The US Army is closing in on the ayatollahs
(Francesco Battistini, sent to Dubai) Turn off your apps. While the hour of irrevocable decisions strikes, while Commander in Chaos (copyright The Guardian) Donald Trump ponders whether or not to launch the land attack and occupy the strategic island of Kharg which controls 95% of Iranian oil, while services from all over the world exchange encrypted information and military codes, a naive French sailor embarked on the aircraft carrier “Charles De Gaulle” slows down the plans.
The toy soldier was playing sports on the bridge a few mornings ago. And a journalist just had to follow the jogging app downloaded onto his cell phone to geolocate his navigation via satellite. After the other aircraft carrier forced to return due to a clogged toilet issue, the “Gerald Ford” replaced with the “George Bush”, is the second inglorious accident of the Grand Fleet on the Gulf route. The generals are furious. And the order is now mandatory: delete the app, the enemy is listening to you.
First by sky, now by sea, tomorrow (maybe) by land. The shopping list for the new phase of “Epic Fury” – or “blind fury”, as The Economist defines it – is ready and ready. To reopen the Strait of Hormuz, another 2,500 marines are needed immediately, writes the Wall Street Journal, which the Pentagon is adding to the 50,000 already in the area: they have embarked them with another 1,500 on the USS Boxer assault ship which set sail from San Diego, California, and they are joining the 2,000 of the amphibious task force sailing on the USS Tripoli, in the Indian Ocean. Dozens of Apache helicopters, A-10 Warthog jets and Hellfire missiles are also needed. And that the White House asks Congress for another 200 billion dollars to finance the coming months. There is even a need for Pentagon lawyers to give a “framework of legality” (so they say) to a possible naval blockade imposed on Kharg, which is 24 km from the Iranian coast: “We can destroy that island whenever we want – says Trump -. She is there, completely defenseless.”
There are sixteen ships burning in the night, off the coast of the Emirates and Qatar: merchant ships that had moved from Bandar Lengeh and that the Americans and Israelis hit. Tehran continues its maximum damage tactic: it strikes refineries in Kuwait, while Israel expands into Syria. Even the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, is touched on Friday prayers. However, the war for the islands is taking a new turn, after the latest attacks on the gas fields of South Pars (Iranian) and Ras Laffan (Qatari). Until now, the focus had been on the 7,000 military targets in Iranian territory, on the 40 minelayers sunk to the ayatollahs, and on the eleven destroyed submarines.
But now the thousands of ships stuck in the harbor must be put back on the road and, with them, the global trade of Hormuz. «It will take weeks to return to normality», predict the US media: «Despite the attacks, Iran has a vast supply of tunnels dug along the coast and on the islands». It is therefore necessary to control five other rocks – Siri, Small Tomb, Big Tomb, Abu Musa and Lavan – which Tehran has fortified. For the eighth time in twenty-one days, Trump takes it out on the “cowardly” Nato which “does not lend a hand” and complicating the strategies is the latest slap from the Alliance: Commander Grynkewich is just now confirming that the mission in neighboring Iraq, launched in 2018 and very useful in controlling the Shiites who are friends of Iran, is breaking up and returning to Europe (including the Italians). The withdrawal takes place when the Pentagon is questioning the Houthis of Yemen, who have so far remained immobile, and who the Pasdaran have called to take action. They can become the most unpredictable and dangerous factor. And we need to be ready: «Unfortunately – says Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu -, these days Jesus has no advantages over Genghis Khan. Because if you are strong, ruthless and powerful enough, evil will triumph over good.” Where good is, Bibi knows where it is.
