41

WATCH: US economist urges covert violence to provoke war with Iran

“I mean look people, Iranian submarines periodically go down – someday one of them might not come up.”

Many believe war with the Islamic Republic of Iran has been the dream of some hardcore neocons in Washington since at least 2001. Back in 2012 former employee of the IMF and current economist for the World Bank, Patrick Clawson, provided fuel for this belief when he was videoed obliquely advocating using covert violence so that the US president “can get to war with Iran.”

In a startlingly frank speech, Clawson makes it clear he believes (and apparently approves) that the US has a history of seeking war for profit, and of using provocations to goad its perceived enemies into starting such wars. Clawson highlights in particular the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in 1861, which, he says, was deliberately engineered by president Lincoln in pursuit of an excuse to launch a war on the Southern secessionist states.

In light of the recent alleged attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, timed to coincide with the visit of the Japanese prime minister to Iran, and in light of Secretary of State Capone Pompeo’s precipitate and predictable claim the attacks were likely perpetrated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, this is an apposite time to recall this telling little incident.

Below see the transcript of Mr Clawson’s remarks

Transcript

“I frankly think that crisis initiation is really tough and it’s very hard for me to see how the United States president can get us to war with Iran which leads me to conclude that if in fact compromise is not coming that the traditional way of America gets to war is what would be best for US interests

Some people might think that mr. Roosevelt wanted to get us in to the World War two as David mentioned. You may recall we had to wait for Pearl Harbor.

Some people might think mr. Wilson wanted to get us into World War One. You may recall he had to wait for the Lusitania episode

Some people might think that mr. Johnson wanted to send troops to Vietnam. You may recall they had to wait for the Gulf of Tonkin episode.

We didn’t go to war with Spain until the USS Maine exploded, and may I point out that mr. Lincoln did not feel he could call off the federal army until Fort Sumter was attacked which is why he ordered the commander at Fort Sumter to do exactly that thing which the South Carolinians had said would cause an attack.

So if in fact the Iranians aren’t going to compromise it would be best if somebody else started the war…

But I would just like to suggest that one can combine other means of pressure with sanctions. I mentioned that explosion on August 17th. We could step up the pressure. I mean look people, Iranian submarines periodically go down – someday one of them
might not come up.

Who would know why?

We can do a variety of things if we wish to increase the pressure. I’m not advocating that but I’m just suggesting that a it’s…this is not a either-or proposition of, you know, it’s just sanctions has to be has to succeed or other things.

We are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians. We could get nastier than that”

SUPPORT OFFGUARDIAN

If you enjoy OffG's content, please help us make our monthly fund-raising goal and keep the site alive.

For other ways to donate, including direct-transfer bank details click HERE.

Categories: featured, Iran, latest
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

41 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
nottheonly1
nottheonly1
Jun 17, 2019 2:20 PM

I wonder why that happened, but my handle has always been ‘nottheonly1’.

notheonly1
notheonly1
Jun 17, 2019 2:18 PM

The new interface is very nice and clear. Thank You.
This video has been used for months now and one can only wonder how long it will take until it has marinated all the minds required to bring about change.

harry law
harry law
Jun 16, 2019 11:25 AM

Could it be? I don’t know, but Trump and Pompeo would have red faces if this turns out to be the truth that’s for sure. Hat Tip to Iain Craig Murray blog.
Magnets for fastening and anchor points
With a holding force ranging from 90kg to 2,000kg, Miko magnets fulfil a variety of functions below or above water offshore. With over 17,000 sold worldwide, Miko magnets perform tasks ranging -from fastening items such as diving equipment, anchor points and guide wires for divers to securing instrumentation, including acoustic transponders to subsea structures. https://www.offshore-technology.com/contractors/environmental/miko-marine/

andyoldlabour
andyoldlabour
Jun 16, 2019 2:21 PM
Reply to  harry law

I have been looking at these for the past hour, and came across this link, which shows a square marine mooring magnet on the side of a ship. They have a break lever which is basically a quick release mechanism for the magnet.

