So the US is involved with Operation Epic Fury…
Which begs the question: Did the person who called it that realise that it was potentially Operation E.F? Which could be Operation Epstein Files. Or Operation Epstein Forget.
Was it just a strange coincidence or are they actually trolling the public now?
Whatever, Trump announced that they’d almost achieved their objectives. So far I haven’t heard any intrepid reporter ask exactly what they are, and I’m not sure if that’s because they all know that the objective is to distract from the Epstein Files…
Either way, we’ll know what the objectives were when Trump announces that he’s achieved them because that’s what always happens. “No, that wasn’t the objective, this was the objective…”
Strangely this reminds me of the Iraq war when the objective went from ridding Saddam Hussein of his Weapons of Mass Destruction to bringing freedom to the Iraqi people whether they wanted it or not. Rather like a speeding driver who hits and kills a dangerous criminal and says that you can’t really tell me that the world isn’t a better place, so why do you want to charge me with dangerous driving?
Anyway the war in the Middle East has caused a rise in fuel prices in Australia and it would be wrong not to blame the Labor Party for any subsequent inflation, as we all know that it’s only because of government spending that inflation will be up next month and not because oil has gone up by about 40% world wide.
Ok, I’m not going to contradict the wonderful world of Tim Wilson who so eloquently who sang something like “Jim Started The Inflation Fire” in a way that avoided any copyright problems from Billy Joel as neither the words nor the tune were in any way reminiscent of his “We Didn’t Start The Fire”…
However, I must say that I can’t understand why the increase in the price of petrol means that the RBA need to raise interest rates. I mean, the accepted reason for increasing interest rates is to take away people’s purchasing power and suppress demand, but surely the rise in petrol prices and the flow on effect will do that anyway. It seems sort of like when the ICE agents beat someone into unconsciousness and another agent comes along and gives them a kick while they’re on the ground to make sure that they’re really in a coma…
I heard part of a press conference with Chris Bowen today where he was telling journalists that there was plenty of supply and we had more coming and that most of the problems came from panic buying and if we all calmed down there’d be no immediate problem. Of course many of the press wanted to know if we’d have fuel at some unspecified future date if the war dragged on and we didn’t get exports for some unspecified amount of time… I mean, could the Minister guarantee the future.
Now, I am aware that guaranteeing the future is a risky business, but I’m also aware that were the Energy Minister to announce that there was a possibility of future shortages, well, that’d be like saying that there could be a cash shortage so could you all refrain from taking money out at the ATM for a few days. Yeah, you can picture the lineup at the banks now…
Yeah, I am aware that that Labor are a disappointment for many people, and I am aware that saying that they’re better than that group of monkeys playing with matches that we call the Liberal Party (thanks to Amy Remeikis for that one… you should read her book “Where It All Started”!) is not exactly a high bar. However, we should be critical of them in the areas where they need a kick up the bum such as the failure to raise unemployment benefits or their refusal to take on reform in certain areas. I just can’t understand how the same people who demanded a Royal Commission and demanded it yesterday and complaining that the government had to be dragged kicking and screaming into having one, are now saying that it was rushed and Labor should have taken more time.
Let’s be clear: Some things are wicked problems and it’s fine to come up with better solutions but when we have opposition parties who only tell us that what the government is doing is wrong without offering any altrernatives, that’s like when I had to coach a group of youngsters playing indoor soccer… “Kick more goals,” I told them.
Well, it’s hard to argue that it’s not a good idea, but it didn’t really help.
I suspect that Trump was trolled by someone from the Pentagon. The word is that he was presented with a list of potential names, most of which were fairly bland and forgettable, with Epic Fury near the bottom. Of course he couldn’t resist that.
If true, it’s delicious in a sick way. It’s certainly in keeping with his personality.
” … while they’re on the ground … “. That hurt to read.
Operation Epic Fury?? Never!! Operation Forget Epstein definitely!!
