The cold war between America and Iran has just gotten a whole lot hotter. CNN has reported that Iran shot at an unarmed US drone. According to CNN, which never quotes Iranian officials and instead relies entirely on unnamed US officials, the drone was in international waters near Kuwait on a routine mission when it was fired upon. But as John Glasser points out
The claim that the drone was in international airspace cannot be confirmed, but it is dubious considering the difficulty Iran would have of firing on a small drone far from its own territory.
The claim that the unarmed Predator drone was engaged in “routine maritime surveillance” is also very dubious. First of all, just because it was “routine” has no bearing on whether its activity could justly be seen as hostile.
And if it was routine, and the Pentagon has nothing to hide, then the surveillance mission should not have been classified, as it was.
Thankfully there are still media organizations like Antiwar.com and the Christian Science Monitor who are questioning CNN’s reporting on this incident. For a great take on how CNN is merely acting as a PR firm for the White House read Glenn Greenwalds piece from yesterday.
All of this comes on the heels of Patrick Clawson’s disturbing comments on how the US could provoke a war with Iran. Clawson is the head of the Israeli funded pro-Israel think tank the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Porkins Policy Review 