U.S. warns Iran on Strait of Hormuz

[Nonda]

Watu wanapenda vita eh? Kusaini a "sanctions bill" kusaini vita?

Vita anazoanzisha US huanza na vikwanzo kwa nchi lengwa. Kwa hiyo, kimantiki ,mtu anaweza kusema US anajitayarisha kwa vita nyengine.
Vikwazo huwa na lengo la kuipunguza nguvu, kuidhoofisha nchi inayowekewa vikwazo.

 

[chilubi]

Shifting of power from west to East! Its time for China to gain the power,,,,, US imewauzia ndege aina ya F15 za kivita saudia, ili ajiandae na Vita dhidi ya Iran, US atatumia nguvu kdg tu lkn Saudia is likely to be affected most because the kingdom is protectibg ISRAEL and US intrests! Apo pana kitu kinaitwa fitna ambayo inapaliliwa ili waarabu wapigane wenyewe kwa wenyewe na kuchafua dini ya kiislam kwa kupiganisha Taifa la Iran ambalo ni Shia na taifa la Saudi ambalo ni Sunni!
Anyway why does US has to do things anavotaka yeye? Kwanini Iran isiwe na Nuclear? US ilikua ipigwe marufuku kuwa na silaha za Nuclear because waliwahi kutumia kule Hiroshima, lkn hakuna judgement yoyote against US!!! Its about time to end the rule from West let the power Shift to East now,,,,,,, i can feel WW3 will start so soon and it will be against EAST and WEST! west will include US, EUROPE East wil be Iran, Russia, china cant forget North Korea a threat to US!

 

[chilubi]

Africa tutabaki kusubiri ushahidi kamili tu

 

[Kibona]

Wapalestina hawana haki? Unaishi wapi wewe? Hebu mwulize Membe.
Kwa kifupi, Azimio la Umoja wa Mataifa 242 linasema: Israel inabidi kuondoka katika maeneo yote iliyoyateka mwaka 1967.
Jee unapinga Umoja wa Mataifa (UN)? Kama si Umoja wa Mataifa pasingekuwepo Israel, kwa sababu ni UN ndiyo iliyotoa uamuzi wa kugawa Palestina, nusu ya Wayahudi na Nusu ya Waarabu mwaka 1947.
Huwezi kukubali uamuzi huo, ukakataaa huu (unless, tena, UDINI). Hata huo UDINI nishazungumza hapa kuwa usi confuse Wayahudi na Ukristo. Infact, Uislamu uko karibu zaidi na Ukristo kuliko Uyahudi na Ukristo. At least, Waislamu wanamkubali Yesu, Wayahudi hawakubali haata kama alizaliwa na wanamwita bi Maria (m) ...shakum......
Zaidi ya hayo, maeneo yote matakatifu ya Wakristo huko Palestina, ukitoa Jerusalem, Myahudi kaishawarudishia Wapalestina, kuonesha kuwa hataki kujihusisha na Ukristo. Maeneo kama Bethlehem, Nazaret nk. Kuna Wakristo wengi zaidi katika maeneo waliyonayo Wapalestina hivi sasa kuliko katika maeneo ya Wayahudi.
Na kama watetea Israel kwa misingi hiyo, hebu nenda leo Tel Aviv na Biblia yako uhubiri wazi kwa Waisrael uone kitu gani kitakufika! Baadhi ya mambo kwa kweli ni ujinga. Pana haja ya kusafiri!

Usiwe na jazba sijali, mie naona wewe ndo una udini; unahangaikia sana palestina mbona huangaikii wakurdi na watamil? Sioni ni kwanini wapalestina wanapewa nguvu sana wapate taifa lao lakini hapohapo sisikii wakiungwa mkono watu wengine kama Watibet. Israel hawana haja ya kuondoka maana hawakalii sovereign state kwahiyo kama ishu ni wapalestina kukandamizwa basi wadai haki sawa kama waafrika walivyodai South Africa. Wewe kama ni mtu fair angalia pia ukandamizaji wanaopata waaborigine(Australia) Watamil(Srilanka) Wakurdi(Turkey na Iraq) Watibet(china) halafu upigie kelele sambamba na palestina. Usisukumwe na dini maana sio kila mtu anaiunga mkono israel kwasababu za kidini, wengine tunataka tujue ni kwanini waislam wanapiga sana kelele juu ya palestina wakati kuna sehemu watu wananyanyaswa zaidi ya palestina lakini waislam hawahangaiki. Mbona wasomali wamekufa sana lakini hatujasikia waislam wakipigia kelele suala la somalia. Sasa huoni kuwa tatizo ni kuwa mindset za waarabu ndo tatizo? wanaamini kuwa israel haitakiwa kuwepo pale wakati wanajua kuwa wayahudi hapo palikuwa ndo kwao japo hakukuwa na taifa la israel kama ambavyo halikuwepo la palestina. Kwanini waarabu wasiunge mkono wapalestina wawe part ya israel maana kama hakuna taifa la palestina sasa si wapalestina waishi kama kabila ktk taifa la israel! lakini wao wanapigania lazima kuwe na taifa la wapalestina kwa mipaka ya UN wakati mwanzoni walisema hawaitambui na wala hawaitambui israel.

