Three major US naval strike forces due this week in Persian Gulf

Three major US naval strike forces due this week in Persian Gulf

August 11, 2008, 10:37 AM (GMT+02:00)
New America armada around Iran

New America armada around Iran

DEBKAfileâ??s military sources note that the arrival of the three new American flotillas will raise to five the number of US strike forces in Middle East waters â?? an unprecedented build-up since the crisis erupted over Iranâ??s nuclear program.

This vast naval and air strength consists of more than 40 carriers, warships and submarines, some of the last nuclear-armed, opposite the Islamic Republic, a concentration last seen just before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Our military sources postulate five objects of this show of American muscle:

1. The US, aided also by France, Britain and Canada, is finalizing preparations for a partial naval blockade to deny Iran imports of benzene and other refined oil products. This action would indicate that the Bush administration had thrown in the towel on stiff United Nations sanctions and decided to take matters in its own hands.

2. Iran, which imports 40 percent of its refined fuel products from Gulf neighbors, will retaliate for the embargo by shutting the Strait of Hormuz oil route chokepoint, in which case the US naval and air force stand ready to reopen the Strait and fight back any Iranian attempt to break through the blockade.

3. Washington is deploying forces as back-up for a possible Israeli military attack on Iranâ??s nuclear installations.

4. A potential rush of events in which a US-led blockade, Israeli attack and Iranian reprisals pile up in a very short time and precipitate a major military crisis.

5. While a massive deployment of this nature calls for long planning, its occurrence at this time cannot be divorced from the flare-up of the Caucasian war between Russia and Georgia. While Russia has strengthened its stake in Caspian oil resources by its overwhelming military intervention against Georgia, the Americans are investing might in defending the primary Persian Gulf oil sources of the West and the Far East.

DEBKAfileâ??s military sources name the three US strike forces en route to the Gulf as the USS Theodore Roosevelt , the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Iwo Jima . Already in place are the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea opposite Iranian shores and the USS Peleliu which is cruising in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Kuwait on alert for war in Persian Gulf?
Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:58:03 GMT
USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier
Kuwait has activated its Emergency War Plan after an armada of US naval battle groups headed for the Persian Gulf, Middle East Times reports.

The report comes after DEBKAfiles claimed on Monday that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Iwo Jima are sailing toward the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike forces in the region.

The US naval force is accompanied by a British Royal Navy carrier battle group and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine.

The deployment is believed to be the largest naval task force assembled by the United States and its allies in the region since the Persian Gulf war in 1991.

The move comes nearly a week after Operation Brimstone, which saw more than a dozen warships from US, British and French naval forces conduct war games in the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for a possible confrontation with Iran.

Kuwait, located on the coast of Persian Gulf, has placed its military on 'war alert' to avoid being caught off-guard by any possible conflict in the region.

"Kuwait was caught by surprise last time, when Iraqi troops invaded the small emirate and routed the Kuwaiti army in just a few hours," a former US diplomat to Kuwait told the Middle East Times.

Washington and allies accuse Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing a military nuclear program and have threatened to launch military strikes on Iran should the country continue its uranium enrichment.

The UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency, has confirmed that Iran's uranium enrichment does not exceed 3 percent and is therefore within the limits of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The military build-up in the Persian Gulf comes amid speculation that Israel is lobbying to push the Bush administration to launch a joint attack on Iran before President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009.

CS/BGH

A naval engagement is a great way to start a war, no witnesses...the only information you get about the event is spoon-fed.

Just like the Gulf of Tonkin event.

This is how Bush displays "diplomacy".
Yup fellas, get ready for another terror attack too.
Blame it on Iran and like magic, a war starts that will involve MANY nations of this one I think, including the American Union and the European Union against Russia, China, Iran, India
Russia has been displaying its muscle power with the Georgians, so why not the US and EU?

Lots of strange things going on so rapidly--just before the election!

Go figure!! pr:wtf:

Bush has to finish his plans...This is bad news..very bad news..we don't need to piss those crazy sons of bitches off any more than they already are..let alone fucking threaten them