The NYT and WSJ Promote War on Iran

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Establishment media never met a US war of aggression they didn't wholeheartedly endorse.

They never met a nonbelligerent sovereign independent state, threatening no one the US targets for regime change, they didn't vilify unjustly.

They never met a hard truth on major issues, especially geopolitical ones, they didn't suppress, substituting state-approved propaganda rubbish.

Chances of Iranian involvement in Saturday strikes on key Saudi oil facilities are virtually nil.

Instead of stressing it, the self-styled newspaper of record NYT press agent for powerful US interests headlined the following:

"Saudi Oil Attack Photos Implicate Iran (sic), US Says; Trump Hints at Military Action," saying:

"The Trump (regime) intensified its focus on Iran Sunday as the likely culprit behind attacks on important Saudi Arabian oil facilities over the weekend (sic), with officials citing intelligence assessments (sic) to support the accusation and…Trump warning that he was prepared to take military action."

The above remarks read like a commercial for US naked aggression on a nonbelligerent country. No credible evidence suggests Iranian involvement in strikes on Saudi oil facilities — by Yemeni Houthis, retaliating against Riyadh's aggression.

The Times pretended otherwise, failing to debunk anti-Iran propaganda. Iran and Iraq debunked the Big Lie claim that strikes on Saudi Arabia came from their territory.

Trump tweeting that "(t)here is reason to believe that we know the culprit" implied but didn't name Iran. 

Bolton clone Pompeo falsely blamed Iran, tweeting the following:

"We call on all nations to publicly and unequivocally condemn Iran's attacks (sic). The United States will work with our partners and allies to ensure that energy markets remain well supplied and Iran is held accountable for its aggression (sic)," adding:

"Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia while Rouhani and Zarif pretend to engage in diplomacy (sic)." 

"Amid all the calls for de-escalation, Iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply (sic). There is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen (sic)."

Reuters cited unnamed "senior US officials," saying they have so-called "evidence" showing "Houthi claims of responsibility for the attacks were not credible (sic)," one official falsely adding:

"There's no doubt that Iran is responsible for this (sic). No matter how you slice it, there's no escaping it. There's no other candidate. Evidence points in no other direction than that Iran was responsible for this" — a bald-faced Big Lie Reuters apparently didn't challenge. The same goes for other establishment media.

The Times: "If Iran, or one of its proxies in Iraq or Yemen (sic), carried out the attacks, it would fit into a strategy Iran has followed for months in its escalating confrontation with the Trump administration (sic)."

As usual, the Times has things backwards. Time and again, the US instigates confrontation with one nation after another — not the other way around.

Blaming victims consistently follows. Establishment media support the Big Lie.

Trump regime hardliners falsely blamed Iran for Houthi retaliation against Saudi aggression. It's the same pattern Israel uses against Hamas, wrongfully blaming it for things it had nothing to do with.

Iranophobic Wall Street Journal editors appear eager for preemptive US war on the Islamic Republic, saying Saturday's " attack on Saudi oil production shows John Bolton was right (sic)."

They falsely accused Tehran for what happened despite no credible evidence suggesting it.

Yemen is Washington's war, Riyadh a junior partner in what's going on. Establishment media ignore US aggression on the country and its people, falsely blaming Iran and Houthis for high crimes committed by Washington and its imperial allies.

Journal editors reinvented reality, saying "(i)f the Saudis cede Yemen to the Houthis, Iran will have won another proxy war, this one on the Arabian peninsula."

They falsely accused Iran of "testing (Trump's) resolve," citing the downing of a US drone last June as an example.

They failed to explain it violated Iranian airspace, a hostile act, ignoring multiple warnings to leave, before Iranian forces shot it down. It was not in international airspace as the Trump regime falsely claimed.

They urged DJT to "apologize to John Bolton, who warned repeatedly that Iran would take advantage of perceived weakness in the White House" — a bald-faced Big Lie.

They falsely claimed that softening pressure on Tehran would encourage its ruling authorities "to take more military risks," another Big Lie — a Journal and other establishment media specialty, truth-telling on major issues suppressed.

The US is an imperial aggressor. Its ruling dark forces represent the greatest threat to world peace, stability and security.

Iran is the region's leading peace proponent, threatening no one, deploring wars, wanting them ended, seeking cooperative relations with other countries.

There's no ambiguity about distinguishing between law-abiding and law-breaking in the Middle East.

The US presence, Israel, the Saudis, and their rogue allies clearly represent the latter, Iran the former.

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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

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