If the United States does manage to con itself into attacking Iran, something which seems increasingly possible as days pass, the narrative seems to be that US officials are convinced that Iran is going to attack them first.



Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once again warned Iran not to attack, a warning that seems particularly nonsensical following reports where intelligence officials confirmed that the claims of an Iranian plot were heavily exaggerated to justify anti-Iran measures.



The heavy exaggeration is just growing though, with unnamed US officials telling NBC News that an unnamed Iranian official had okayed a potential attack on a US military target, an attack these putative officials tied to putative Iranian proxies, which is almost always administration doublespeak for Iraqi militias.



The US has been treating Iraq’s Shi’ite militias like it has a serious problem with them for some time, to the point that some Iraqi political figures have suggested they want the US out of Iraq, and some militia leaders saying they’d be willing to commit to helping the government do that.



The administration’s narrative is that anything is liable to go wrong in the Middle East, and that it will be Iran’s doing. Once that happens, all indications are it will be used to justify a US war against Iran, meaning the US is likely to blunder itself into Iran whether the Iranians do anything or not.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz