Tuesday 17 September 2019

America makes its case for WAR

Today is the first day of America making its case to attack Iran. 

When considering any of this "evidence" the following should be taken into account (from 2003)




Attack on a major Saudi oil facility originated in Iran, U.S. intelligence indicates

A congressional source says Democrats familiar with the details don't dispute Iran carried out the attack — an important signal of bipartisan agreement.

Image: Smoke rises following a fire at the Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 14, 2019.

NBC,
17 September, 2019


American intelligence indicates that the attack on a major Saudi oil facility originated in Iran, three people familiar with the intelligence told NBC News — an assessment that is likely to escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran.

A congressional source says Democrats familiar with the details do not dispute that the attack was carried out by Iran — an important signal of bipartisan agreement amid great uncertainty about claims made by the Trump administration.

This attack had a level of sophistication we have not seen before,” the congressional source said. “You will not see Democrats pushing back on the idea that Iran was behind it.”

Read more on this story at NBCNews.com and watch "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt" tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT.

Three U.S. officials said there was extremely compelling evidence showing the origination point of the strikes, and one official with direct knowledge described that evidence as imagery.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted Saturday that Iran “launched” what he called “an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.”

Iran’s goal “is to cause short sharp spike in the commodity markets so the world will cause the Trump admin to change its policies,” one former senior intelligence official told NBC News

A Saudi military spokesman says initial investigations show Iranian weapons were used in the attack.

Col. Turki al-Malki also told reporters in Riyadh Monday that the early morning strikes on Saturday were not launched from Yemen, despite claims from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who are at war there with Saudi Arabia. Al-Maliki did not elaborate.

The attacks on Aramco's main crude processing facility knocked out 5.7 million barrels of daily oil production for Saudi Arabia, or more than 5 percent of the world's daily crude production, analysts said.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that the U.S. is “locked and loaded” and ready to respond, once it determines the culprit.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7469501/Saudi-Arabia-declares-Iran-drone-attack-oil-plant.html

US releases satellite images supporting accusation Iran was responsible for Saudi drone attacks

The US has released new satellite images supporting its accusation Iran was behind the attacks on crucial Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend.



18 September, 2019

The United States has released satellite images and cited intelligence assessments supporting its accusation that Iran was behind the attacks on crucial Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend.

The Trump administration released satellite photographs of what officials said were at least 17 points of impact at various Saudi energy facilities, including damage at the heart of the kingdom’s crucial oil processing plant at Abqaiq.

They said the strikes came from the north or northwest, suggesting the attack came from the direction of Iran rather than Yemen, where the Iranian-backed Houthi militia had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The satellite images show the scale of destruction at the vital oil facilities.

The red boxes indicate the areas hit in the suspected drone attack, which the US believes involved 17 individual strikes:

This satellite overview shows damage to oil/gas infrastructure from weekend drone attacks at Abqaig on September 14, 2019 in Saudi Arabia.
This satellite overview shows damage to oil/gas infrastructure from weekend drone attacks at Abqaig on September 14, 2019 in Saudi Arabia.Source:AFP
Another image shows the Khurais oilfield, which is 98 kilometres west of the Abqaiq facility:

This image shows damage to oil/gas infrastructure from weekend drone attacks at Khurais oilfield.
This image shows damage to oil/gas infrastructure from weekend drone attacks at Khurais oilfield.Source:AFP
The image below shows a zoomed-in view of one of the two damaged buildings. Scorch marks from the fire appear to be visible alongside the damaged building:

This satellite overview image shows damage to oil/gas infrastructure from weekend drone attacks at Khurais oilfield.
This satellite overview image shows damage to oil/gas infrastructure from weekend drone attacks at Khurais oilfield.Source:AFP
Saturday’s attack on Saudi Arabia was the most damaging blow on the Middle Eastern kingdom in more than four years of civil war in Yemen.

It helped drive world oil prices up by 10 per cent in what could cause a nightmare situation for Australia.

Abqaiq is the world’s biggest crude-stabilisation facility, refining some seven million barrels a day. Khurais produces about 1.5 million barrels of crude a day.
Overnight, Saudi Arabia has ramped up its rhetoric towards Iran, which continues to deny responsibility for the attacks.

SAUDI  ARABIA HITS OUT AT IRAN

Saudi Arabia has ramped up its rhetoric towards Iran, dismissing claims of responsibility by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and pinning the blame on the Iranian Government.

A Saudi military spokesman said a preliminary investigation had found the weapons used against the facilities were Iranian, according to The Washington Post.

In a televised briefing, Colonel Turki al-Malki, a Saudi military spokesman, said the attacks did not originate in Yemen and that investigations were underway to determine the launch location.

The preliminary results show that the weapons are Iranian and we are currently working to determine the location … The terrorist attack did not originate from Yemen as the Houthi militia claimed,” Col. al-Malki told a news conference in Riyadh.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani continues to deny Iranian involvement.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani continues to deny Iranian involvement.Source:AP
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the kingdom is “willing and able” to respond to this “terrorist aggression”.

Iran has denied the accusations and said it was ready for “full-fledged war”.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the strike was carried out by “Yemeni people” responding to years of attacks by a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s four-year-old war.

Yemeni people are exercising their legitimate right of defence,” he told a joint news conference with his Russian and Turkish counterparts at a meeting in Ankara.

