Iran gives full powers to hard-line Guards in Gulf

[inanna]

Source: AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran announced Tuesday that it has put the elite Revolutionary Guards in charge of defending the country's territorial Persian Gulf waters in what appeared to be a hardening of its stance in the vital oil route.

U.S. commanders in the Gulf have in the past said they find Guards ships more confrontational than the regular Iranian navy, which until the new order was responsible for Iranian defenses in the Gulf.

Iran has warned repeatedly that it will close the narrow Hormuz Strait at the mouth of the Gulf if the United States or Israel attacks it amid tensions over Iran's nuclear program. Around 40 percent of the world's oil passes through Hormuz. Last winter, Iranian and U.S. ships patrolling the Gulf had a several small confrontations in Hormuz that the Americans blamed on provocations by Guards ships.

The Guards corps, which has land, navy and air components, is considered better equipped than the normal military and more ideologically fervent, tasked with protecting Iran's Islamic government, dominated by hard-line clerics. No reason was given for the move, but it could be aimed at showing Iran is serious in its warnings of retaliation for any attack.


Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQeA-KDvN1qKqngfzVwxcq7V5WwQD937T20O0

[TomInTib]

1. This makes perfect sense.

If I was making decisions, I would want the hard guys in the Strait.

[Regret My New Name]

2. Do you like it and think it makes perfect sense when the 'hard guys' make desicions in our military?

They tend to come up with crazy ideas that sometimes get squashed, but other times don't...

[TomInTib]

4. Not if they're civilians.

This most recent bunch is a collection of idiots.

But I would rather have Special Forces handling real estate as critical as the Hormuz Strait.


By thew way, I noticed your username. Have you ever experienced (Inside)Out:Warren Zevon? It is a documentary of the events surrounding the making of The Wind, Warren's last album.

[Regret My New Name]

5. I can respect that...

I'd personally prefer that we(as in everyone) keep 'hard guys' out of anything that might end up resulting dangerous situations for us all. I'm aware that I may a rather naive hope for how things should work though.


No, I haven't see that documentary. I'm going to check it out though.

[ngant17]

7. Since when has the MIC not controlled US foreign policy?

If the US military-industrial complex aren't hardliners, I don't know who is.

[Strelnikov_]

3. "US to Sell 1,000 New Bunker Buster Bombs to Israel"

For every action . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3492516

[sarcasmo]

6. Israel will start the war and chaos will become the norm.

Wait, chaos is already the norm.