 

[Ally Kombo]

Acha ku exagerate mambo. Iran haina uwezo kiasi hicho na hunya hunya ya sasa inadhihirisha jinsi tumbo linavyomsokota. Uwezo wa nchi za magharibi kuipiga Iran uko wazi na Iran inajua haiwezi kufua dafu mberle ya wababe hao. Tena naungana na wachangiaji waliosema itakuwa hatari kwa Iran kuachiwa kumiliki silaha za kinyuklia kwani kufanya hivyo ni kumkabidhi kichaa azurure na bunduki iliyosheheni risasi. Kwa rekodi tu Iran haikushinda vita dhidi ya Iraq bali ni Iraq ndiyo iliibuka mshindi kwa msaada wa Marekani. Ropoka ropoka ya Karzai itaiponza nchi na watu wake.

......................Sasa hao wenye akili (Marekani) walipopiga NAGASAKI na HIROSHIMA, akili zao walimkabidhi nani awashikie ? Unaongea hayo kwa kuelewa au kukariri na mazoea ?

 

[Candid Scope]

Iran warns U.S. aircraft carrier not to return


Iran's army chief issues the most aggressive statement yet as tensions flare in the Gulf.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran threatened Tuesday to take action if the U.S. Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf, Tehran's most aggressive statement yet after weeks of saber-rattling as new U.S. and EU financial sanctions take a toll on its economy. The prospect of sanctions targeting the oil sector in a serious way for the first time has hit Iran's rial currency, which has fallen by 40 percent against the dollar in the past month. Queues formed at banks and some currency exchange offices shut their doors as Iranians scrambled to buy dollars to protect their savings from the currency's fall.

Army chief Ataollah Salehi said the United States had moved an aircraft carrier out of the Gulf from because of Iran's naval exercises, and Iran would take action if the ship returned. It did not name the carrier, but the USS John C Stennis leads a task force in the region, and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet website pictured it in the Arabian Sea last week. "Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," army chief Salehi said. "I advise, recommend and warn them over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once."

 

[MpigaKura]

Msemaji wa Pentagon: Marekani haina mpango wa kutaka kukwaruzana na Iran

Msemaji wa Wizara ya Ulinzi ya Marekani amesema kuwa nchi hiyo haitaki kukwaruzana na Jamhuri ya Kiislamu ya Iran. George Little msemaji wa Wizara ya Ulinzi ya Marekani (Pentagon) ameeleza kuwa hakuna kiongozi yoyote wa White House mwenye lengo la kukabiliana na Jamhuri ya Kiislamu ya Iran katika lango la Hormoz. Msemaji wa Wizara ya Ulinzi ya Marekani amesisitiza kuwa Marekani haina mpango wowote wa kutuma meli zake za kivita katika eneo la Ghuba ya Uajemi. George Little anatoa matamshi hayo kwamba Washington haina nia ya kukabiliana na Iran katika hali ambayo Meja Jenerali Ataullah Salehi Kamanda Mkuu wa majeshi ya Jamhuri ya Kiislamu ya Iran jana alisisitiza kuwa jeshi la Iran limejiandaa kikamilifu kukabiliana na kitisho cha aina yoyote na akaashiria pia kuondoka meli ya kivita ya Marekani huko katika Ghuba ya Uajemi na kuelekea katika bahari ya Oman sambamba na kufanyika maneva ya Wilaya 90. Meja Jenerali Salehi amesema wameitaarifu meli hiyo ya Marekani kuwa isirejee katika Ghuba ya Uajemi kwa sababu Iran haitatosheka na kutoa taarifa tu kuhusiana na hatua hiyo.

