Because the US is going to invade them, which would undoubtably make
certain elements on this list happy because the stonings would stop.
Being an American, I find it hard to get perspective, but I can only
imagine that our 'port wing' looks like a bunch of disinterested
self-centric a-holes to the rest of the world.
Invasion Update:
.
Our Tehran sources report that last Thursday, Oct. 26, Iranian
officials were seriously rattled by a rumor that an Iranian spy plane
had located the USS Boxer heading for the Persian Gulf. It prompted
fears of an imminent American military assault to lift Republican
prospects in the coming US midterm elections of Nov. 7.
In any case, the Iranians suspect that at the end of the joint
US-Indian exercise in the Arabian Sea, Boxer will veer west and head
into the Persian Gulf. There would then be four US air carriers with
task forces parked opposite Iranian shores, including the USS
Enterprise Strike Group, the USS Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group
and the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which are already in place.
According to the intelligence reaching Iran, the Boxer and its escorts
carry 850 Marines who have just spent months in special training for
operations on offshore oil rigs and platforms.
.
DEBKAfile - We start where the media stop
US-Led Military Thrust Focuses Heavily on Broad Naval Deployment
DEBKAfile Exclusive Military Report
October 30, 2006, 11:53 AM (GMT+02:00)
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1223
Hundreds of US and allied war ships foregathered in the strategic seas
of the Middle East and India in the last days of October 2006 for two
primary missions: To prepare for a US-led military strike against Iran
which has stepped up its uranium enrichment program with a second
centrifuge project - undeterred by the prospect of UN sanctions; and
measures to fend off palpable al Qaeda threats to oil targets.
DEBKAfile’s military sources provide details of the massive deployments:
1. A large-scale US-Indian sea exercise called Malabar 06 is in progress
off the Indian coast of Goa, ending Nov. 5. The American vessels taking
part are the USS Boxer carrier, the USS Bunker Hill guided missile
battle cruiser, the guided missile destroyer USS Howard and the USS
Benfold , as well as the Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine
Providence and the Canadian guided missile frigate HMCS Ottawa .
Indian maritime might is displayed with its warships like INS Beas , INS
Mysore , INS Shakti , INS Ganga , tanking ship INS Gharial , submarine
INS Shankush and Coast Guard ship CGS Samar
Malabar also involves the landing of large number of soldiers ashore,
ahead of the Indian acquisition of the massive amphibious USS Trenton
transport dock which can carry six helicopters and about a 1000 soldiers.
Our Tehran sources report that last Thursday, Oct. 26, Iranian officials
were seriously rattled by a rumor that an Iranian spy plane had located
the USS Boxer heading for the Persian Gulf. It prompted fears of an
imminent American military assault to lift Republican prospects in the
coming US midterm elections of Nov. 7. In any case, the Iranians suspect
that at the end of the joint US-Indian exercise in the Arabian Sea,
Boxer will veer west and head into the Persian Gulf. There would then be
four US air carriers with task forces parked opposite Iranian shores,
including the USS Enterprise Strike Group, the USS Iwo Jima
Expeditionary Strike Group and the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group,
which are already in place.
According to the intelligence reaching Iran, the Boxer and its escorts
carry 850 Marines who have just spent months in special training for
operations on offshore oil rigs and platforms.
2. American, Italy, France, Britain, Australia, Bahrain, Qatar, the
United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are taking part in an exercise
practicing the interception of ships carrying nuclear materials or
components for use in advanced weapons. The exercise opposite Bahrain is
the first to be held in the Persian Gulf under the three-year old
proliferation security initiative. It applications could be translated
equally into the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea, which
conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, or Iran.
On Oct. 27, Robert Joseph, the US undersecretary of state for arms
control remarked: “From Iranian news reports we know the exercise got
the attention of Iran.” But rather than climbing down, Tehran referred
two days later to the war games as “adventurous” and placed its armed
forces on a high alert which encompassed the joint naval units of the
military and Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf, while the
Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian army, navy and air force were placed
on “yellow” alert, one level short of full war.
Also Oct. 29, , supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei replaced Iran’s air
force chief, Karim Qavami with Brig Gen Capt Ahmad Miqani, on the
recommendation of the Revolutionary Guards commander.
DEBKAfile’s Iran sources report that Khamenei did not approve of
Qavami’s admiration for America’s military capabilities – especially the
US air force’s advanced aircraft and equipment. Qavami was wont to speak
out at general staff meetings in favor of procuring a new air fleet the
better to stand up to a possible US attack. His successor follows the
supreme ruler unquestioningly and has complete faith in the ability
3. Saudi Arabia did not join the multinational Bahrain exercise, but
instead mustered its entire navy and all its special forces for
deployment in dense defensive array around the biggest oil terminal in
the world, at Ras Tanura. Riyadh acted in response to tangible
intelligence that al Qaeda is preparing to attack its oil installations.
Warnings have intensified in recent days of impending al Qaeda attacks
on the oil fields, oil ports, oil tankers and oil fields of Saudi Arabia
and the Arabian oil emirates. One threat specifically targets the
Bahraini offices and staff of the Benin Republic’s Societe Togolaise de
Gaz and Societe Bengaz S.A.
It is not clear exactly why al Qaeda is targeting this African-owned oil
company in particular. In addition, the US embassy in Riyadh has warned
Americans operating in the Gulf region to stay clear of all oil
installations, especially in Saudi Arabia. Another pointed alert covers
Western residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries,
specifying American expatriates as al Qaeda targets. Saudi security
forces are standing guard at these compounds which were fatally attacked
in November exactly three years ago.
4. The fourth major naval concentration is deployed in the Red Sea along
Saudi Arabia’s west coast. The oil kingdom has placed its military and
fleet at their highest level of preparedness for Al Qaeda-instigated
terrorist attacks along this coast, particularly at the ports of Jeddah
and Yanbu.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report: That the Saudis have by and
large switched their defenses against al Qaeda to coastal targets
indicates the receipt of intelligence input of a new local sea base
established by al Qaeda, which enables the jihadist group to stretch its
capabilities for assaulting oil and Western shore targets from the sea.
This base might be located on the shore of a Gulf nation, somewhere in
the Arabian Sea or in the Horn of Africa.
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