Report: US Considers Launching Airstrikes Against Iran To Support Israeli Attack

Wherein I say "I Told You So!"

Here is the report from Antiwar.com, quoting NBC News:

Report: US Considers Launching Airstrikes Against Iran To Support Israeli Attack

US officials say Israel hasn't briefed the US on its specific plans to attack Iran

by Dave DeCamp October 8, 2024 at 7:17 pm ET Categories NewsTags Iran, Israel

The US has discussed the idea of supporting Israel’s expected attack on Iran with intelligence or with airstrikes of its own, NBC News reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed US officials.

The report said senior US military officials have discussed launching “very limited” airstrikes against Iranian targets inside Iran or outside of the country, though the US officials said intelligence support for Israel was more likely.

So far, no final decision on US action has been made, according to the report, and the US officials said Israel has not briefed the US on its specific plans to strike Iran in response to the Iranian missile barrage that hit Israel last week.

Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles into Israel in response to multiple Israeli escalations in the region, including the July 31 assassination of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. In the aftermath, the US said it would work with Israel to ensure Iran faces “severe consequences” for the attack.

The NBC report said US officials were worried that Israel could launch its attack while Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is meeting with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Wednesday. However, after the report was published, Gallant’s trip to the US has been canceled.

Israeli media said the trip was postponed because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to speak with President Biden and wants the Israeli security cabinet to agree on a plan to attack Iran before Gallant heads to Washington.

The Israelis are considering several types of targets to hit in Iran: military and intelligence infrastructure, air defenses, and energy facilities. Based on media reports, Israel does not plan to strike Iranian nuclear facilities in its first attack, but could if Iran hits back and the situation turns into a full-blown war, which Israeli officials think is likely to happen

Here is what I said in a comment to Karl Sanchez’ post “Al-Aqsa Flood--One Year Later” on October 2 while discussing the report of an alleged Iranian “nuclear test”:

As to the so-called "nuclear test" - I call bullshit on the entire story, lock, stock and barrel.

There are SO MANY reasons why Iran would never do this at this time. It would be completely idiotic for them to hand over a very specific reason for the US and Israel to launch a nuclear attack on Iran.

It is impossible - I repeat, impossible - for Iran to build one nuclear weapon, put it on a missile, and then say, "Well, if you attack us, we'll blow up Tel Aviv." 30 million people in Tehran would die in thirty minutes.

And Iran knows that perfectly well, Ahmadinejad said it explicitly when he was President: Iran would never try to compete with Israel's nuclear arsenal, let along the US' 5-6,000 warheads. It's absurd.

This is a scam - and I am saddened that even someone as smart as the people at The Cradle who published an article on it - which I excoriated in a comment - and even worse, that Crooke, despite admitting that he is not a military person, would be taken in by what obviously a propaganda ploy to justify the upcoming US and Israeli strike on Iran.

And make no mistake, the upcoming strike on Iran will be done in concert by both countries, with direct military support for Israel.

You undoubtedly saw the comment at MoA by someone pointing out the number of refueling tanker aircraft in the region, and how that is likely to indicate a very large air attack on Iran - which implies both the US and Israel attempting to conduct a "decapitation strike" of some form or another in the near future.

I said in my Substack article on Israel's options that Israel's retaliation for the latest Iranian strike has to be of the sort "go big or go home."

I am convinced it's going to be big, and the US is going to directly participate to some degree in it

But this nuclear test nonsense is precisely the sort of propaganda the US would use to justify that attack.

And here we are: the US is explicitly talking about conducting military strikes against Iran on the US’ own accord.

Do I get it right or do I get it right?