The forever war needed to support profit growth in the U.S. military industrial establishment shows no signs of abating under the administration of President Barack Obama, with the recent massing of fighter jets near Iran.
The Islamic Republic has been on tap as the empire’s next opponent since the administration of George W. Bush, even though the faltering 99% are weary of overseas conflict and our military remains heavily engaged in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan. WIRED reports that the U.S. Air Force is quietly assembling the world’s foremost air-to-air fighting teams at bases near Iran and practicing tactics that supplement its handful of F-22 Raptor stealth fighters with aging, but still effective F-15C Eagle fighters.
Both models were built as air supremacy fighters. In short, they excel at destroying other fighter aircraft via dogfighting The plan is to use them to sweep Iranian fighter aircraft from the sky should the U.S. choose to attack Iran, which is rumored to be developing a nuclear weapon and is feared by the nearby oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis are the U.S. energy industry’s favorite dictators right now and must be protected despite their involvement in the 9/11 attacks, when Saudi nationals accounted for 15 of the 19 hijackers.
The U.S. air supremacy fighters join a growing U.S. naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers, destroyers, patrol boats and minesweepers. Aviation Week first reported the F-22 deployment to the United Arab Emirates last week.
“The United States Air Force has deployed F-22s to Southwest Asia,” service spokesman Capt. Phil Ventura told Aviation Week in a statement. “Such deployments strengthen military-to-military relationships, promote sovereign and regional security, improve combined tactical air operations and enhance interoperability of forces, equipment and procedures.”
They also serve notice to Iran that we’re willing to up the ante in our battle with them over the dollar. They’re now the largest oil trading nation that does not conduct its oil sales in the dollar, which is no small thing given that the de facto global currency is no longer backed by anything but the goodwill of a government that’s been printing them like gangbusters since excessive market speculation by the 1% crashed the global economy in 2008.
