits of Hormuz by sewing it with mines and other hazards to maritime traffic.  That would be the spark that would bring down the considerable wrath of that naval armada lying off their shores.

Then there are the Israelis.  They have had enough of Iran’s threats and Iran’s war on Israel by proxy.  Israel’s secret war of sabotage in Iran can only deliver limited success at delaying and derailing Iran’s race to build or acquire a nuclear bomb.  Israel could decide, at any moment, that enough is enough and launch their fighter-bombers and cruise missiles at Iran’s nuclear facilities.   Even if it only buys a few months or a couple of years of breathing space for Israel, it is becoming clear there is no other way to effectively deter Iran from building their coveted Islam Bomb.

The situation in the Middle East today is far, far, more dangerous than the US media is reporting.  A single spark will ignite a devastating war that will affect practically every nation on earth to some degree or other.

Those of us who continue to sound the warning bell of a huge war in the Middle East are being compared to the boy Peter in the story of “Peter and the Wolf.” An article at Haaretz.com noted that those who make such public comparisons seem always to leave out the end of Aesop’s famous tale of the boy who called wolf too much.  In the end, the wolf actually DID come -- and the sheep were slaughtered.  (SOURCE)

So, with that ending in mind, I have no concern about continually pointing to those dark, foreboding, clouds gathering in the east.  Since the mainstream media seems to be ignoring a certain war to protect Obama’s prospects in the coming election, someone must stand as a watchman on the ramparts and sound the alarm when clouds of dust from the approaching armies of the enemy is sighted and when the sound of distant war drums is heard.

Today those dust clouds are clearly seen over the horizon and the pounding of the drums can be heard in the distance -- and we are sounding the alarm.

J. D. Longstreet