TACO Trumpery is continuing his natural tendency to turn everything he touches into manure without any care for any consequences what-so-ever.
A lot of talk about the US Navy escorting oil tankers through the Straits of Hormuz, an excellent target for any Iranian missiles to create the KIA lists that will reduce the likelihood of a Republican win at the 2026 Mid-Term elections in November 2026. TACO tactics?? Chicken out – all bluster and empty promises …..
However, I am a little worried that Rossleigh fails to accept these worthless brain f@rts as ”gospel truth”.
I mean, by demonstrating the capacity to think independently, he could easily be identified as one of those terrible ”analytical thinking” readers of that too well informed AIMN website that objectively comments on government policies without fear or favour.
The only objective the world wants from the USA (Undemocratic States of Apartheid) is the immediate removal of TACO Trumpery as PPOTUS (Pederast Protector of the Undemocratic States).
The USA and its fixation with war-mongering and naming of their barbarous assaults are a class-act presentation of the extent of the immaturity of the individuals involved. Let’s not forget that the original naming of the Iraqi invasion was OIL, ostensibly Operation Iraqi Liberation until it was pointed out that OIL was a bad look, and it was changed to OIF, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
It beggars the imagination to think that’s there a department within the Pentagon devoted to coming up with new names for all the prospective invasions and wars waiting to be conducted… akin, in a ghastly manner, to a table of comics writing gags for the upcoming show.
‘Say, Capt’n, how does Operation Cop this You Bastard sound? Or can we say Operation Burn in Hell You Sonofabitch? Hey Jack, pass the ketchup, will ya?’
I just can’t understand how the same people who demanded a Royal Commission and demanded it yesterday and complaining that the government had to be dragged kicking and screaming into having one, are now saying that it was rushed and Labor should have taken more time.
I disagree strongly with Rossleigh here.
I don’t know who Rossleigh is talking about by suggesting some are saying Labor rushed this and should have taken more time. It’s not as though Labor had to reinvent the wheel, the states already had their own anti-corruption commissions.
There are those of us who have been saying that Labor had from the very beginning designed the NACC to protect politicians in particular from Robodebt. The Independents and Greens were only too happy to work with Labor in designing the NACC, Labor instead chose to consult with the Coalition, who had just been in power for 9 years, were criticized as being corrupt and had been in charge during the Robodebt scandal – what could possibly go wrong!
There is a great deal of criticism, rightly so, of how long this process took. It has taken 5 years to come to this judgement. Who has been saying Labor rushed the formation of the NACC? I haven’t seen any, is it NewsCorp? if so, are we now using the tripe NewsCorp comes up with to cover Labor’s own corruption of our NACC?
Thommo, I was referring to the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism, not the NACC.
Rossleigh, thanks for clearing that up.
I’m hearing that our contribution to the Iran theatre is to be stepped up with, not so much boots on the ground but rather Gucci loafers and pumps!
Kyle Sandilands and Pauline Hanson will be despatched without delay. Kyle will be responsible for making lewd and crude remarks to all and sundry and Pauline will be screeching racist obscenities from the sidelines.
That’s what I’m hearing!
Rossleigh, my apologies, I thought you were taking a potshot at John Lord, with his article “The Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme the latest in a long line of toothless investigations”
Good and important to highlight Epstein when across other indie outlets &/or individual ‘journalists’ who follow US faux anti-imperialist tankies of the right (masquerading as left), or simply non experts.
Their theming and deflecting eg. linking Rudd to Epstein (via very indirect links ie allegations) and now blaming PM, FM and DM directly with Trump and Netanyahu for their invasion of Iran; delusional and replicating RW MSM tactics vs the centre?
This ignores the right, perpetrators and victims, but shows how rhenttrannybof distance can induce empathy bypasses.
Related is linking Israel e.g. Barak to Epstein, plus Trump et al, but ignore the clear Epsrein links running across US and Israel, shared with Russia and Silicon Valley/Tech Bros? In plain sight…..
