Political analyst Pyotr Goncharov appears to be laying the groundwork for something ominous his most recent op/ed piece for Russia's RIA Novosti. Who will bite first, the U.S. or Iran?
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - The world is waiting for April 6, when the United States supposedly plans to launch Operation Bite against Iran.Or so goes the story making its rounds on the internet. But Goncharov is not so sure.
Washington has accumulated the required forces in the region: two task groups in the Persian Gulf, including the aircraft carriers USS Dwight Eisenhower and USS John Stennis, four nuclear submarines, two dozen cruisers, and more than 400 sea- and ground-based aircraft, including Stealth planes that will allegedly carry out the greater part of the task.
The approved targets are the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, the Isfahan nuclear research center, the Araq heavy-water plant, the Bushehr nuclear power plant, air force and naval bases, air defense centers, and command and control headquarters.
The plans for a sneak attack are said to include a deceptive maneuver: the nuclear-powered carrier USS Nimitz left San Diego last Monday and is heading for the Gulf, where it is expected to replace the Dwight Eisenhower in mid-May. According to the logic of a lightning war, everyone will be waiting for the arrival of the third carrier, and so the attack, when it comes, will be a surprise.
The operation may not begin on April 6, despite the "telling signs" detected mainly by Russian military experts and the General Staff. One of the reasons is that there is no time left for the U.S. to speak about the "inevitability" of confrontation and warn Iran of the impending doom. [...] The Pentagon usually carries out pre-war demoralization preparations because they can reduce potential casualties.Thus Goncharov arrives at a most perplexing question:
Will there be a war, and if so, when will it begin?He traces a few possible scenarios, most of which we've all heard a thousand times already, and lands on a most mysterious note:
Tehran may be contemplating a pre-emptive "bite," which would only mean that the numerous deliberations about the "April 6 sneak attack" have reached their goal.As to what that is supposed to mean, we can only wait and see.
I see this piece -- especially the final paragraph -- as a dire warning, but of what?
Are the Iranians, steeped in chess for thousands of years, masters of public conciliation as shown in the so-called "UK hostage crisis", going to provoke military action from the USA? How stupid do we think they are? And how stupid do you think we are?
But on the other hand, if the Iranians aren't planning an attack on USA, then what is this Russian political analyst talking about?
And now we've reached the heart of the question. Or as Rosie O'Donnell said the other day: "Gulf of Tonkin! Google it!"