https://www.maritime-executive.com/corporate/polar-cruise-ship-silver-cloud-uses-mooring-magnets

notheonly1
notheonly1
Jun 17, 2019 2:15 PM
Reply to  andyoldlabour

So, they can be used for other things, too, like drug smuggling grand style? Or mines? Or tracking devices? Do we have it coming, or what?

axisofoil
axisofoil
Jun 16, 2019 2:29 AM

I wonder if this will be removed. Is this happening on your’e side of the planet?
https://www.brasscheck.com/video/marched-into-war/?omhide=true

andyoldlabour
andyoldlabour
Jun 16, 2019 11:55 AM
Reply to  axisofoil

That shows how ludicrous this whole situation is.
Why would Iran further escalate matters with all that is happening and attack Japanese tankers just when the Japanese PM is visiting?

axisofoil
axisofoil
Jun 15, 2019 11:15 PM
axisofoil
axisofoil
Jun 15, 2019 10:49 PM
andyoldlabour
andyoldlabour
Jun 16, 2019 11:59 AM
Reply to  axisofoil

Still there right now, hope it stays there to let everyone know what the US are really like.

harry law
harry law
Jun 15, 2019 8:19 PM

Lindsey Graham is certifiable, he uses the Granada invasion [population 90,000] as a means to intimidate other nations opposing the US.
“Republican senator Lindsey Graham has suggested that the United States should take military action against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro so countries opposing the US are intimidated and surrender to Washington’s demands.
The warmonger from South Carolina told Fox News that the US needed to resolve its issues with other countries using military actions.
The Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary suggested using US military force to resolve America’s conflicts with countries opposed to US foreign policy.
“Do what Reagan did in Grenada. Put military force on the table … start with your own backyard,” he suggested”. https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/06/15/598594/US-must-invade-Venezuela-to-scare-Iran-Sen-Graham

DunGroanin
DunGroanin
Jun 15, 2019 3:15 PM

Always follow the money … they made lots instantly from the firework display, it aint rocket science!

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-14/senators-switched-key-votes-bill-gulf-arms-ban-hours-after-tanker-attacks

mark
mark
Jun 15, 2019 1:39 PM

What do you expect from a Zionist Front like WINEP? They’ve been inciting wars for Israel for decades. “Getting the stupid goys to fight Israel’s wars for decades.”

Jen
Jen
Jun 15, 2019 1:20 PM

If Patrick Clawson is typical of the kind of economist employed at the IMF and then promoted to a leading position at the World Bank, I dread to think of the calibre of people who also applied for his job in the past and were rejected. His speech is so garbled and full of unconscious slip-ups.

andyoldlabour
andyoldlabour
Jun 15, 2019 12:09 PM

The US has convinced itself of its own so called “exceptionalism”, where they can say anything out in the open, reveal their greatest desires, their unholy plans.
There must be some “good” Americans who can stop this madness, or have they all become inflicted/infected with some hate virus?

Milton
Milton
Jun 15, 2019 11:51 AM

Interesting that this Israeli-First traitor Clawson mentions Lincoln and Ft. Sumter. He finally admits what genuine historians of the Civil War long knew: Lincoln was a warmonger and tyrant, not an emancipator. The Civil war was fought to eliminate true freedom and equality in this country and it has been downhill ever since. The working class and soldier-class in America today are slaves in every sense of the word. Slaves to Zion. No wonder the certified warmonger and racist Lincoln is worshiped equally by Left and Right today, whilst genuine American patriots like Robert E. Lee have their legacy torn down. Lincoln was the proto-Neocon. Tom Dilorenzo summed up the real Lincoln when he wrote in Lincoln Unmasked:

“Imagine that California seceded from the union and an American president responded with the carpet bombing of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco that destroyed 90 percent of those cities. Such was the case with General Sherman’s bombardment of Atlanta; a naval blockade; a blocking off of virtually all trade; the eviction of thousands of residents from their homes (as occurred in Atlanta in 1864); the destruction of most industries and farms; massive looting of private property by a marauding army; and the killing of one out of four males of military age while maiming for life more than double that number. Would such an American president be considered a ‘great statesman’ or a war criminal? The answer is obvious.