SOURCE: Msemaji wa Pentagon: Marekani haina mpango wa kutaka kukwaruzana na Iran

 

[HT]

Shifting of power from west to East! Its time for China to gain the power,,,,, US imewauzia ndege aina ya F15 za kivita saudia, ili ajiandae na Vita dhidi ya Iran, US atatumia nguvu kdg tu lkn Saudia is likely to be affected most because the kingdom is protectibg ISRAEL and US intrests! Apo pana kitu kinaitwa fitna ambayo inapaliliwa ili waarabu wapigane wenyewe kwa wenyewe na kuchafua dini ya kiislam kwa kupiganisha Taifa la Iran ambalo ni Shia na taifa la Saudi ambalo ni Sunni!
Anyway why does US has to do things anavotaka yeye? Kwanini Iran isiwe na Nuclear? US ilikua ipigwe marufuku kuwa na silaha za Nuclear because waliwahi kutumia kule Hiroshima, lkn hakuna judgement yoyote against US!!! Its about time to end the rule from West let the power Shift to East now,,,,,,, i can feel WW3 will start so soon and it will be against EAST and WEST! west will include US, EUROPE East wil be Iran, Russia, china cant forget North Korea a threat to US!

kama huyawezi bora uwe mtazamaji(sio Mtazamaji wa JF)

 

[NICK2275]

Iran warns U.S. aircraft carrier not to return


Iran's army chief issues the most aggressive statement yet as tensions flare in the Gulf.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran threatened Tuesday to take action if the U.S. Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf, Tehran's most aggressive statement yet after weeks of saber-rattling as new U.S. and EU financial sanctions take a toll on its economy. The prospect of sanctions targeting the oil sector in a serious way for the first time has hit Iran's rial currency, which has fallen by 40 percent against the dollar in the past month. Queues formed at banks and some currency exchange offices shut their doors as Iranians scrambled to buy dollars to protect their savings from the currency's fall.

Army chief Ataollah Salehi said the United States had moved an aircraft carrier out of the Gulf from because of Iran's naval exercises, and Iran would take action if the ship returned. It did not name the carrier, but the USS John C Stennis leads a task force in the region, and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet website pictured it in the Arabian Sea last week. "Iran will not repeat its warning ... the enemy's carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of our drill. I recommend and emphasize to the American carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf," army chief Salehi said. "I advise, recommend and warn them over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once."

kauli ya huyu army chief inafurahisha sana

 

[Nonda]

Msemaji wa Pentagon: Marekani haina mpango wa kutaka kukwaruzana na Iran

George Little anatoa matamshi hayo kwamba Washington haina nia ya kukabiliana na Iran katika hali ambayo Meja Jenerali Ataullah Salehi Kamanda Mkuu wa majeshi ya Jamhuri ya Kiislamu ya Iran jana alisisitiza kuwa jeshi la Iran limejiandaa kikamilifu kukabiliana na kitisho cha aina yoyote na akaashiria pia kuondoka meli ya kivita ya Marekani huko katika Ghuba ya Uajemi na kuelekea katika bahari ya Oman sambamba na kufanyika maneva ya Wilaya 90. Meja Jenerali Salehi amesema wameitaarifu meli hiyo ya Marekani kuwa isirejee katika Ghuba ya Uajemi kwa sababu Iran haitatosheka na kutoa taarifa tu kuhusiana na hatua hiyo.

SOURCE: Msemaji wa Pentagon: Marekani haina mpango wa kutaka kukwaruzana na Iran

Thousands of US troops deploying to Israel

Without much media attention, thousands of American troops are being deployed to Israel, and Iranian officials believe that this is the latest and most blatant warning that the US will soon be attacking Tehran.

Zaidi hapa https://rt.com/usa/news/us-troops-israel-iran-257/

 

[MpigaKura]

Uingereza: Hatuna mpango wa kuanzisha vita dhidi ya Iran

Waziri wa Ulinzi wa Uingereza amesema kuwa, London inapinga mpango wowote wa kuanzisha vita vya kijeshi dhidi ya Iran kwani inaamini kuwa jambo hilo litahatarisha uchumi wa dunia kwa kuvuruga biashara ya mafuta hususan yanayopita katika Lango Bahari la Hormuz linalomilikiwa na Iran. Asilimia kubwa ya meli za mafuta ya dunia zinapitia kwenye Lango Bahari la Hormuz la Iran na Tehran imetishia kuwa itafunga lango hilo kama itashambuliwa. Akizungumza kwenye mkutano uliohusiana na jeshi la NATO huko mjini Washington, Marekani, Waziri wa Ulinzi wa Uingereza, Philip Hammond amesema, nchi yake haiungi mkono suala la kuanzisha vita dhidi ya Iran. Amesema, London inapenda kuona mirija na njia zote za uchumi wa dunia zinaachwa wazi, huru na zenye kufanya kazi bila kusita.

