"Project Freedom" Halted By Saudis

 

The perpetual con man, the Malignant Fascist, initiated what he called "Project Freedom" on Sunday afternoon, supposedly to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz (later "clarified" to mean to guide them without using U.S. ships).  As planned by the MF's regime, the stock market opened higher on Monday and oil prices dropped at the positive "news." Then, just as abruptly the MF called a pause to the project, claiming that Iran had moved closer to ending the war that the MF started. 

Now, it appears that claim was another lie that the MF used to hide the fact that it was the Saudis that forced the pause by denying U.S. aircraft the use of Saudi airbases or airspace to carry out "Project Freedom."  From NBC News' exclusive:

"Trump surprised Gulf allies by announcing “Project Freedom” on social media Sunday afternoon, the officials said, angering leadership in Saudi Arabia. In response, the Kingdom informed the U.S. it would not allow the U.S. military to fly aircraft from Prince Sultan Airbase southeast of Riyadh or fly through Saudi airspace to support the effort, the officials said.

A call between Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not resolve the issue, the two U.S. officials said, forcing the president to pause Project Freedom in order to restore U.S. military access to the critical airspace.

Other close Gulf allies were also caught off guard; the president spoke with leaders in Qatar after the effort had already begun. [snip]

Trump had announced the operation over the weekend as a way to break Iran’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, and his top national security leaders spent much of Tuesday talking up the effort in public briefings at the Pentagon and White House, only to have the president suddenly halt the operation roughly 36 hours after it began." (our emphasis)

This latest screw-up has all the earmarks of an MF operation: market manipulation for the zillionth time, no advance planning with "allies," humiliating backtracking caused by incompetence, and lies to cover the reason for the "pause."  When you hear peace is "imminent" coming from the MF or his enablers in the media, hold on to your wallets, because the con continues.

(photo: Bone Spurs and Bone Saw: not on same page)