A statesman would have recognized the state’s right to secede, as enshrined in the Tenth Amendment, among other places, and then worked diligently to persuade the seceded state that a reunion was in its best interest. Agreat statesman, or even a modest one, would not have impulsively plunged the entire nation into a bloody war.

Lincoln’s warmongering belligerence and his invasion of all the Southern states in response to Fort Sumter (where no one was harmed or killed) caused the upper South—Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas—to secede after originally voting to remain in the Union. He refused to meet with Confederate commissioners to discuss peace and even declined a meeting with Napoleon III of France, who offered to broker a peace agreement. No genuine statesman would have behaved in such a way.

After Fort Sumter, Lincoln thanked naval commander Gustavus Fox for assisting him in manipulating the South Carolinians into firing at Fort Sumter. A great statesman does not manipulate his own people into starting one of the bloodiest wars in human history.”

mathias alexand
mathias alexand
Jun 15, 2019 10:11 AM

Here’s a man who holds a press conference to announce a secret plan. Only in America.

Gezzah Potts
Gezzah Potts
Jun 15, 2019 8:39 AM

False flags here, false flags there, false flags everywhere. All too further the aims of the ‘masters of the universe’. We know who was responsible for the tanker attacks. Who are the 3 countries absolutely desperate to take Iran down and install a completely pliant puppet regime answerable to Washington, Tel Aviv and to a lesser extent Riyadh. And creatures like Clawson, and all the other vermin can only see $$$$. Thats all they care about. Opening up more markets to further enrich themselves. I echo the other commenters also. The evil men stoop to for greed, power and control. Psychopaths.

William HBonney
William HBonney
Jun 15, 2019 10:21 AM
Reply to  Gezzah Potts

A Riyadh/Tel Aviv conspiracy. Genius!

Gezzah Potts
Gezzah Potts
Jun 15, 2019 12:35 PM

Er…. just a rough guess Bill going on the belligerent foaming at the mouth by people in those places along with the likes of Bolton and Pompeo. In fact, you can probably go all the way back to about 1980 or so.

mark
mark
Jun 15, 2019 1:44 PM
Reply to  Gezzah Potts

I think the real giveaway was when all three rogue states openly stated their intention of doing this 1,000 times over the past 10 years. That was the crucial clue Sherlock Holmes was looking for.

harry law
harry law
Jun 15, 2019 4:09 PM
Reply to  Gezzah Potts

The Foreign Office issued a statement saying: “It is almost certain that a branch of the Iranian military – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – attacked the two tankers on 13 June. No other state or non-state actor could plausibly have been responsible.”
Unbelievable, The UK vassal will use this to as one more reason to evade their responsibilities in implementing the JCPOA.

mark
mark
Jun 15, 2019 8:58 PM
Reply to  harry law

Maybe it’s “highly likely.”

Gezzah Potts
Gezzah Potts
Jun 15, 2019 9:41 PM
Reply to  mark

Like an apple is green? They must think we’re complete amoeba’s to believe this. Sigh.

Gezzah Potts
Gezzah Potts
Jun 15, 2019 9:39 PM
Reply to  harry law

Well they would say that, wouldn’t they. The UK vassal state will spout any peice of crap in their assigned role as vassal state. Australia is just as gushingly sycophantic and cravenly jellified.

fake
fake
Jun 17, 2019 12:38 PM
Reply to  Gezzah Potts
Wilmers31
Wilmers31
Jun 15, 2019 8:19 AM

And who funds the Washington Institute? Last time I looked the International Crisis Group existed thanks to Soros and is usually treated like a serious organisation.

Many Europeans are not in love with the idea of war with Iran, just to achieve obedience to the US. 90 million people is bigger than Germany.

wardropper
wardropper
Jun 14, 2019 9:09 PM

These are the shysters, the spivs and the con men of bygone times. They are the ones who lurked at street corners, waiting for someone to come along who was gullible enough to buy the Moon from them.
But, for some reason, they are all in politics today.
Now how could that be?

