by Larry C. Johnson, The Unz Review:
Iran’s air defense system succeeded on Friday, April 3, in downing a US F-15E over Iran. There is some dispute and confusion about the exact location (more about that later). The pilot and the WSO (i.e., Weapons System Officer) both successfully ejected but were separated. The pilot was quickly rescued by the Combat Search and Rescue (i.e., CSAR) and the two Pave Hawk helicopters ferrying him back to safety were hit, but managed to make it to Kuwait — despite trailing visible black smoke.
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The WSO was not so lucky. He reportedly landed 5 miles northwest of where he was ultimately rescued. I do not deny that he was recovered by US Special Operations forces on a ridge on a mountain — The red circle on the left hand side of the photo is the reported location of the pilot, the red circle on the right hand side of the photo is the airfield where the US Special Forces landed.
There are some real oddities about this story. The WSO is normally a Lieutenant or a Captain… This WSO is a Colonel who is the Vice Wing Commander at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base (MSAB) in Jordan. This helps explain the large number of assets devoted to finding and rescuing him. A variety of press reports claim he suffered a broken leg or a broken ankle. This raises a legitimate question… How did a man with a broken leg walk five miles and then climb a mountain? I’m not suggesting it is an impossible task, but it does raise some questions about the accuracy of the US military’s account of events.
Now here is the kicker… The geolocated wreckage of the C-130s which were apparently using a local “agricultural airstrip” (see the photo above) just happens to be right over a mountain, about 35km (21 miles) away, from Isfahan’s nuclear facility, where Iran’s ‘near-weapons grade’ enriched uranium is alleged to be stored. Was this whole affair a botched raid by US Special Operations forces to seize Iranian uranium for the Isfahan facility?
Before giving you my opinion, I want you to consider some other accounts that are circulating. The first up is Simplicius’ Substack article: It’s Official: US Boots-On-Ground Deep Inside Iran Amidst Another Day of Humiliating Losses. Simplicius claims that a large-scale US rescue operation for the second crew member (weapons systems officer) of a downed F-15E Strike Eagle has effectively confirmed the first official U.S. “boots on the ground” inside Iran. What the US presented as a straightforward combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) mission involved significant special operations forces penetrating deep into Iranian territory, resulting in heavy US losses of aircraft according to Iranian reports and open-source evidence.
