Iran strikes back. DOJ’s Jerome Powell witch hunt.

Iran strikes back. DOJ’s Jerome Powell witch hunt.

Iran strikes back

For a country that has lost the war, the Iranians are sure doing a lot of damage. They have targeted US installations and energy facilities of those Gulf states that are allied with us. Iranian missiles and drones have inflicted billions of dollars damage to highly sophisticated military equipment, US facilities, radar installations and aircraft. Battle damage and replacement of losses over the first three weeks of the war has been put at $2.9 billion. Many of the 13 military bases used by American troops are all but uninhabitable, with the ones in Kuwait, which is next door to Iran, suffering perhaps the most damage. Troops are reported to be now living in hotels and office spaces. Iran said that it will target those locations as well. The Iranians said “We are forced to identify and target the Americans. Therefore, it is better not to shelter them in hotels and to stay away from their locations.”

Iran has also attacked radar, communications and air defense systems in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, including damage of the Qatari AN/FPS-132 early-warning radar at Al-Udeid Air Base. The radar, which can track several targets simultaneously, costs about $1 billion. They have also destroyed one of our 16 AWACS planes.

Iran has also targeted oil and gas infrastructure, especially in the UAE, but also Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia with hundreds of missiles and drones. The attacks have disrupted supply chains, creating uncertainty for the oil and gas and fertilizer industries as key infrastructure has been targeted or shut down. The damage is in the billions and it will take some say a couple of years to repair all the damage and to get production back to where it was before Trump attacked Iran. Israeli drones hit Iran’s Asaluyeh complex, damaging four plants that treat gas from the offshore South Pars field which straddles the maritime boundary between Iran and Qatar. Iran retaliated by hitting energy targets in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. They then hit Ras Laffan, the heart of Qatar’s energy sector, causing extensive damage. Qatar’s s liquefied natural gas facilities were then hit and production stopped. Iran has also attacked oil refineries in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and led to the closure of gas facilities in the United Arab Emirates.

I am no expert but Israel has not been attacked with the same fervor as our Gulf allies which indicates to me that Iran has figured that the US would sooner capitulate if they attacked our allies and shut down the Strait of Hormuz rather than attacking Israel. In doing so Iran has not made any friends, but neither has the US as the rest of the world reels over sharp increases in energy and food prices. 

Speaking of allies, our European allies have indicated that they are our allies against Russia but not against Iran. Germany has basically said ”its not our war.” “Germany is not part of this war, and we don’t want to become a part either,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Even Trump’s buddyItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said “Italy is taking no part and doesn’t intend to.” Britain’s Keir Starmer denied the US military access to British bases for their initial attack on Iran even though the Iranians targeted British bases on Cyprus. Trump said “I said ‘You don’t want to do it? We’ve been with you. You’re our oldest ally and we spend a lot of money on NATO and all of these things to protect you’. I think it’s terrible. I was very surprised.” Starmer said about Trump “I’m not going to waver on this. I’m not going to back down… I’m not going to get dragged into the war… I’m not going to buckle under pressure and that’s the long and the short of it.” Trump added “Keir is no Winston Churchill.”

However, the main focus of Trump’s wrath on our NATO allies has been directed at Spain’s Pedro Sanchez who has refused to let the U.S. military use Spain’s air bases for the war. Sanchez says “In my view, this war in Iran is a big mistake for the world and therefore for the U.S.” Trump’s response was predictable “Spain has been terrible. We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain.” Of course, Trump does not have the power to “cut off all trade with Spain.” Sanchez isn’t taking this seriously – The US actually has a trade surplus with Spain – nor is he taking seriously Trump’s demand to increase defense spending. Spain is the only member of NATO to reject Trump’s demand to raise defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product. Trump had said that if the country didn’t increase defense spending then maybe the US would not come to their defense if needed. Sanchez knows this is nonsense. 

BTW, Spain did send a frigate to Cyprus to help protect the British base there prompting Karoline (Lying) Leavitt to say that Spain had “agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military.” Sánchez’s office responded with one word: “false.” 

More DOJ’s Powell witch hunt

Will Jeanine Pirro and DOJ actually appeal Judge Boasberg’s decision not to honor the subpoenas on Jerome Powell? They say yes even though it will delay the confirmation hearing of Kevin Warsh to become the new Fed chairman. But DOJ may have undercut its own case. the government itself acknowledged it has no evidence of wrongdoing by Chair Jerome Powell. In the transcript of

the initial hearing the DOJ lawyer said “We do not know at this time whether there is evidence of misconduct at the central bank. “You don’t need this grand

suspicion of illegal activity. It can be something as simple as a tip or a rumor or something that just doesn’t seem right.” Oops! I bet that lawyer is out of a job. That is an amazing admission of how frivolous this action is against Powell. Then the DOJ said that the subpoenas were not explicitly targeting Powell and were instead directed to the Fed board. What! This is new because the Board has never before been mentioned as part of the investigation. Supposedly it was Powell’s testimony to congress that triggered the investigation. The judge who obviously has been reading my blog responded “How about the White House ballroom, should that be investigated? That’s over budget.” The DOJ attorney had this astounding response “I wish we were in court for something like that, Your Honor, but today we are here on a different matter.” Again, does this attorney still have a job at DOJ?