SOURCE: Uingereza: Hatuna mpango wa kuanzisha vita dhidi ya Iran

 

[jmushi1]

Leo kuna habari kuwa boti za mwendo wa kasi za kivita za Irani zili izingira meli ya kivita ya US na kudai kuwa waliwakaribia kwa disatance ambayo ni very close, na pia AK47 ikiwa imeelekezwa kwa wanajeshi hao wa marekani.

Kasheshe ilitulia mara baada ya meli ya kivita ya Iran kufika eneo hilo, so the situation is still very tense, sijui kama hii vita iataweza kuepukwa.

 

[Nonda]

Gonga Obama's secret Letter to Khamenei & War Game « News About Iran

Bofya Obama secretly warns Iran against closing Strait of Hormuz, report says - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Tembelea hii http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/w...z.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all&pagewanted=all

 

[kukomya]

As US is pulling out of the war zone in Irag, it definitely would like to stay out of wars for a long time so it gets time to rebuild its economy after spending massive amount of resources in both Iraq and in Afghanistan. However, make no mistake to believe that US has been weakened by those wars. If it becomes necessary to wage a destructive war against Iran, that war will not last more than two weeks before Iran falls. The main cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to US was that of rebuilding those countries after destroying them; so if US decides to just destroy Iran and never engage in rebuilding, it is obvious that US will prevail.

Well said Mkuu, It seems Iran is trying to draw the US to unnecessary war due to the belief that the country is incapacitated by the effects of Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It is obvious that should a war erupt between the two, the US stands to be supported by most countries including China and Russia as the closure of the straight will affect them also.
In the event of war erupting between the two, Iran stands to suffer heavily as the US military mighty is capable of taking the war deep into the Iranian territory while Iran doesn't have that military capability.

 

[Saint Ivuga]

First incident between US and Iranian vessels in Strait of Hormuz

*Video released by the US Department of Defense shows armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats approaching the USS New Orleans at high speed. The boats came within several hundred yards of the amphibious transport ship and did not react to warnings, Interfax reports. A similar incident occurred off the coast of Kuwait as another Revolutionary Guard boat with guns clearly visible trailed a US Coast Guard ship. Although both incidents occurred on January 6, the information was only released on Saturday. The provocative maneuvers came as Tehran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if the US and EU impose sanctions against Iranian oil exports over its alleged nuclear weapons program. With one-sixth of the world's oil passing through the strait, fears of potential clashes between Iran and the US have grown as the US has considerably increased its troop presence in Kuwait to 15,000 over the last few weeks.

 

[Saint Ivuga]

[h=2]US military operation against Iran would be a grave mistake[/h] Get short URL
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Published: 14 January, 2012, 02:04

Satirical mural of Statue of Liberty on the wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran


The Iran controversy is heating up. Writer and political analyst Igor Panarin believes the US should heed the reasoning of Russia, China and Turkey and refrain from going to war with Iran.
In the article below, Panarin explains his view.**
The government of Iran has already accused Israel of being behind the assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the Iranian nuclear scientist who was killed in Tehran earlier this month. Iran has also announced that Roshan's death will not hinder its nuclear program.

Roshan's assassination came at the height of the renewed tension between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program. Threatened with ramped-up economic sanctions by the United States, Iran has declared that it may respond by sealing the Strait of Hormuz with its navy. This brings the longstanding stand-off between the US and Iran to a probable theater of operations for first time in many years in the Strait of Hormuz.

Following Tehran's warning, the US Navy promptly sent its Fifth Fleet aircraft carrier group to the Persian Gulf, with British naval elements hurrying to join their American allies.

Meanwhile, Iran held a naval exercise titled Velayat-90 (Supremacy-90) between 24 December 2011 and 2 January 2012. The war game covered a vast area from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The scale of the exercise served to display Iran's readiness to engage in naval warfare outside the Persian Gulf. The Iranian Navy also used the war game to test-fire its new long-range cruise missiles, demonstrating its capability to hit US Gulf bases, Israel, and America's Arab allies in the region.

