From: julianlzb87@gmail.com   
      
   American military aircraft have been amassing in Britain as President   
   Trump threatens strikes and annexations across the globe.   
      
   A fleet of at least 14 C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft and two   
   heavily armed AC-130J Ghostrider gunships have landed at three RAF bases   
   in Suffolk and Gloucestershire since Saturday.   
      
   The Globemasters are rumoured to have been carrying at least five MH-60M   
   Black Hawk helicopters and one MH-47G Chinook, which are used for   
   special forces operations. The helicopters have been spotted in British   
   hangars, according to unconfirmed reports.   
      
   American activity in the UK appears to be in preparation for further   
   operations, but no details have been provided in official channels.   
      
   Most of the Globemasters touched down at RAF Fairford in   
   Gloucestershire, but several also landed in RAF Mildenhall and RAF   
   Lakenheath in Suffolk.   
      
   Fairford is considered the main air bridge from the US into Europe, and   
   flight data has shown several of the Globemasters moving on to Ramstein   
   in Germany. An American KC-135R Stratotanker military aerial refuelling   
   plane also landed in Mildenhall on Tuesday after flying in from the US.   
      
   Tensions have been building in the Middle East as the Iranian regime   
   violently suppresses protests across the country. Three days ago, Trump   
   warned that the US would hit Iran “hard” if the regime’s forces killed   
   demonstrators.   
      
   “America will come to their rescue … We are locked and loaded and ready   
   to go”, he wrote on social media, making the prospect of American and   
   Israeli strikes increasingly likely. The death toll among demonstrators   
   has since climbed to 35 people, according to Iranian activists.   
      
   Since the Venezuela attack, Trump has made more threats to annex   
   Greenland, which he has long argued should come under American control   
   to bolster the security of the western hemisphere. He has refused to   
   rule out using military force to occupy the island, prompting the   
   leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark to   
   issue a joint statement on Tuesday urging his administration to stop   
   making threats.   
      
   There is also speculation that US forces mayuse Britain as a platform   
   from which to raid a sanctioned oil tanker that is being tracked from   
   Venezuela and heading north of UK waters. British aircraft and those of   
   other Nato allies are monitoring the vessel, which has hastily changed   
   its flag to Russia’s in an apparent attempt to prevent seizure by the US.   
      
   The Globemaster, one of the world’s largest transport aircraft, and the   
   smaller but more powerful Ghostrider, could potentially be used together   
   in a covert US operation overseas. Troops can parachute from   
   Globemasters into combat. The 174ft transporters are powered by turbofan   
   engines and can carry an array of vehicles with a payload capacity   
   exceeding 150,000lb.   
      
   Ghostriders are armed with a 30mm Bushmaster cannon, 105mm howitzer and   
   Hellfire missiles, and can lay down a devastating weight of fire on targets.   
      
   Some of these aircraft took off from bases in Georgia and Kentucky,   
   which are home to the US Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation   
   Regiment, among other units. The elite unit, better known as the Night   
   Stalkers, operates a range of special forces helicopters and specialises   
   in flying units into combat at night. The unit played a pivotal role in   
   the mission to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and extract them   
   to the US.   
      
   It is also possible that the aircraft could be used to increase special   
   forces operations against Islamic State in Syria after a wave of strikes   
   by European forces, including Britain, over the last few days.   
      
   The Ministry of Defence said it would not comment on the “on the   
   operational activity of other nations”.   
      
      
   Charlie Parker   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)