Some US officials, like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have directly blamed Iran for the attacks, saying the assault did not come from Yemen.
President Donald Trump said the United States was “locked and loaded” to respond to the incident but initially stopped short of directly accusing Iran.
This morning he levelled a more accusatory tweet against Iran, referencing a missile strike on a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year:
Mr Trump has since told reporters he thinks Iran was the likely culprit, but he wants to be sure and hopes to avoid war.

He said the US would be talking to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and “many of the neighbours out there that we’re very close friends with”.


We’re also talking to Europe,” he said, “A lot of the countries that we’re dealing with, whether it is France, Germany, talking to different folks and figuring out what they think.

But I will tell you that was a very large attack and it could be met with an attack many, many times larger, very easily by our country.”

Iran rejected US accusations it was responsible, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi saying the allegations were “condemned as unacceptable and entirely baseless”.
Donald Trump has told reporters he thinks Iran was likely behind the attacks, but he wants to be sure and hopes to avoid war.
Donald Trump has told reporters he thinks Iran was likely behind the attacks, but he wants to be sure and hopes to avoid war.Source:AFP
Europe and China have warned against assigning blame prematurely. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to sell Saudi Arabia its missile defence systems on Monday in the wake of the weekend attack on its oil facilities.

We are ready to help Saudi Arabia so that she can protect her territory. She can do so in the same way that Iran has already done in buying the S-300 Russian missile system and the same way that Turkey has already done in buying the S-400 Russian missile system,” he said at a press conference in Ankara, alongside the Turkish and Iranian leaders.


Oil prices have risen to six-month highs in the wake of the attacks, with gains as high as 20 per cent.

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, went up $12 a barrel to reach up to $71.95 a barrel before dropping back down to $68.

Economists at London-based Capital Economics have warned a “full-blown US-Iran conflict” could cause oil to soar to $US150 a barrel this year.

However, they would expect the oil price to drop to $US80 per barrel by next year and $US60 by 2021.

with wires


U.S. "Locked and 
Loaded" to Proceed over 
Saudi Oil Refinery Attack 
UPDATED 6:58 AM EDT 
"ACT OF WAR"

U.S. "Locked and Loaded" to Proceed over Saudi Oil Refinery Attack UPDATED 6:58 AM EDT "ACT OF WAR"
17 September, 2019

UPDATED 6:58 AM EDT (see bottom)  "Act of War"   
President Donald Trump has confirmed the United States is "locked and loaded" over the attack upon the Saudi Oil Refinery and is awaiting verification amid discussion on "how to proceed." 
Sources in Washington are now openly saying War with Iran is now likely and could begin THIS WEEK.
Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!
54.4K people are talking about this
Vice President Pence and Defense Secretary Esper were summoned to the White House for unscheduled Security meeting which ended around 1:00 PM EDT Sunday afternoon. Trump tweets came shortly after.
INTEL ASSESSMENT
This could turn into all out war with Iran.  And worse.

If the U.S. strikes Iran, it is extremely likely Iran will fully retaliate . . .  with missiles raining down on US bases within 2,000 kilometers AND ON (US ALLY) ISRAEL.

At that point, anything can happen.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this really could finally lead to global nuclear war; not immediately but some number of moves into the future, especially if Russia and China become involved on the side of Iran.

They might be sick enough of America that out of the blue THEY make a first strike against us.
The stakes are extremely high right now.  It is undeniable that "someone" launched an attack on the largest oil refinery in the world when they attacked the Saudi refinery and Saudi oil fields.  THAT was an attack upon the GLOBAL oil supplies, and THAT is an American national security interest.  
Put simply the Genie may be about to come out of the bottle for the first time since August 1945.
Just Keep in mind when this all goes down:

Saudi ARAMCO was about to make the world's largest

IPO on Wall Street next month, which China wanted...
Here is an image of the damaged Saudi Refinery:
Zooming-in, you can see very clearly these were missile hits; the holes in the tanks are visible:
UPDATE 6:27 AM EDT --
Missiles impacted the Saudi Oil Refinery from the NW through Kuwait.
One missile engine has been positively identified as an Iranian Howazey missile which crashed and was discovered in Kuwaiti desert.
Here are photos of that crashed missile from Kuwait:
Another angle:
Now, here is a publicly-released image of an Iranian Sumar Cruise Missile.   The booster section at the rear fires at liftoff, then detaches.  Look at the tail fins and compare them to the photos above:
U.S teams in Saudi are in possession of fragments of an Iranian Howazey missile at one of the Oil areas attacked.
UPDATE 6:58 AM EDT --
Iran launched nearly a dozen cruise missiles and over 20 dronesfrom its territory in the Aramco attack says senior US official

THIS IS IT
 ***** BULLETIN *****
7:02 AM EDT --
All military bases overseas have gone to DEFCON 3. Assets are rapidly being moved.
UPDATE 7:42 AM EDT --
Iran has warned that it is prepared for “fully fledged war” after the United States accused it of launching devastating drone attacks on two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
UPDATE 3:05 PM EDT --

US DEFENSE SECRETARY TELLS RIYADH U.S. IS STUDYING ALL AVAILABLE OPTIONS TO CONFRONT THESE ATTACKS ON SAUDI ARABIA

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