Tehran declared the drill a huge success, announcing that Stage Two of the naval exercise will follow in February. The situation is obviously developing very fast.

The Iranian exercise was promptly followed by an exchange in media assaults and aggressive rhetoric between Washington and Tehran. The two latest developments – Roshan's murder and Iran's announcement regarding its 20 per cent uranium enrichment capabilities – have propelled their already heated stand-off to the point of highly flammable. Threats of new sanctions by the West merely contribute to aggravating the situation. As the European Union stated its intention to decide on banning crude-oil imports from Iran during its coming Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on 23 January this year, Tehran announced it would respond by shutting down marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which accommodates almost 40 per cent of global seaborne oil shipments, putting through some 15-17 million barrels a day. This would effectively bar about 90 per cent of aggregate oil exports by all Gulf nations from the global market.

The Iranian naval forces, which consist of the regular navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards' Navy, have always been a vital stakeholder for seaborne trade through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has allowed international commercial traffic through its territorial waters voluntarily, based on the UN Law of the Sea Convention III, which stipulates the right of "innocent passage" through any territorial waters for vessels to ensure fast and unimpeded transit between open ports and the high sea. Although Iran has not ratified the convention and is therefore not bound to comply with it, it has nonetheless abided by its provisions in good faith for the most part.

Russia expressed its attitude on the issue on 12 January through a public statement by deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabkov, who called upon both Iran and the West to abstain from any action that may aggravate the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
China maintains a largely similar stance, having just rejected US secretary of the treasury Timothy Geithner's call for a significant reduction in Iranian oil imports by China. Geithner addressed the People's Republic with this appeal during his visit to Beijing last week.

Russia's National Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev also made an appearance to address the issue on 12 January this year. He warned of a possible military escalation of the conflict, claiming that Israel was egging on Washington for aggressive military action.

Despite the US Navy's formidable power, the Persian Gulf's narrow inlet makes it highly vulnerable for a ground-to-ship missile strike from Iran. Even Iranian speedboats can pose a serious threat to American carriers and destroyers due to their small size coupled with their high speed, which makes them difficult to spot before they get within killing range of large US battleships. Iran can also target the Fifth Fleet with its cruise missiles from the Gulf's northern shore. Its other military assets include midget submarines, aerial drones, air-cushion vehicles, frogman squads and floating mines. Therefore, even though a military showdown between the US Navy and Iranian armed forces is likely to be a case of asymmetric warfare, Iran would have both a variety of lethal military capabilities and geography on its side.

In the words of Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergey Ryabko, "a military operation against Iran would be a most grave mistake, a very crude miscalculation. The consequences of such a hypothetical development of events would be most far-reaching for regional and global security."

Russia's opposition to a Western military operation against Iran was made most explicit recently as Moscow sent its own aircraft carrier group to the port of Tartus in Syria. China has been similarly opposed to any military action against either Syria or Iran, warning that an armed conflict in the Gulf would be disastrous for the global economy and result in a humanitarian crisis.

Turkey's reluctance to back a war on Iran also poses a significant constraint for a Western military gamble. Ankara has insisted on staying within diplomatic boundaries in addressing the Iranian nuclear controversy. Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu recently tabled Turkey's proposal to host an international conference on the Iranian nuclear issue.

The attitude of powerful regional and global actors such as Russia, China and Turkey suggests that it would be rather prudent of Washington to follow their advice and resort to renewed diplomatic effort vis-à-vis Iran rather than enter into yet another Middle-Eastern quagmire with a highly unpredictable outcome

 

[Saint Ivuga]

Fear and loathing in Central Asia: Will US go to war with Iran?

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Published: 14 January, 2012, 14:40
Edited: 14 January, 2012, 21:30

Undated handout shows Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attending military maneuvers in an undiclosed location (REUTERS/Leader.ir/Handout)

TRENDS: Iran tension
TAGS: Arms, Conflict, Military, Politics, History, Iran, USA, Katerina Azarova, War

