“It is most unlikely Trump will escalate at this point, and
this could provide him with the opportunity to leave the Middle East except for
the Gulf States. Trump wants to get out,” a U.S. intelligence source says.
President Donald Trump will de-escalate the crisis with Iran when he speaks to the nation at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, a U.S. intelligence source has told me.
President Donald Trump will de-escalate the crisis with Iran when he speaks to the nation at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, a U.S. intelligence source has told me.
Last night Iran retaliated for the assassination of Maj.
Gen. Qassem Soleimani with missile strikes on two U.S. military bases in Iraq. So
far there have been no casualties reported. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad
Zarif said that the ballistic missile strikes launched from Iran completed
Tehran’s military action.
Iran took
& concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN
Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens
& senior officials were launched.
We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.
We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.
It is now
up to Trump to determine whether the crisis will continue.
A top U.S. intel source sent me this analysis in response to
a detailed question:
“It is most unlikely Trump will escalate at this point, and
this could provide him with the opportunity to leave the Middle East except for
the Gulf States. Trump wants to get out. The fact that Israel would be hit next
by Iran [as promised, among others, by the IRGC as well as Hezbollah’s
secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah] will probably cause them to pull back, and
not order Trump to bomb Iran itself.
“DEBKA-Mossad acknowledged that Iran’s offensive missiles
cannot be defended against. Its secret is that it hugs the ground going
underneath the radar screens.” [the source is referring to the Hoveizeh cruise
missile, with a range of 1,350 km, already tested by Tehran.]
“What is amazing is that Iraq has allowed US troops into
their country at all after seeing over a million of their people murdered by
the US if we include the 500,000 dead children [during the 1990s, as
acknowledged by Madeleine Albright]. The royals in the U. A. E. told me that
this is because Iraq is more corrupt that Nigeria.
“The key question here is what happened to the Patriot
Missile Defense for these bases who were on high alert assuming this is not
similar to Trump’s missiles hitting empty buildings in Syria after the chemical
false flag operation. I saw no report that any defense missile was
working, which to me is very significant.”
Judd Deere, the deputy press secretary of the White House,
confirmed on Tuesday night what I had learned earlier from another source. The
White House said Trump, in a phone call, thanked Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for
“Qatar’s partnership with the United States”, and they discussed Iraq and Iran.
According to my source, who is very close to the Qatari
royal family, Trump actually sent a message to Tehran via the emir. The message
has two layers. Trump promised sanctions would be cancelled if there were no
retaliation from Tehran (something that Trump simply wouldn’t have the means to
assure, considering the opposition from Capitol Hill) ; and there would be
de-escalation if Tehran came up with a “proportional” response.
Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif described the Iranian missile
strikes as a “proportional response”.
That may explain why Trump did not go on TV on Tuesday night
in the U.S. to announce total war – as much as neocons may have been wanting it.
Details are still sparse, but there’s ultra-high level, back
room diplomacy going on especially between Iran and Russia, with China
discreet, but on full alert.
There’s consensus among the Axis of Resistance that China
has a major role to play, especially in the Levant, where Beijing is seen in
some quarters as a possible future partner ultimately replacing U.S. hegemony.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has just been to Syria and
Turkey this week. And according to Russian sources, Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov is making clear to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Russia’s stance that
there should be no escalation.
Pepe Escobar, is the
correspondent-at-large for Hong Kong-based Asia Times. His latest book is “2040.” Follow
him on Facebook
By Pepe
Escobar
Special to Consortium News
Special to Consortium News
January 8, 2020
Reference:
https://consortiumnews.com/2020/01/08/pepe-escobar-trump-to-de-escalate-intel-source/
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario