Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike
Source: telegraph uk
An armada of US and British naval power is massing in the Persian Gulf in the belief that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Irans covert nuclear weapons programme.
Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.
Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the worlds petroleum traded by sea.
A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the worlds most congested international waterways. It is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point and is bordered by the Iranian coast to the north and the United Arab Emirates to the south.
In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise.
Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9545597/Armada-of-British-naval-power-massing-in-the-Gulf-as-Israel-prepares-an-Iran-strike.html
DJ13
(23,671 posts)xchrom
(108,903 posts)But it still begs the question - why this show of force?
How does this want to make Iran docile?
Does that even work?
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)I think it's expected to show Iran that other nations can operate freely inside the Iranian 'sphere of influence'.
If anything that is likely to frustrate and anger Iran.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)of who here prefers to believe what in terms of responses.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)What's that phrase doing in there?
Viva_La_Revolution
(28,791 posts)and every year we get the same articles trying to scare people into thinking war is about to break out.
It's actually a delayed and scaled down version of the usual yearly drill..
Exclusive: U.S. Scales Back Military Exercise with Israel, Affecting Potential Iran Strike
The reductions are striking. Instead of the approximately 5,000 U.S. troops originally trumpeted for Austere Challenge 12, as the annual exercise is called, the Pentagon will send only 1,500 service members and perhaps as few as 1,200. Patriot antimissile systems will arrive in Israel as planned, but the crews to operate them will not. Instead of two Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense warships being dispatched to Israeli waters, the new plan is to send one, though even the remaining vessel is listed as a maybe, according to officials in both militaries.
http://world.time.com/2012/08/31/exclusive-u-s-scales-back-military-exercise-with-israel-affecting-potential-iran-strike/#ixzz26bHdUJ71
bhikkhu
(10,708 posts)of course, it would be the perfect cover for a massive assault on Iran, but I think first that if this were the case, the warships of nations not sympathetic to war with Iran would be excluded. To use the exercises as a trick would be a stretch on alliances unless a rather large number of secret agreements had been made.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)as a blockade probably is a major reason why much of the
world doesn't want Israel to instigate a war.
postulater
(5,075 posts)pre-emptively as the aggressor, then we're there to bomb them?
Why would we support an aggressor in that case?
jerseyjack
(1,361 posts)starroute
(12,977 posts)It has nothing to doing with providing for the future, the environment, or the needs of the economy. It's just about being about to get along without those Persian Gulf oil shipments so that the Neocons can have a free hand to run amok in the Middle East.
Interesting.
Booster
(10,021 posts)It would have to go thru Iraq and Iran and I think Syria. I think this is why the evil Cheney has raised his ugly voice lately. You can bet Halliburton plays a part in this somehow.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)Last edited Mon Sep 17, 2012, 03:16 PM - Edit history (1)
heaven05
(18,124 posts)and tinkerbell, aynryan
Smickey
(3,226 posts)The article indicates a meeting today. I thought the Pres was not available? Has anyone heard about this meeting?
AntiFascist
(12,792 posts)Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)Sounds like the equivalent of the REFORGER exercises we used to do yearly in Europe during the 70's-80's. The Soviets had their equivalent exercise/deployments. An attack of one against the other under the guise of said exercise was always factored in to tactical defense studies.
I very seriously doubt that Israel will try anything against Iran under cover of this exercise.
braddy
(3,585 posts)Europe depended on the American ability to move troops from here to there, and that had to be practiced annually, it sounds like you participated, like me, so you know how little manpower was actually moved, and how difficult an operation it was. The annual training exercise ran almost 25 years, from 1969 through 1993.
This is a 25 nation show of force, an active military operation, called up as a military reaction to a sudden threat.
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)braddy
(3,585 posts)footing.
Quote-"Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war."
"Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the worlds petroleum traded by sea."
Maybe one of the navy guys can tell us which annual exercise this is.
"In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise."
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)... this tiff between Israel and the US is not a put up to throw the Iranians off the track. We will be going to war soon.
craigmatic
(4,510 posts)so most of the politicians running want this to be resolved peacefully. (hopefully)
Grave Grumbler
(160 posts)There hasn't been a battleship in commission with any navy on Earth for the last 20 years.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)triplepoint
(431 posts)Sounds like a new boobtube series for the Fall Season.....or the lead-up to a weapons test for the Military-Industrial Complex. It definitely doesn't appear to be a "Wag the Dog" exercise.
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on point
(2,506 posts)postulater
(5,075 posts)McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)Is Israel secretly supporting Al Qaeda? Sure looks that way.
plethoro
(594 posts)ddddd
robinlynne
(15,481 posts)suggest.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)Surely the Israelis understand that only the U.S. economy can save Romney's dying campaign? Maybe they don't.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)Since everything they do lately seems designed to help the NeoCons and Big Oil, I have to assume they want to see oil prices rise sky high.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)US presidential election. Possibly even a false flag "terrorist" attack against the US in "retaliation" so Rmoney can proclaim that Obama cannot keep us safe.
Beware, Obama. They are laying a trap for you.
cr8tvlde
(1,185 posts)A little stamping of the Israeli feet? Bad timing to be sure, but it sure could get ugly. Makes me wonder if the "fracas" wasn't engineered behind the scenes. Oh my, the Arabs, Persians and Jews ... just what the world needs ... Armegeddon.
But in the end, if god forbid, there is trouble, Americans will stick with Obama for sure. He's very smart and Hillary is in the right place, too. Thank god.
JustAnotherGen
(31,681 posts)And I'm getting 'numb' towards Israel - detached. Cold. Don't care. Not the people - there are good people there. But truthfully - their leadership just suuuuuuuuuuuucks.
struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)By ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates September 13, 2012 (AP)
The United States and more than two dozen allies are gearing up for the largest naval exercise ever in the Middle East focused on countering the threat of anti-ship mines. A wary Iran says it will be watching closely.
The maneuvers starting next week are the latest flexing of American military muscle in and around the Persian Gulf, even as Washington tries to convince ally Israel that diplomacy and sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran to scale back its nuclear program need more time to work.
U.S. Navy officials insist that the anti-mine exercise is not about any specific country or a response to Iranian threats to shut the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, the route for one-fifth of the world's oil.
But the drills will likely be perceived around the world as a challenge to Tehran, which has thousands of anti-ship mines it could deploy to disrupt shipping and drive up oil prices in response to any airstrike on its uranium enrichment facilities. The U.S. and several of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran says its atomic program is solely for peaceful purposes ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-allies-set-launch-anti-mine-naval-exercises-17228185
Behind the Aegis
(53,823 posts)Who says right-wing rags aren't acceptable for sites like DU?! P'shaw!
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,146 posts)is now an "armada of British naval power". I think the Telegraph is trying to cheer up its old buffer readership on a Sunday morning with images of Britannia still ruling the waves. Notice they also promoted US cruisers, frigates, destroyers and assault ships to the category of 'battleship'. I mean, everyone knows a battleship takes up 5 squares ...
Added bonus for the old buffers who make it on to the internet - not one, but two sidebar stories on "Iran trains thousands of female ninjas"!
BumRushDaShow
(127,260 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)oldsarge54
(582 posts)Battleships? There are currently no battleships in commission at this time, except for "museum" pieces that are in commission for the purposes. I don't think the Brits have a full aircraft carrier left either, just a few "jump jet" cruisers. Now it is time for annual exercises, so it is speculation that it is for the purposes for supporting or blocking (remember Suez?) an independent Israeli action. The Gulf is important, not to mention that mines can really make a first class disaster. Was it in the Clancy's novel "Red Storm Rising" or Sir John Hackett's "1984, the Third World War" that the lead up to the war was a mine striking a LNG tanker?
Comrade_McKenzie
(2,526 posts)heaven05
(18,124 posts)want to get a few hundred million human beings vaporized, they will do it no matter the protest or whether it is wrong. Most leaders, I feel, could give less than a damn about the unwashed masses. People like oh yeah, they're on the republican ticket asking to lead all of us to fiery hell in the name of saving us. The right wing has something to do with this war mongering headline scare. I have no doubt about it. Yep, Dear Mr. President, tread carefully.