Consider The Dog Wagged

The senior British general in command of coalition forces in Iraq and Syria flatly contradicted the claims from the Trump regime that there is a threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria. The alleged "threat" has been used by extreme hawks like National Security Advisor and Yosemite Sam cosplayer John "Loose Bolt" Bolton and others to justify a major build up of forces in the region, including a carrier group, to supposedly counter those "threats" from Iran.

"Maj Gen Christopher Ghika, who is a deputy commander of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the coalition conducting counter-terrorist operations against Isis in Iraq and Syria, was repeatedly questioned by reporters about the threat from Shia militias in Syria and Iraq, cited by US officials over the past week as justification for speeding up the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Gulf and for sending B-52 Stratofortress bombers and an anti-aircraft battery to the region.

'No – there’s been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria,” Ghika said in a videolink briefing from Baghdad to the Pentagon. “We’re aware of that presence, clearly. And we monitor them along with a whole range of others because that’s the environment we’re in. We are monitoring the Shia militia groups. I think you’re referring to carefully and if the threat level seems to go up then we’ll raise our force protection measures accordingly.” (our emphasis)

Shamefully, the U.S. Central Command felt obliged to put out a statement refuting Gen. Ghika, so as not to undermine the fiction being advanced by the Pentagon under orders from Bolton.

Using the cover of secrecy, the Trump regime has been very vague about the threats, raising suspicions that the show of force is an attempt to provoke Iran into a hostile action, providing the Trump regime a pretext to retaliate while providing some distraction from Trump's multiple domestic and foreign problems. Pressure from the Saudis, Netanyahu, and United Arab Emirates has been building for the U.S. to take aggressive action against Iran, their main enemy, while they remain behind our defensive shield.

With the daily barrage of lies big and small from the Trump regime, why should anyone take their word about this or any other issue?

BONUS: The U.S. has ordered all non-emergency government employees to leave Iraq, blaming Iranian "threats" against U.S. assets. European allies say they've not seen the threat level increase, only tensions as a result.