As sparks fly dangerously close to the powder keg of US-Iranian relations, speculation is rife and rumors are spreading like wildfire. Will there be a war? Who wants it? And what will happen to this very lucrative region?
Google the words "Iran", "USA" and "war" and you get over 140 million hits. Many believe the possibility of a military conflict between the two is not even a question of "if", but a question of "when". And there is definitely enough evidence around to lend support to these beliefs.
Let's break it down. Will there be a war? According to Israeli military analysts quoted by Global Research, an independent research and media organization, that possibility is "dangerously close". But let us say analysts, especially military ones, are of the boy-scout-always-be-prepared disposition by nature. What other evidence is there?
Occam's Razor states that the simplest explanation is the most plausible. Logic tells us to follow the money – and in this case, the cases of weapons shipped out by the US. So where are they headed to?
In October 2010, the US negotiated a $67 billion deal with Saudi Arabia to supply the latter with bunker-buster bombs, F-15 fighter jets, Black Hawk and Apache helicopters, Patriot-2 missiles and warships. It is, in simple terms, the largest bilateral weapons deal in US history.
One month later, in November, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the United States will provide the United Arab Emirates with "thousands of advanced ‘bunker-buster' bombs and other munitions, part of a stepped-up US effort to build a regional coalition to counter Iran."
Washington also plans to supply Stinger and other missiles to Oman. Kuwait is in for $900 million worth of Patriot missiles. And a $53-billion arms deal with Bahrain is still on the agenda – delayed only because of pressure from international lawmakers and human rights groups.
So the United States is increasing military ties with its allies, one might claim. And it is true, but all those allies are conveniently located in the Persian Gulf…right next to Iran.

Click to enlarge
It is not just weapons, either. Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman all have US military bases on their territory. This month, an additional 15,000 American troops were dispatched to the US base in Kuwait.