Running protection for power by avoiding good sources and analysis on related issues, in favour of being gaslit by US grifters sharing talking points vs centre, EU, NATO and liberal democracy with FoxNews, RT Russia Today, GB News, Viktor Orbán etc?
The way the Epstein files were dropped has replicated, according to many offshore the Wikileaks DNC etc. drops; both have a whiff of GRU curation (Farage USB/DNC email distribution & also familar with Epstein).
They offer much low level and outer circle granular comms that allows anybody to make up their own narratives to dog whistle centrist targets eg Hilary Clinton 2016, but very little substantive intelligence.
“Which Path to Persia? A New American Strategy Towards Iran” 2009 Brookings Institute is the analysis paper of the US Strategy that is currently being implemented against Iran.
It covers a range of options for dealing with what the US regards as the problem with Iran. Last year the Oziraq Option of airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities was chosen along with the option of attacking with Israel. There were options considered for letting Israel attack alone, first or not at all, and an option for the US attacking alone from the Airbase in Diego Garcia, and all the perceived advantages, disadvantages and risks of each option were laid out. The airstrikes were not expected to be completely successful in destroying Iran’s capacity to acquire nuclear weapons and the paper warns they could be counterproductive in hardening Iran’s resolve to intensify their efforts to create a nuclear weapon. Trump insisted that he had obliterated the nuclear program completely, thus denying himself the excuse the papers suggested he use for arguing the need for a follow up attack. The papers frequently warn of the potential disapproval of the international community to US operations and offer means to ameliorate such disapproval, but Trump just ignores all that.
Then we witnessed the implementation of the option for a popular uprising, only there wasn’t one. Instead the US incited a popular protest against US interference in the Iranian currency market, and used armed infiltrators to instigate a riot by murdering protestors and police alike. The instigators were all tracked via the Sky Link devices they were using to coordinate their operations and they were rounded up and arrested. These US and Israeli agents, proxies and sponsored terrorists we’re the people Trump claims to have saved from public execution. The Iranian people took to the streets in even greater numbers to demonstrate in favour of the regime and the Western Media deliberately portrayed it as a massive protest against the regime, even though there was no further violence and the demonstrations ended peacefully with no hint of a crackdown by the regime.
The analysis paper had advised that the Supporting A Popular Uprising Option was unlikely to be a success.
The same goes for most of the other options. An Invasion was unlikely to get the approval of the American people unless iran provided them with a 9/11 scale incident to justify the massive effort required for a successful invasion. There was however little warning of the consequences of closing the Straits of Hormuz, perhaps because it was taken for granted. Nor did the strategists nor the analysts of the strategy know that Iran was going to make such phenomenal technological advances in drone and missile production back in 2009. The Iranians however have known since the Iraq Invasion that the US had similar plans for Iran and have long been preparing for this very eventuality.
The existence of these papers is undeniable proof that US intentions against Iran were set into motion long before Trump or Epstein came along and that Israel is being used by the US as it always planned to use it.
A more appropriate name for this operation would be Epic Failure.
@ B Sullivan: An informative post, thank you.
Uhm ….. Agreed the Iran invasion plans pre-date both TACO Trumpery & Epstein, however when you say “[Isrevil] is being used by the US as it always planned to use it”, is contentious.
The reason is that as late as 2000 ZIONAZI supporters had infiltrated the US government at all levels of responsibility plus political influence. So, the ZIONAZIS were plotting to remove the Islamic Iranian regime after the US backed Iraq vs Iran war failed to remove the perceived nuclear threat to Isrevil.
There was a book published in 2000 that identified the depth to which ZIONAZI sympathisers had penetrated the US government bureaucracy, naming positions & names.
However, the ZIONAZI plot to create ”Greater Isrevil” between the Nile and the Euphrates Rivers remains the ultimate objective regardless the current national sovereignties of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq & Iran.