Darrell Castle talks about the economic and psychological warfare currently being conducted against Iran and asks who is really in charge of this government.

Note: Just because I am critical of American foreign policy does not mean that I want some other government to prevail in this struggle.

Transcription / Notes

WAR—ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL—FOR NOW

Hello this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. Today is Friday, May 10th 2019, and on this Report I will be taking you back to the Middle East since that seems to be where the action is this week. You probably remember that early in his term President Trump canceled the Iran deal negotiated by the Obama Administration.

In addition to canceling the deal he re-imposed economic sanctions that severely curtailed Iran’s ability to sell its oil on the world market. The sale of oil is 40% of the Iranian GDP so preventing its sale is a crippling blow to the Iranian economy. The President did leave Iran a way out however, by granting waivers to eight countries, China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey. The exemptions were originally for six months, which expired May 2, and the President said he will not renew them thus cutting Iran’s oil sales to zero.

A wise tactic in negotiating is to always leave your opponent an honorable means of escape. When you trap a wounded animal and he has no means of escape he has nothing to lose by fighting. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on all nations to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero. The Iranians responded by announcing the resumption of their nuclear program, and more ominously, threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.

Iran’s statement regarding the strait was something like, if our oil doesn’t pass through the strait then no other country’s oil will either. If the Iranians closed or tried to close the strait then the U.S. would have to respond militarily and we would find ourselves in a dangerous war with the potential to spread rapidly. The Iranians have said that if attacked by the U.S. they would also hit Israel, and you can be certain that Israel would hit back even harder.

The United States and Iran move ever closer to war, closer perhaps than we’ve been in many years. These things usually happen step by step until some small spark ignites the explosion. Do the lives and economies of millions of people really come down to the egos of one or two people? Does President Trump really want war with Iran and is therefore trying to provoke them to action? Wouldn’t he rather go to Florida and play a couple of rounds of golf than he would to command a war possibly involving nuclear powers? Is he really in charge of this government or not? If not, then who is?

If he doesn’t want war, why does he surround himself with neo-con hawks such as John Bolton and Mike Pompeo? The two of them serve as National Security Advisor and as Secretary of State, and have been pushing their “get tough” policy since they were first appointed. It’s pretty clear that they were responsible for the decision to cancel the waivers which allowed Iran a way to sell its oil, thus giving Iran no face saving way out. This whole thing stinks to high heaven and I am starting to see a nation being maneuvered into a corner with war as the only possibility.

John Bolton announced last Sunday that the strike carrier Abraham Lincoln and its battle group would be sent into the eastern Mediterranean to support the carrier John Stennis already in the Persian Gulf.  My understanding is that the “Abe”, as the sailors call it, transited the Suez Canal yesterday. In addition, four B-52 bombers from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, have been sent to Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar as additional striking power, and as a psychological show of force.

There is intelligence that some type of Iranian attack against U.S. forces, possibly in Syria or Iraq, was imminent,