President Donald Trump has gone and really done it this time. “We had them under view for a long time, and we got them,” he said about the five British men arrested at RAF Fairford, initially said to be terrorists targeting US aircraft at the British base.
It turns out the would-be terrorists did not have explosives. Instead, they had stolen red diesel for farm equipment. The British cops are mum. They’re not saying much about the arrest or the incident. The Gloucestershire Police advised the public not to speculate, but how could there possibly be no speculation in the age of social media?
Naturally, speculation went ballistic on X and other platforms. It was immediately declared that the alleged perpetrators were Iranian terrorists, maybe sleeper cells, and an image was posted of men stripped to the waist in handcuffs as evidence. It was soon discovered the image was an AI fake.
The Secretary of State went before the cameras and told the American people a “foreign actor” is responsible for the foiled attack. Initially, the knee-jerk reaction was to blame Russia. It had to be Russia, but that was not very useful, so it became evil Iranian terrorists caught in the act of sabotaging our aircraft used to bomb grade schools and hospitals.
The Brits released the five men, most likely because there is no evidence they are terrorists, but rather thieves attempting to make a buck on stolen diesel in a market where diesel is rapidly becoming scarce and expesnive, thanks to Trump’s war. There is currently an epidemic of fuel thefts from farms, but that’s not exploitable for the narrative that insists wicked mullahs in Iran can’t wait to nuke America, Israel, and maybe even the UK.
Not that facts matter to the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham, the former frontbencher. He said there are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford.
Prior to Burnham, Zia Yusuf, the spokesperson for home affairs, trekked to the site of the diesel terrorism incident and said the UK must declare a national security emergency. He said there are “strong indications” Iran was involved.
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage also demanded the declaration of a national emergency in response to “potential terrorists” stealing diesel. Farage said the diesel heist was a dry run for an attack on US forces. It is said he later deleted his social media posts, possibly because he looks like a fool.
Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative MP, demanded to know why the suspects were released on bail, while a BBC “military expert” said it was probably the Russians that nicked all that diesel.
Some folks believe the Fairford incident was a botched false flag. I disagree. The misinterpreted episode provided an excuse for the state and its corporate media to amplify the claim that there are deadly Iranian terrorists out there sleeping in cells, waiting to kill Americans.
Trump, Rubio, neocons of all stripes, and MAGA bystanders are desperate to pin something on Iran as a pretext to escalate the war. Instead of backing off and admitting they hysterically jumped the gun, they will double down and further complicate what was an avoidable situation that is now eating away at the global economy.
Trump is incapable of conceding. He will continue this disastrous war as long as possible, up until the time he is removed from the Oval Office or put on cholinesterase inhibitors to manage his hallucinations.
Reprinted with permission from Another Day in the Empire.
