US plans Gulf naval buildup to warn Iran: report

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/December/middleeast_December310.xml§ion=middleeast

WASHINGTON - The United States is planning to position an aircraft carrier group in the Gulf after the new year as a warning to Iran, CBS news reported Monday, citing unnamed officials.

The network said the Pentagon is deploying “a major buildup of naval forces in and around the Persian Gulf” in response to what the United States considers “increasingly provocative acts.”

CBS noted Iranian naval exercises, support of Shiite militias in Iraq and its enrichment of nuclear fuel as reasons for US concern.

[Trajan]

1. Iran is no Iraq ....

And I am sure the Joint Chiefs recognize the peril of engaging Iran directly ...

I wonder what kind of arguments inhabit the halls of the Pentagon now ?

More Cheney visits in the night ? ...

One misstep, and the whole thing blows up in our face ....

[madrchsod]

2. i guess the whitehouse did`t check the news yesterday

or condo was out shopping

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6190673.stm
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Poll blow for Iran's Ahmadinejad

[MADem]

3. Warn them of what, exactly? The midget mayor has gotten his ass spanked by the Guardian Council and

the Supreme Leader in the recent elections...his "team" didn't win, because the GC and SL didn't want them to. Put that boy on a surfboard, he's about to jump the old shark. The GC and SL allowed a few reformers to get elected, because they sense the serious dissent in their country. I wouldn't be surprised if young Reza isn't casting about for an opening.

Iran is no threat to us. A country that has to import forty percent of their gasoline because they have no refining capacity is not gonna go to war against the US.

And we KNOW that.

But it sure sells well to an ever-shrinking, saber waving, rabid base over on this side of the pond....though I doubt it's enough to quell their dissatisfaction. It gives Faux a 'happy, happy, war, war' story to cover.

[babylonsister]

4. Hey, bud. Thanks for that!

I think we need to get the hook for the goons running this country into the ground. And they are doing it in record time; they're combusting.

[MADem]

6. I think it's also a Christmas card to the Saudis, as well

It's George's way of saying he loves Turki better than the Supreme Leader or the Gardian Council of Iran....the Saudis are upset, they're afraid of Iran, and our carrier off their coast is a way of telling the Saudis that we like them best, so they don't get half-baked ideas about further funding insurgencies....

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/americaabroad/2006/dec/18/should_we_worry_about_the_saudi_threats

[GreenZoneLT]

8. *Sigh* If it weren't Iran, it would be China

Remember the good ol' days before 9-11? Fox was trying to resurrect hysteria about Matsu and Qemoy then. Chinese nuclear "spies" (persecuted, not prosecuted). A simpler, happier sort of xenophobic paranoia.

[MADem]

10. Naah, not China--they own too much of our debt!!!! NT

[Selatius]

5. Foolish. This will lead to increased tension in the region.

We need to de-escalate the situation, not increase it.

In the past when nations decided to move navies and armies in close proximity to their rivals, wars have started as a result of accidents and miscommunication.

Remember in 1988 when the US Navy accidentally blew up an Iranian airliner killing all civilians on board? What would happen if something like that happened now?

[MnFats]

7. that was the U.S. Vincennes. A missle frigate, if memory serves..

...radar showed an aircraft approaching. they couldn't ID it.
...there was talk that the captain panicked and ordered the missles fired, even though there were indications it was coming from a commercial airport.
...he was afraid Iran was attacking and wanted to protect his crew.
...images of children's bodies floating in the gulf did a lot to burnish our image in the middle east...

[GreenZoneLT]

9. Missile cruiser

They'd been in a shootout with Iranian gunboats within the previous couple of days, so they were pretty trigger happy. Supposedly thought they saw the signature of an Iranian F-14 before they picked up the blip of the jetliner, confused the two and freaked. Very bad work all the way around, and the CO was apparently to blame (the captain of the ship the Vincennes had just relieved remarked on how redhot Will Rogers was to get into combat).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655#U.S._government_accounts