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While the US media and political establishment continue the charade of blaming Iran for the recent attack on the Saudi Aramco oil production facility, canny geopolitical observers are well aware that Yemeni ‘Houthi’ resistance forces have long had the ability to penetrate deep into Saudi territory by deploying various missile and drone configurations. Washington, Tel Aviv and Riyadh then compounded their mistake by inventing a story that the attacks were somehow launched from Iran, calling the incident “an act of war” by Tehran. In doing so, they not only heightened tensions in the region, but also provoked Iran to announce its own military intentions in the event that the US and its allies might attempt an unprovoked attack against Iran. The results of any such US-led move would immediately expose a number of major US military installations situated around the region. Such a confrontation scenario has been already war-gamed by the Pentagon, with devastating results for the US.

The Houthi strike on Saudi’s facility was indeed a game-changer, as evidenced yesterday with this announcement by Pentagon officials who are now moving US Air Force CENTCOM from Qatar, back home to South Carolina. This will be the first time US Command and Control center has been re-positioned since this Middle East base was first established in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Indeed, the ‘Yemen Effect’ may have inadvertently prompted US military planners to re-think, or perhaps speed up already existing plans as to how their assets will be positioned going forward….



MAP: Major US military assets in located in the Middle East (Source: Peacefare.net)

Washington Post reports…

For 13 years, the United States has used a single building in this tiny Persian Gulf state to command fighter jets, bombers, drones and other Air Force assets in a region that stretches from Northeast Africa through the Middle East to South Asia.

And yet on Saturday, as 300 planes were in the air in key areas such as Syria, Afghanistan and the gulf, hundreds of seats at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar sat empty.

Instead, the air power of the United States and its allies was being controlled by teams at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina — more than 7,000 miles away. Though the move was only temporary — al-Udeid took back control on Sunday after 24 hours — it was a significant tactical shift.

The report underscores this key point:

“Analysts say that if a conflict with Iran were to break out, it’s likely that the combined air and space operations center at al-Udeid could be targeted and that there is little guarantee that it could be defended.”

Those applauding this move by the US should also exercise caution though, as the move might also signal US preparations for an escalation of military action against Iran and its allies in the region.

RELATED: Saudi vs the Houthis: Why U.S. Patriot Missiles Are Useless

More broadly however, this move is the first in a series of major US manuevers, signaling a concerted pivot of geo-strategy by the US:

Officials at al-Udeid said there was no plan to close the center permanently. They said some functions there could not be replicated remotely. But they plan to transfer some of the 800 positions to U.S. soil in the future.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES.

READ MORE YEMEN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Yemen Files

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