Houthi aanval op Saoedische raffinaderijen: een grote blunder van de VS

De
premature beschuldiging van de VS (al binnen 2 uur) dat Iran achter
de aanslagen op de Saoedische raffinaderijen zit, heeft alles te
maken met de schaamte van de VS dat al haar peperdure wapensystemen,
zoals Patriot-raketten en de beste radartechnologie, geleverd aan
Saoedi-Arabië, geen antwoord zijn op aanvallen met drones……..
Waaraan toegevoegd moet worden dat deze drones van een legermacht
zijn (de Houthi rebellen) die zich qua materiaal niet kan meten
met Saoedi-Arabië laat staan met de VS…… Kortom de VS staat flink
voor paal! (en de wapenindustrie van de VS is bepaald niet blij, dat kan ik je verzekeren!)

De
claim van de VS dat Iran, of sjiitische krachten in Irak achter de
aanslagen zitten, kloppen niet met de ‘geografische kant’ waar de
olie-installaties werden getroffen: de westelijke kant, waardoor Iran
en Irak afvallen als landen van waaruit de aanslagen werden gepleegd.

Het
meest frappante aan de aanslagen op de 2 raffinaderijen is wel dat de
eerste drone de Patriotraketinstallatie heeft vernield, een installatie die de boel moest bewaken, waarna de
rest van de drones ongestoord kon doorvliegen…..

Vergeet
wat betreft deze schaamte van de VS niet dat de petrodollar, ofwel de dollar
als munt waarin de prijs van olie wordt weergegeven, vooral is te
danken aan Saoedi-Arabië, de grootste olieleverancier ter wereld…..
De VS wil dat ten koste van alles zo houden, immers als de dollar
niet langer de munt is waarin olieprijzen worden weergegeven, is de
lust van andere landen om dollars te verzamelen verdwenen en zal de
VS eindelijk met haar enorme schuld worden geconfronteerd, waarbij
het land zelfs deels of geheel failliet zou kunnen gaan……..

Nogmaals: wat een schande dat de aanval met drones tegen de spuugrijke en dictatoriaal geregeerde terreurstaat Saoedi-Arabië zoveel aandacht trekt, terwijl men niet lult over de genocide die dezelfde terreurstaat uitvoert in buurland Jemen…….

Het
volgende artikel werd geschreven door Finian Cunningham en verscheen
eerder op RT, ik nam het over van Information Clearing House:

US
defense failure… Why Washington has to blame Iran over Saudi
attacks

By
Finian Cunningham

US defense failureâ¦ Why Washington has to blame Iran over Saudi attacks

Smoke
billows from an Aramco oil facility in Abqaiq © AFP

September
15, 2019 “Information
Clearing House” – The devastating blitz on
Saudi Arabia’s oil industry has led to a flurry of accusations from
US officials blaming Iran. The reason for the finger-pointing is
simple: Washington’s spectacular failure to protect its Saudi ally.

The
Trump administration needs to scapegoat Iran for the latest military
assault on Saudi Arabia because to acknowledge that the Houthi rebels
mounted such an audacious assault on the oil kingdom’s heartland
would be an admission of American inadequacy.

Saudi
Arabia has spent billions of dollars in recent years purchasing US
Patriot missile defense systems and supposedly cutting-edge radar
technology from the Pentagon. If the Yemeni rebels can fly combat
drones up to 1,000 kilometers into Saudi territory and knock out the
linchpin production sites in the kingdom’s oil industry, then that
should be a matter of huge embarrassment for US “protectors.”

American
defense of Saudi Arabia is germane to their historical relationship.
Saudi oil exports nominated in dollars for trade – the biggest on
the planet – are vital for maintaining the petrodollar global
market, which is in turn crucial for American economic power. In
return, the US is obligated to be a protector of the Saudi monarchy,
which comes with the lucrative added benefit of selling the kingdom
weapons worth billions of dollars every year.

âMaximum liesâ: Iran rejects USâ claim it attacked Saudi oil facilities, warns itâs ready for war

Smoke
is seen following a fire at an Aramco factory in Abqaiq, Saudi
Arabia, September 14, 2019. © Reuters / Stringer

According
to the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Saudi Arabia has
the world’s third biggest military budget, behind the US and China.
With an annual spend of around $68 billion, it is the world’s
number one in terms of percentage of gross domestic product (8.8 per
cent). Most of the Saudi arms are sourced from the US, with Patriot
missile systems in particular being a recent big-ticket item.

Yet
for all that financial largesse and the finest American military
technology, the oil kingdom just witnessed a potentially crippling
wave of air assaults on its vital oil industry. Saudi oil production
at its mammoth refinery complex at Abqaiq, 205 miles (330 kms) east
of the capital Riyadh, was down 50 per cent after it was engulfed by
flames following air strikes. One of the Saudi’s biggest oilfields,
at Khurais, also in the Eastern Province, was also partially closed.

There
are credible reports that
the damage is much more serious than the Saudi officials are

conceding. These key industrial sites may take weeks to repair.

US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo got it half right when he claimed,
“Iran launched an unprecedented attack on the world’s energy
supply”.

Yes,
it is unprecedented. But Pompeo and other US officials have most
likely got it wrong about blaming Iran.

