President Trump has been banging the drums for war with Iran, but British Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika didn't get the memo.



“No, there’s been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria,” British Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika told reporters at the Pentagon in a video conference from coalition headquarters in Baghdad. “We’re aware of their presence, clearly, and we monitor them, along with a whole range of others because that’s the environment we’re in.” His comment comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, including assertions by administration officials that they have detected signs that Iranian or Iranian-backed proxies were preparing for possible attacks against American interests in the Mideast. The administration cited the threats as the reason for expediting the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and other military resources to the region. “There are a substantial number of militia groups in Iraq and Syria, and we don’t see any increased threat from many of them at this stage,” Ghika said.

Later Tuesday, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command issued a statement disputing Ghika’s claim.

Awkward.

That is not a good look heading into a war.

Speaking of the aircraft carrier strike group, there's news about that as well.



Spain has recalled a frigate accompanying a U.S. aircraft carrier to the Middle East because of rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, the defense ministry said Tuesday, May 14...

“It’s a temporary withdrawal, decided by Defense Minister Margarita Robles, as long as the American aircraft carrier is in this zone,” the spokesman added. He said the Spanish frigate had joined the aircraft carrier’s strike group for a military exercise.

“No possible confrontation or warlike action is envisaged [by Spain] and it is for this reason that the participation is suspended for the moment,” he added.

Germany and the Netherlands suspended military operations in Iraq.

It's as if we were trying to trick our allies into a war and they saw through the deception.

This shouldn't be a surprise because this is centered around Iraq, yet again.

“I really cannot believe that we failed to learn anything from the first decade of this century. And we are actually considering escalating with Iran in a war that would further destabilize the region and unleash God knows what in terms of chaos in a very troubled region already.”

- Elise Jordan, who worked in the Bush White House

Today the State Department ordered all non-emergency staff and their families to leave Iraq.



Martin said American officials have him there is "credible" and "urgent" intelligence that Iran has ordered Shiite militias in Iraq to prepare to conduct attacks against U.S. troops and diplomats in the country.

The Trump Administration provided no detailed information to the Senate about the so-called threat.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Iraqi that U.S. intelligence showed Iran-backed militias moved missiles near bases with American forces. Pompeo flew to Iraq to try and pressure Baghdad to swing over to our side.

Those militias have been threatening U.S. forces for years, but have never followed through.

Pompeo and Washington may not understand how unpopular the U.S. is in Iraq.



“Pompeo should have known better,” said Marina Ottaway, Middle East fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “The United States has the illusion of delusion, that the relationship between the United States and Iraq can become somehow stronger than the relationship between Iran and Iraq,” said Ottaway.

Hosted @SecPompeo; substantive conversation about Iraq-US strategic partnership, consolidating victory against ISIS through economic regeneration, regional cooperation. Iraq’s national interest requires promoting relations with all our neighbors, not becoming zone for conflict pic.twitter.com/j3SrJXa0LU — Barham Salih (@BarhamSalih) May 8, 2019

Going to war with Iran would be an epic disaster and bring about the fall of the American Empire. Only Saudi Arabia and Israel think that it would be a good thing.

The question is: where is the anti-war protests?