Author’s Note and Update

The following article first published in February 2007 focusses on the history of war planning: The “War on Iran” has been on the drawing board of the Pentagon since the mid-1990s under US Central Command’s (USCENTCOM) “Strategy of Dual Containment’  directed against “the Rogue States of Iraq and Iran” formulated during the Clinton administration. 

“First Iraq, then Iran”: The stockpiling and deployment of advanced weapons systems directed against Iran started in the immediate wake of the 2003 bombing and invasion of Iraq. From the outset, these war plans were led by the US, in liaison with NATO and Israel.

Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration identified Iran and Syria as the next stage of “the road map to war”.  

Under the Trump administration, a US Attack on Iran is currently contemplated with the support of Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US design is to incite its Middle East allies “to threaten Iran on behalf of Washington”.

The article reviews the details of a leaked secret 2003 plan and scenario of a war on Iran entitled “Theater Iran Near Term” (TIRANNT). 

This Pentagon blueprint had identified several thousand targets inside Iran as part of a “Shock and Awe” Blitzkrieg. In all likelihood, these targets are still on the drawing board of the Pentagon.  

The Hong Kong protests are escalating, just as the US-China trade war is also escalating. None of this is out of the blue. For quite some time now, the US has been shifting the focus of its hegemonic and imperial ambitions towards China, recognizing it – even more than Russia – as its main rival superpower. Author Graham Allen published his 2017 book entitled Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? addressing growing US-China tension and the potential for a future US-China war. James Corbett also offered his analysis.

The term Thucydides trap is derived from ancient Greece to describe a situation when a rising power gains enough strength to challenge and disturb the existing ruling power. With this phenomenon in mind, let’s take a look at the background to the current US-China trade war (which is becoming more bitter and intense by the week) and the Hong Kong Protests.

Syria strongly condemned the failed coup attempt against the constitutional legitimacy in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, expressing confidence that the Venezuelan people and their leadership will foil the reckless US policy.

“The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns the failed coup attempt on the constitutional legitimacy in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” a source at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry told SANA on Wednesday.

The source added ” The latest developments of the events and reactions in Washington have proven that the US administration is going forwards in its policies which aim at undermining stability in Venezuela and that it is using all weapons it possesses including the economic siege to get over the choices of the Venezuelan people and to transform Venezuela into a small state within the orbit of the US policy, and based on that, the failure of the coup attempt represents a strong blow to the US administration and an abject failure for its policies.”

Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered on Sunday a speech in which he tackled various topics on top of which was the latest “Israeli” aggression on Lebanon.

Addressing tens of thousands of resistance supporters who gathered in Baalbek to celebrate the 2^nd anniversary for liberating the Lebanese outskirts from the terrorist groups, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the “the great gathering in Baalbek forms a primary response to the “Israeli” aggression last night.”

His Eminence further congratulated the people in the Bekaa particularly as well as the Lebanese and Syrian people on the 2^nd liberation.

Before proceeding, the Resistance Leader shed light on  the painful memory of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al Sadr and his two dear companions. “We still remember Imam Moussa and his humanity. We are all his children and we are pursuing the search of what happened to him,” he added, noting that “what we are enjoying today from resistance and victories is due largely to the blessing of the presence of Imam Musa al-Sadr in Lebanon.”