Pentagon Prepares 'Options' For Trump To Strike Iran Before Midterms; Tanker Attacked Off Qatar

Update(1615ET): The Atlantic is reporting Wednesday afternoon that the Pentagon is preparing strike options for the Commander-in-Chief to consider, and that Trump may actually pull the trigger before the midterm elections - though the report emphasizes that the decision is still being debated:

After months of on-again, off-again fighting, the United States hasn’t struck Iran in several weeks. The stretch of relative tranquility is coinciding with the final phase of the midterm-election campaign, and the assumption has been that President Trump will want to keep it going through November 3 so as not to remind voters of an unpopular war that is dragging Republican candidates down nationwide.

But that may not be what happens. The White House has asked the Pentagon to develop strike options against Iranian targets that could be exercised ahead of the midterms, according to two administration officials. The planning underscores just how much the president wants to reduce gas prices and demonstrate progress in the conflict before the vote, administration officials told us.

And yet a renewed outbreak of direct bombing would likely actually serve to do the opposite, given oil prices have tended to shoot up on headlines of major direct escalation.

Reports out of Iran confirmed earlier Wednesday that negotiations are 'stalemated' - also as the Iranians have ramped up targeting tankers with drones in the Strait of Hormuz over the last week.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pezeshkian-calls-iranians-ration-electricity-stand-us-negotiations-stalemated

ISIS is going to fight the Houthis

Syria's Jolani May Send Troops To Yemen To Fight Houthis

Syria is said to be "cautiously" considering sending troops to assist Saudi Arabia in the fight against the Houthis in Yemen, Reuters and others are reporting Wednesday.

An anonymous US official described that this was a focus of conversation between Syria's self-declared President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the two met in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Ironically it was the Saudis that heavily supported Sharaa's rise and overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in the first place. Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani was the founder and leader of Syrian al-Qaeda (Nusra Front, later Hayat Tahrir al-Sham). He had also fought Assad while initially under ISIS, and had taken control of Idlib.

So while for many years foreign fighters flowed from Saudi Arabia into Syria, now the jihadi pipeline looks to go in the opposite direction.

The hardline Sunnis of the new Damascus government are well-known for viewing all Shiites as 'apostates' - and so there could be plenty of willing participants to go and fight the Houthis, who are Shia and backed by Iran. Some reports speculate there are already thousands of Syrian mercenaries as well as 'volunteer' fighters on the ground in Yemen.

"Options being considered include defensive aid to protect the kingdom from attacks, or deployment of forces in an offensive capacity to help Saudi-backed Yemeni troops fight the Houthis," according to sources cited in the reports.

A US official has said that Riyadh has specifically requested the deployment of Syrian forces against the Houthis, perhaps as 'payback' for Saudi funding for the jihad in Syria over the prior decade.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/syrias-jolani-may-send-troops-yemen-fight-houthis

More Ukrainian-Style One-Way Attack Drones Seized In Mexico

The emergence of fiber-optic one-way attack drones among Mexican cartels signals a troubling security threat just south of the US border.

Images published by local outlet Luz Noticias show that the Mexican Army seized Category 1 suicide drones with fiber-optic cable reels and improvised explosives. This is sparking ongoing concerns that low-cost attack drones associated with the Ukraine-Russia war and the US-Iran conflict are spreading to narco-terrorists in the Western Hemisphere.

Mexican troops found 15 drones and more than 40 improvised explosive devices in the municipality of El Rosario during security patrols on Monday. The municipality is situated in southern Sinaloa.

Here's what the outlet said:

During the inspection , Mexican Army personnel located and seized drones , drone controllers , fiber optic cables, batteries, improvised explosive devices , chargers, cartridges, long guns , tactical vests, and ballistic plates.

The three long guns seized are AK-47 rifles , better known as Goat Horns , which were allegedly used for clashes between organized crime factions.

The latest development builds on our mid-July note that Ukrainian-style drones were found in a raid deep inside north-central Mexico.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/more-ukrainian-style-one-way-attack-drones-seized-mexico

Trump is destroying America for Israel.

To those in love with an old pedo, you people are sick.

Only pedos protect pedos

Shill

US folded to EU pressure on Ukraine – Lavrov

Moscow has “fully accepted” the US peace proposal put forward at the Anchorage summit, yet Europe derailed the process, Russia’s top diplomat has said

The US gave in to pressure from the EU, which has openly gloated about undermining the Anchorage understandings and declared them “buried,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

The top diplomat made the remarks on Wednesday while speaking at a press conference following a ministerial meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s position that the Anchorage initiative was ultimately derailed by European nations.

”Our conscience is clear, not to mention the fact that we fully accepted the United States’ proposal last August, which was made during the summit… in Alaska,” he stated.

https://www.rt.com/russia/646907-us-eu-pressure-anchorage/

Australian bishop sentenced for abusing young indigenous men

Catholic cleric Christopher Saunders preyed on Aboriginal youth for over a decade in a remote diocese

76-year-old ex-bishop Christopher Saunders is one of the most senior Australian clerics to be convicted in a series of scandals that have shaken the Catholic Church for decades. In August, Saunders was found guilty on 13 out of 19 sexual abuse charges pertaining to two accusers he victimized between 2008 and 2019.

Saunders narrowly dodged a harsher punishment, with all the charges related to his alleged sexual relations with minors flopped in court. Four charges related to the alleged abuse of a child younger than 13 were dropped on the first day of his trial, while he was acquitted of six further charges involving a 16-year-old child.

All the crimes were perpetrated by Saunders when he led the remote Broome Diocese between 1996 and 2021, when he resigned from the position over allegations of sexual misconduct. While the territory of the diocese covers an area larger than France, it has a population of only some 50,000, predominantly indigenous people.

https://www.rt.com/news/646902-australian-bishop-indigenous-abuse/