Only because there are people whom it currently suits to use shysters, spivs and con men in order to create enough chaos for us to want to give up and just let those people have their way.

I agree with Rhys below. There is no more disgusting example of sub-humanity to be found on earth than these warmongers.
To deal with them, however, we will have to realize that their “philosophy”, if you can call it that, runs very deep. It didn’t just enter their heads last week.
They are reared and trained in it.

It will be a tough battle.

wardropper
wardropper
Jun 15, 2019 12:25 AM
Reply to  wardropper

I should add that, in bygone times, the police and the law were usually able to deal with the shysters, spivs and con men, since their lack of conscience often gave them away.
The modern version, however, which has moved into politics, was shrewd enough to use a few decades of bribery and threats in order to build around itself a nice little shell, through which the law simply cannot penetrate, except on special occasions, mainly for show.

Rhys Jaggar
Rhys Jaggar
Jun 14, 2019 7:49 PM

There is a big cabal of warmongers who stoke the fuel but never see action. I find those people more disgusting than anyone on earth.

Draft dodgers, academics, ‘historians’ etc etc.

Ball-less pricks is what I call them….

William HBonney
William HBonney
Jun 15, 2019 10:24 AM
Reply to  Rhys Jaggar

Yeah, well I’m not a great fan of those who would appease Assad, Putin, Hussein, Gaddafi…

You must be so proud.

andyoldlabour
andyoldlabour
Jun 15, 2019 12:05 PM

The appeasers would include the US who fully supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran, who provided him with chemical weapons and logistical help in using those weapons, which killed around 50,000 Iranian troops and Kurdish civilians.
The same appeasers armed and funded the Taliban (Mujahideen) against the Soviets.
The US are the single largest force for terrorism the World has ever seen.

William HBonney
William HBonney
Jun 15, 2019 3:40 PM
Reply to  andyoldlabour

The easiest, and perhaps best metric by which to judge a country, is ‘do people aspire to live there? ‘.

I see you admire the Soviet Union, but at its dissolution, people were queuing to leave. And yet the US, and the UK, according to you, iniquitous places of tyranny, are oversubscribed. Could it be, that for all your implied erudition, you are merely a bellend?

axisofoil
axisofoil
Jun 15, 2019 11:28 PM

You must be a big fan of CNN and the NYT. Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?

mark
mark
Jun 16, 2019 8:09 PM
Reply to  axisofoil

Russia is the No. 2 destination in the world for migration.

USAma Bin Laden
USAma Bin Laden
Jun 16, 2019 11:00 PM

American tyranny is primarily directed outwards against other nations–particularly the Global South.

The vaunted American way of life and “prosperity” itself are premised on maintaining the rapacious global system called the Washington Consensus by which America exploits workers in other nations; rapes them of their resources; privatizes their industries to be devoured by American corporations for pennies on the dollar; demands the imposition of economic austerity measures that impoverish the people of these nations; and ultimately maintain the dirty US Dollar war the world’s only reserve currency, which enables America to live beyond its means off the blood, sweat, and labor of the world.

People come to the USA for many reasons, but ultimately they come for a fundamental reason: to enjoy a cut of the economic spoils of American Empire for themselves.

Brian harry
Brian harry
Jun 18, 2019 3:06 AM

Wake up. Don’t you have any intellect at all?

mark
mark
Jun 15, 2019 1:45 PM
Reply to  Rhys Jaggar

All fully paid up members of the Bill Clinton Light Infantry.

BigB
BigB
Jun 14, 2019 5:32 PM

Well, even as a pacifist: if that is his sentiment – I hope he has sons or daughters in the military …stationed in CENTCOM in Qatar. I bet he hasn’t, though.

Rhisiart Gwilym
Rhisiart Gwilym
Jun 14, 2019 6:21 PM
Reply to  BigB

He should be right there on the frontline himself. That would straighten the disgusting creep’s ideas out about the ‘usefulness’ of deliberately provoking war

Brozza
Brozza
Jun 17, 2019 10:22 AM

All those warmonger c*nts should should be unarmed and on the front line.