As Israel launches a surprise attack on Iran just days before planned peace talks, the United States—amid domestic unrest—appears complicit in a premeditated escalation that could reshape global power dynamics.
Meanwhile, it has been interesting to watch the riots in Los Angeles in which people who have “fled to the US for a better life” wave the flags of the countries they have escaped from and attack Federal ICE agents and LAPD, and do all the things we have come to expect from such “peaceful protesters” including violent assaults on the public, breaking and entering, looting, arson, and so on.
The protests began on Friday, 6th June, with those participating angry at the use of ICE agents to conduct raids to capture and deport illegal aliens. Nothing much would have been said if the protests had been peaceful, but they rapidly degenerated into riots after protesters attacked ICE units conducting deportation raids, and the Federal agents had to call for police backup, resulting in liberal use of tear gas and rubber bullets after the LAPD also came under attack.
Needless to say, the usual suspects in the Democrat party and liberal media immediately condemned the police and Federal agents for using excessive force against “peaceful protesters” in an orchestrated campaign of “don’t believe your own eyes” on a scale not seen since the BLM riots.
Things progressively deteriorated from that point, with each day’s protests becoming increasingly violent until US President Donald Trump federalized the California National Guard, against the wishes of the California Governor Gavin Newsome, a staunch Democrat of the far left, and also instructed his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hesgith, to deploy US Marines to assist the LAPD and California National Guard in dispersing the protesters.
Naturally, protests have spread, springing up in around forty other cities, most of which are, funnily enough, democratic strongholds, though, so far at least, the severe rioting in LA has not been repeated.
Perfect Timing
It is interesting to note that this chaos began as the US was announcing the evacuation of “non-essential” personnel from the Middle East, citing “rising tensions”, despite the fact that Iran was committed to attending peace talks planned for Sunday 15th June.
Needless to say, the Israeli surprise attack that commenced on Friday 13th June (how auspicious), involving aircraft, missile, and drone attacks that were intended as a decapitation strike, hitting the private residences of a number of scientists and military officers, as well as command compounds and bunkers, and, incidentally, killing a number of Iran’s negotiating team, including its main negotiator, for the nuclear deal, has killed any chance of negotiations while the fighting is ongoing.
Of particular concern, is the slipping of the Janus faced mask from Trump, who rushed to take credit for the initial Israeli attack, claiming to have “been fully informed” of the operation beforehand, combined with his previous comments to the Iranian leadership that Israel can’t take any action without his approval, describing the Israeli attacks as excellent, claiming to have already known the date of the attack, and, finally, posting this damning message on his “Truthsocial” and Musk’s “X”
Two months ago, I gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to “make a deal.” They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!
It is now almost certain that Trump’s “negotiations” were nothing more than a “Red Herring” intended to soften the Iranian defences by lulling them into a false sense of security that normal diplomacy would be the path to a peaceful settlement. I dare to say that the nature of Trump’s ultimatums should have been a warning, but that with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight.
Hard Lesson to Learn
There is a lesson in this for both Russia and China, and that is “NO NEGOTIATIONS”, it is plain to see that the USA is, like the EU after Minsk, completely untrustworthy.
Another disturbing feature of the Israeli attack was the assembly and use of drones from civilian vehicles from inside Iran, an almost carbon copy of the Ukrainian “Operation Spider Web”, the attempt to take out Russian strategic bombers by attacking five airbases. Both operations were said to have been planned for 18 months, and I would strongly suggest that Russia have a very, very hard word with Israel, as I am sure they were involved in the Ukrainian attack, as both attacks are almost identical.
Despite the deaths of a number of senior commanders, and a series of cyber-attacks that disrupted Iranian communication and delayed the response, it is notable that the Iranians quickly recovered, and, unlike the previous time Tehran was attacked, they retaliated the same day. This shows that, unlike Hezbollah, Iran had contingency plans, and quite possibly parallel command and control structures,
Initial Israeli and western euphoria over the “excellent” strikes started to evaporate when the Iranians responded with a mix of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. The air forces of Israel, Jordan, the UK, and others were involved in intercepting cruise missiles and drones, but the Israeli and western missile defences were found lacking against the ballistic attack, where it seems the majority of missiles got through to their targets, and it should be noted that Iran appears to be expending older missile types, rather than their latest prototypes, aiming to bleed western and Israeli missile stockpiles dry before bringing out of hiding their most recent and state-of-the-art design.
While each side trades blows, it is interesting to note the Iranian strategy. Rather than an all-out assault, they are responding to Israel’s attacks in kind. Israel targets military installations, the Iranians attack the same types of targets in Israel. Israel then attacks energy infrastructure, Iran returns the favor by hitting the Haifa power plant and energy grid, as well as the Haifa oil refinery.
Slugging Contest
It is apparent that, after weathering the first blow, Iran has engaged Israel in a war of attrition, something that the Zionist state and its western backers are ill-equipped to handle, as we have seen in Ukraine.
Speaking of Ukraine, it is obvious that Zelensky must be furious at his cousins stealing the limelight. The US cannot supply both countries with weapons at the same time, and it has been confirmed that the US has begun transferring air defense systems from Ukraine to Israel, which, combined with the fact that Secretary of Defense, Pete Hesgith announced severe cuts in US military aid to Ukraine, it is apparent that the US is sending the neo-nazi regime in Ukraine the way of South Vietnam and Afghanistan.
All in all, Ukraine is a side show now, and the US is desperately concentrating on backing its so-called “greatest ally” in the face of such a monumental Trump-Netanyahu miscalculation. I feel that Israeli military analyst Yossi Melman put it best:
The euphoria was short-lived. On Friday morning, I asked whether it was even necessary to start a war, especially against the Iranians. The Shiites are historically willing to suffer. I mentioned their willingness to sacrifice, as they demonstrated in the 8 years of attrition with Iraq. I recommend that we cut our losses and turn to Trump to stop the madness with a reasonable agreement, otherwise we will end up begging for a ceasefire and Iran will refuse.
It is obvious that the barbarians got inside the gates of Iran, but now things seem to be going according to Tehran’s plan, not the US and Israel’s. I have two bottles of French pink champagne; I need to drink them while there is time. It can all happen very quickly, and the Christian-Zionist-Spin Doctors are just overjoyed with the prospect of the end-of-times.
I suspect Iran is planning for the long haul, and it knows how the game is played: Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, as the US and its allies have been a good teacher.
Jeffrey K. Silverman is a freelance journalist and international development specialist, BSc, MSc, based for 30 years in Georgia and the former Soviet Union
