Was December Attack on US Base in Iraq a Trump Regime Anti-Iran False Flag?

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

Bipartisan US hardliners and their Israeli counterparts want pro-Western puppet rule replacing Iranian sovereign independence.

A key US goal is gaining control over Iran's vast hydrocarbon resources. For Israel, it's eliminating its main regional rival.

In August 2018, the Trump regime created a so-called "Iran Action Group" — regime change its objective, Pompeo at the time falsely saying:

"For nearly 40 years, (Iran) has been responsible for a torrent of violent and destabilizing behavior against the United States, our allies, our partners, and indeed the Iranian people themselves (sic)" – a US/NATO/Israeli/Saudi speciality, not how the Islamic Republic operates.

As Trump's national security advisor, Bolton publicly said "(o)ur goal should be regime change in Iran." 

It's been Washington's "goal" since Iranians overthrew the US-installed fascist dictatorship in 1979, the Islamic Republic replacing it — a thorn in the side of US/Israeli regional imperial aims.

For over 40 years, the US has been waging war on Iran by other means. Greatly escalated by Trump, its aim is crushing Iran's economy and immiserating its people.

Waging war on the Islamic Republic would be madness, a nation able to hit back hard against an aggressor and its allies virtually anywhere in the region if preemptively attacked.

Its strikes on US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the Trump regime's assassination of Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani, causing scores of injuries to US forces and significant damage, bore testimony to its military capabilities.

Iran helped create and supports Iraqi PMU paramilitary forces to aid its self-defense. They're not Iranian proxies.

On Thursday, US war secretary Esper unjustifiably justified Soleimani's assassination, falsely accusing him of killing hundreds of Americans, adding:

"He was actively planning the next attack…taking him off the battlefield was a good response to Iranian bad behavior and his personal actions for many, many years (sic)."

His January 3 assassination followed a December 27 rocket attack on the Pentagon's so-called Operation Inherent Resolve K-1 air base in Kirkuk, Iraq, reportedly killing a US contractor, wounding several US military personnel and Iraqi security forces.

The Trump regime falsely blamed Iran-supported/Iraqi PMU Kata'ib Hezbollah paramilitaries for what happened. Its leadership denied the accusation.

The US used the K-1 base attack as a pretext to terror-bomb Kata'ib Hezbollah bases, killing around 25 of its fighters, wounding dozens more.

In response, Iraq's Baghdad Green Zone was stormed, the US embassy attacked, its main compound not breached, no deaths or serious injuries reported.

The Pentagon deployed thousands more troops to the Middle East. In late January, it was learned that four new US bases are being built in northern Iraq near Iran's border.

On Thursday, the NYT asked: "Was (the) US wrong about (the) attack (on its K-1 base in Iraq) that nearly started a war with Iran?"

Kata'ib Hezbollah denied responsibility. Iraqi military and intelligence officials called it unlikely that the PMU group carried out the attack.

According to the Times, "rockets were launched (on the K-1 base)  from a Sunni Muslim part of Kirkuk Province notorious for attacks by the Islamic State, a Sunni terrorist group, which would have made the area hostile territory for" Iraqi Shia paramilitaries.

No Kata'ib Hezbollah fighters are in Kirkuk. Days before the K-1 base attack, ISIS jihadists "carried out three attacks relatively close to the base," the Times reported.

According to Iraqi intelligence chief General Ahmed Adnan, "(a)ll the indications are that it was Daesh…(W)e know (their) movements."

"We as Iraqi forces cannot even come to this area unless we have a large force because it is not secure. How could it be that someone who doesn't know the area could come here and find that firing position and launch an attack?"

On January 28, AP News reported heightened tensions between the US and Iraq "provide a comeback opportunity for" ISIS, its fighters building up a guerrilla campaign over the past year" — notably now when when Iraqis and their government want US occupying forces out of the country.

Most likely, ISIS, not Iraqi paramilitaries, were responsible for attacking the K-1 base.

The jihadist group was created by the US, its fighters used as Pentagon/CIA proxies in countries where they're deployed.

If ISIS was responsible for attacking the K-1 base, most likely it was a US-planned false flag to wrongfully blame Kata'ib Hezbollah and Iran for what happened — giving US hardliners (perhaps in cahoots with Israel) a pretext for what followed.

Events since late December heightened regional tensions, increasing the possibility of US confrontation with Iran, a longstanding Israeli goal, wanting Washington to wage war on its enemies.

All wars and related hostile actions are based on Big Lies and deception.

Pretexts are needed to justify what's unjustifiable so they're invented.

Time and again, US/Israeli enemies are blamed for incidents they had nothing to do with.

Despite trumpeted claims otherwise, no WMDs existed in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, no justification for US aggression.

Throughout its history, the Islamic Republic of Iran threatened no other countries — except in self-defense if attacked, its fundamental UN Charter right.

Iran poses no threat to the US or regional countries today, seeking cooperative relations with other nations, not confrontation.

Its legitimate nuclear program has no military component, confirmed time and again by the IAEA and annual US intelligence assessments of global threats, Iran not one of them.

Regional events going forward bear close watching. Will Trump regime hardliners escalate confrontation with Iran or step back from the brink of possible war — what Pentagon commanders likely oppose, knowing Iran's military capabilities.

While possible any time, war with Iran is unlikely because of its retaliatory capabilities.

In an election year, Trump mostly likely wants further war avoided.

If launched on Iran and went poorly, his reelection prospect would dim.

Dems are as belligerent as Republicans. No matter who's elected president in November, US forever wars will continue.

Attacking Iran is another matter entirely. What's unlikely this year under Trump could be off the table entirely if a Dem presidential aspirant succeeds him in January 2021.

Perhaps the JCPOA could be restored under Dem leadership and US sanctions eased — what there's no chance for if Trump wins a second term.

VISIT MY WEBSITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html