Thomas Wictor

The most important story of your life just took a dramatic turn. I think events will begin to speed up now. What happened? Well, this.

ISIS Used Mustard Gas Against Kurdish Forces in Iraq, U.S. Believes

U.S. officials believe the terror group ISIS used chemical weapons in Iraq this week, defense and intelligence officials said Thursday.

The terror group used mustard gas in an attack against Kurdish fighters, two defense officials and an intelligence official told NBC News. Mustard gas, infamously used during World War I, can cause blisters, blindness and respiratory damage.

The defense officials said this is the second time ISIS has used chemical weapons — the first occurred in “recent weeks” in Syria — but they declined to provide more details, citing operational security concerns.

Mustard gas—sulfur mustard—is a massively toxic vesicant or blistering agent. It burns the skin and the lungs. Since it’s actually a liquid, the Islamic State put it in artillery shells or rockets that dispersed the agent when the munitions exploded. You need pretty major manufacturing capabilities to produce mustard gas.

The Islamic State doesn’t have the facilities to manufacture mustard gas. So where did they get it?

Iran.

“But wait!” you say. “Iran is fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria!”

Yes. But Iran is an arsonist who sells water to the fire department. By making the Islamic State more dangerous, Iran figures that more of the region will turn to the mullahs for protection. It’s classic organized crime. People come to your place of business and say that they’ll protect you from…themselves. All you have to do is give them money.

My guess is that the war against Iran will take place sooner rather than later.

Today my sister visited. Both of her sons are in the US Army. I won’t identify their units or the states in which they’re based. However, both of my nephews saw rehearsals for gigantic nighttime air assaults carried out on the firing ranges of their bases. The helicopters used live ammunition; these rehearsals were the final stages of training for an operation.

When my nephews asked which units were rehearsing, they were told to mind their own business. I’ve now had three people corroborate that a huge air assault involving up to 100 helicopters has been rehearsed in the US for several months. All three witnesses—two of whom are soldiers—were struck by the incredible firepower on display. This is a single MH-60L Deep Action Penetrator (DAP).

The roaring-zapping sound is an M134 7.62mm electric-powered multi-barreled minigun that fires fifty bullets per second. Then comes rockets, and finally the raucous chugging of the 30mm M230 chain gun or automatic cannon.

All three of my eyewitnesses say that they saw as many as fifty gunships firing to cover the landing of helicopter troop transports. These aren’t American gunships and soldiers training. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have thought that the Arab League and Israel had enough equipment to attack Iran, but now I’m sure that they do. The United Arab Emirates and apparently Egypt carried out one of the largest amphibious landings in the history of the Middle East sometime in late July. Hundreds of Emirati armored vehicles broke out of Aden on August 4.

I knew that on August 6, the Saudis launched a ground invasion of Yemen through the Wadia border post. Today I learned that this operation was as large as the Emirati amphibious landings.

Riyadh has taken the leading role in the coalition throughout operations “Decisive Storm” and “Restoring Hope” and the absence of Saudi forces in the Aden landfall was a notable departure from their behaviour, especially given the 150,000 troops that have been arrayed along the Saudi-Yemeni border since March. The reason for this inaction now appears to be becoming clear, with a large Saudi ground force pushing south-west into Yemen from the al-Wadiya crossing. Their target: the former Yemeni capital, Sana’a.

Up to 150,000 Saudi and Saudi-trained Yemeni troops are racing toward Sana’a, the nerve center of the Houthi rebels.

We’re told that the Houthis are tenacious mountain-warfare experts. But remember this? In March and April of this year, Saudi special forces and Pakistani engineer commandos trained for over a month in mountain and urban warfare.

The exercise—Al-Samsam 5—was held at the King Salman Center for Mountain Warfare in Taif. Guess who built this school and trained the Saudis?

One of the areas that the panel will take up on an urgent basis is the establishment with Indian assistance of a mountain-warfare school in Saudi Arabia. Antony noted during the visit, “India and Saudi Arabia . . . have in the last decade enhanced their interaction, with their forces holding joint training exercise, particularly in counterinsurgency and mountain warfare technique.” Such exchanges will now be institutionalized under an umbrella defense agreement, which in all likelihood will be signed during Prince Salman’s reciprocal visit to India later this year. Accessing Indian expertise in mountain warfare is of particular significance to the Saudis, who face insurgent threats in the highlands bordering Yemen.

I just revealed how the Israelis and Sunni Arabs meet and train together. India began as the mediator, and now she’s a full partner in this new alliance. The Saudis are allies of both Pakistan and India. Can you appreciate the superhuman diplomatic skill it would take to navigate such a tripartite relationship? And we’re not even talking about the alliance with Israel and the other Sunni Arab nations. Or the Shi’ite Central Asian country of Azerbaijan.

The Arab League is using the Yemen war as a dress rehearsal for an attack on Iran. Reuters agrees with me.

An emboldened and enriched Iran could also increase its support for the Houthis as the Saudi-Iranian struggle for regional influence deepens.

We’ve seen that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed upon by the P5+1 nations and Iran will give the latter about $150 billion the day the mullahs sign. So much for enrichment. What about Iran being emboldened?

Iranian military official: ‘We laugh’ when US threatens to attack

The West’s frequent use of military threats and citing of their ability to attack Iran at will has become a joke among Iranian commanders in the military, according to a high ranking military official in the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.

Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Asoudi alluded to the West’s hesitancy to use military force and mocked its resolve while speaking to troops in the North.

“We should thank Obama for refreshing us by referring to his ‘options on the table’, including the military one; we just relax and laugh at such ridiculous words,” Asoudi said.

This is a genuine photo of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif taken on the day that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was announced.

I couldn’t have asked for a better reaction. The Iranians might be celebrating a little prematurely: My sister belongs to several organizations of parents with children in the military. These parents report to each other which units are where. One of my nephews was just deployed to the Middle East, and he’s in a combat arm. He wasn’t sent there to teach. My sister and her fellow parents estimate that despite what the president and the Pentagon say, there are now at least 20,000 US military personnel “in theater.” The majority are ground forces of the combat arms.

Meanwhile, Israel has finally returned to the massive Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. Red Flag-4 will be held from August 17 to 28. Israel sent five F-15C/Ds and five F-15Is. Oh, and the Israelis also brought five Jordanian F-16s, refueling them along the way. The Jordanian fighters are in front.

This level of cooperation is a first. Why is Israel rejoining Red Flag now? Well, guess what sort of mission is practiced in the mountains and deserts of Nevada?

Israel and Jordan’s participation in Red Flag-4 hasn’t been announced. Wonder why?

People call me a warmonger. The alternative to war with Iran is to let the mullahs and the Quds Force supply terrorists with weapons of mass destruction that they’ll use on Arabs, Kurds, Israelis, and Europeans. So: Those of you who don’t want a war with Iran?

Don’t fight one!