Some
Trump administration officials told US
media that “cruise missiles” were responsible for the giant
fireballs seen over the Saudi oil facilities. One was quoted
anonymously as saying: “There’s no doubt that Iran is responsible
for this… there’s no escaping it. There is no other candidate.”

In
a hurried effort to substantiate accusations against Iran, satellite
images were released which show what appears to be the aftermath of
the air strike on the Abqaiq refinery complex. US officials claim the
location of the explosions indicate the weapons originated not from
Yemen to the south, but from either Iran or Iraq.

Even
the normally dutiful New York Times expressed doubt about that
claim, commenting in
its report: “The satellite photographs released on Sunday did not
appear as clear cut as officials suggested, with some appearing to
show damage on the western side of facilities, not from the direction
of Iran or Iraq.”

The
accusations made by Pompeo and others are assertions in place of
substantiated claims.

It
is noteworthy that President Donald Trump refrained from openly
blaming Iran by name, merely hinting at the possibility. If Pompeo is
so adamant in fingering Iran, why didn’t Trump? Also, the president
made a telling remark when he said he was “waiting for
verification” from Saudi Arabia “as to who they believe was the
cause of the attack.” Again, if US officials are explicitly
accusing Iran then why is Trump saying he wants “verification”
from the Saudis?

For
its part, Iran has flatly dismissed the allegations that it had any
involvement, saying that statements by Pompeo were “blind” and
tantamount to setting up a conflict.

Iraq’s
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi also rejected claims that his
country’s territory might have been used by pro-Iranian Shia
militants to launch the air strikes.

The
Houthi rebels in Yemen have issued unambiguous
statements claiming responsibility
for the air raids on the Saudi oil installations. They were specific
that the weapons were drones, not missiles, adding with details that
10 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were deployed.

Notably
too, most US media reported initially
that the attacks were by drones flown from Yemen. Associated
Press reported a
level of sophistication in the attacks whereby drones were used first
to disable the US Patriot radar systems before other UAVs proceeded
to execute the air strikes.

It
therefore seems that US officials are attempting to switch the story
by blaming Iran. It is reckless scapegoating because the logical
consequence could elicit a military attack against Iran, in which
event Tehran has warned it is ready for war.

The
rationale for blaming Iran is that the Yemeni rebels (which Iran
supports politically) are just not capable of using drones with such
dramatic success against the Saudi oil industry. The culprit must be
Iran, so the rationale goes. This is a follow-on from alleged
sabotage by Iran against oil tankers in the Persian Gulf earlier this
summer.

However,
a timeline shows
that the Houthis are more than capable of launching ever-more
powerful ballistic missiles and deeper penetrating drones into Saudi
territory. The rebels have been using drones from the beginning of
the war which the US-backed Saudi-UAE coalition launched on the
southern Arabian country in March 2015.

Over
the past four years, the Houthi aerial firepower has gradually
improved. Earlier, the Saudis, with American defense systems, were
able to intercept drones and missiles from Yemen. But over the last
year, the rebels have increased their success rate for hitting
targets in the Saudi interior, including the capital Riyadh.

In
May this year, Houthi drones hit Saudi Arabia’s crucial east-west
pipeline. Then in August, drones and ballistic missiles were reported
to have struck the Shaybah oil field near the border with the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as the Dammam exporting complex in Saudi
Arabia’s Eastern Province.

The
Yemenis claim they are taking the war to Saudi Arabia and the UAE
after years of relentless air strikes on their homeland which have
resulted in nearly 90,000 dead. A recent UN report censured
the US, Britain and France for possible complicity in war crimes
through their military support for the Saudi coalition.

There
must be trepidation among the monarchs in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
that the rebels from war-torn and starving Yemen are now coming after
them with drones that could demolish their oil economies. What’s
more, the much-vaunted American protector is not able to deliver on
its strategic bargain, despite billions of dollars of Pentagon
weaponry. That’s why Washington has to find an excuse by casting
Iran as the villain.

Finian
Cunningham has
written extensively on international affairs, with articles published
in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate in Agricultural
Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society of
Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper
journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20
years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news media
organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent.

This
article was originally published by “RT“

=======================================

Patriot-raketten vernietigen met een drone….. ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!

Zie ook:

‘Jemen: de laatste ziekenhuizen moeten sluiten >> alle brandstof is op…..‘

‘Jemen: Houthi’s behaalden een grote overwinning op het Saoedische leger‘

‘Jamal Khashoggi één jaar geleden vermoord door Saoedi-Arabië, geen sancties en geen sluitingen van ambassades‘

´Saoediërs bombarderen Jemen na aanbod Houthi’s tot wapenstilstand´

‘Duitsland, Frankrijk en Groot-Brittannië: Iran is de dader, er is geen andere plausibele verklaring voor de aanval op Saoedische olie-installaties‘

‘Iran dreigt met volledige oorlog bij vergeldingsaanval voor aanslag op Saoedische olie-installaties‘

‘Iran klaar voor oorlog tegen de VS‘

‘‘Maximum lies’: Iran rejects US’ claim it attacked Saudi oil facilities, warns it’s ready for war‘