With the US most likely asking NATO in for a piece of the action, alliance members like Turkey are perfectly positioned to lend a helping hand. Besides being conveniently close geographically, Ankara has also been holding on to a lot of US nuclear weapons, including a large number of B61 bombs.
But all this does, effectively, is to highlight the military capabilities of the US in the region. Categorically stating all this is being done by the Department of Defense as part of a preparation for war with Iran would be irresponsible – until the Pentagon men say so themselves.
Oh wait…they have been. For years.
In late 2005, then CIA director Porter Goss, who was visiting Ankara, requested that the Turkish prime minister "provide political and logistical support for air strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets."
In 2006, the Israeli prime minister green-lit a military strike against Iran. Various staged war games always focused on the possibility of military conflict with Iran. And all these years later, Secretary of State Clinton's former advisor on Iran still says Obama is more than willing to launch a pre-emptive strike.
Michel Chossudovsky, economist and director of the Centre for Research on Globalization, says there have been specific, detailed military plans for war with Iran since 2003.
"These war plans go back to the 1990s or even before that. If you look at active war plans, you can say May 2003, when the Department of Defense came up with the strategic concept plan CON8022, dubbed "Global Strike". The framework of attacking Iran and the scenarios and the war plans have been going on for the last eight years. We have so much evidence of covert operations, of scenarios, of drone attacks, of regime change scenarios. And it's not only the United States that are preparing. The Iranians have been preparing for this war for years. They have the S-300 missile defense system, very extensive ground forces – enough to overrun the remaining US forces in Iraq. Our estimates are that Iran can mobilize 1 million troops overnight."
Preparations, strong allies in the region, huge defense budget for 2012 – all the signs point to the Americans getting ready for a potential war. But when – and how – does it start?
According to the editor-in-chief of Russia's National Defense magazine, Igor Korotchenko, anything can trigger the triggers. "If the US pushes through more sanctions and Iran closes off the Strait of Hormuz in return, that could easily be enough. Basically, Washington will use any convenient reason that appears legitimate cause for the international community to attack."
And with the upcoming US-Israeli war games in the Strait of Hormuz, analysts like Chossudovsky say a convenient reason will be very easy to come by. "The strait is very narrow. There's not a lot of space before Iran's territorial waters begin. And they would have to respond to a violation of its territorial waters." He goes on to speculate that, faced with such a violation, Iran would have no choice but to send an ultimatum to the Fifth Fleet commanders there, which will be ignored for some reason. Then, according to international law, a second ultimatum. If that is ignored, Iran has no choice but to act – leaving America in its preferred position of reacting.
History does support this notion of provocation being a favored US military tactic. Richard Sanders of the Coalition Against the Arms Trade looked at US war history in detail and came out with a rather disturbing conclusion: starting from the Mexican-American War in 1846, pretext incidents have been used every time; incidents that were later disproved, or re-interpreted by historians, journalists and political committees; incidents that have become a military trademark for one of the world's youngest, but war-hungriest nations.
Sanders' statement is echoed by many – including [url]www.infowars.com[/URL] associate editor Patrick Henningsen. Examples he highlights are historical facts that show just how manipulative the US Department of Defense can be. "This is how the US was able to fake their way into the Vietnam War, via the infamous Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Likewise, Israel's slaughter of the USS Liberty naval crew in 1967 was designed as a false flag event, but luckily Russia intervened at the last minute before Israel could sink the American ship."
It would not be the first time the US has tried to push Iran's buttons. As revealed by a senior British officer a few years ago, there were times in Iraq when the US military commanders ordered British troops to prepare a full-scale ground offensive against Iranian forces that had crossed the border and grabbed disputed territory. "If we had attacked the Iranian positions, all hell would have broken loose," the unnamed officer said.
Unfortunately, "all hell breaking loose" is a scenario that is still not off the table. Iran, while not having many allies willing to go to bat for it in the region, can still put up a fight.
Iran plays a critical role in the Persian Gulf and with its strategic geography not only dominates the Northern Gulf but the shipping lines both inside and outside the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's leadership adheres to a "no first strike doctrine" and thus Iran has launched no wars of choice in modern history. The Iranian constitution bans the establishment of any foreign military bases in the country, even for peaceful purposes.
Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran also divided its armed forces into regular and revolutionary components. The Iran's Revolutionary Guards is separated from the regular army and has its own Navy, Aerospace and Ground Forces, as well as Special Forces.
And past experiences have also shown that for the American Armed Forces, a war with Iran, a country that is larger in population than the four countries recently invaded by the US put together, will not be a walk in the park. The Pentagon's own war games in 2002 showed that in the event of an armed conflict, the United States would be overwhelmed by Iran in the Persian Gulf.
As speculated by researcher and sociologist Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, "Despite its might and shear strength, geography literally works against US naval power in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. The relative narrowness of the Persian Gulf makes it like a channel, at least in a strategic and military context. Figuratively speaking, the aircraft carriers and warships of the US are confined to narrow waters or are closed in within the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf. This is where the Iranian military's advanced missile capabilities come into play. The Iranian missile and torpedo arsenal would make short work of US naval assets in the waters of the Persian Gulf where US vessels are constricted."
Allies-wise, Iran is more or less on its own. Syria, its closest ally, is too caught up in the almost year-long violence that has been shaking the country, Armenia is a possible one and Lebanon's Hezbollah could shift their allegiance either way. The Shanghai Cooperation Council is a regional organization that has a few powerful friends, namely China and Russia, but whether they would want to get involved in an all-out military conflict is doubtful.
A statement made by Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Russian Duma Committee for International Affairs, said that "a military operation against Iran could have grave consequences. And Russia should make every effort to control emotions, bring negotiations back into the field of political and expert discussion, and not allow any such action against Iran."
This was seconded in a recent comment by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who said that an attack on Iran will be regarded as a direct threat to Russia.

"Iran is our close neighbor, just south of the Caucasus. Should anything happen to Iran, should Iran get drawn into any political or military hardships, this will be a direct threat to our national security," stressed Rogozin on January 13 at the Russian mission to NATO.
As for China, it is showing Tehran some support by refusing to fold under US pressure and halt oil imports from Iran. But it has never been one to show its hand before it had to, so the extent of China's potential involvement in the conflict is also open to debate.
Some analysts, like Patrick Henningsen, believe that should other countries get drawn into the conflict, it could signify the beginning of a new, economical Cold War-era. Henningsen says that "We have the ideal set of conditions for a New Cold War to emerge in the early 21st century – one where the Western Axis powers of the US, Europe, Israel and GCC countries sit on one side, and with Iran, Syria, Pakistan, China, and perhaps Russia sitting on the opposite side. This New Cold War will be more about sub-regional dominance in terms of economics – natural gas, mineral and trade relationships, as well as petroleum – than it will about the political ideologies that seemed to dominate the previous 20th-century Cold War."
As sparks fly and tensions reach critical points, experts and analysts argue over who will start the war, why they will start the war, how the war will develop, whether it will spill out into World War III and what will happen in the end. Opinions are varied, detailed and range from the simplistic and obvious to the complex and conspiratorial.
And the only one thing they all agree on? That it is not a matter of if the war between the United States and Iran will happen. It is a matter of when.
*Katerina Azarova, RT

 

[Saint Ivuga]

[h=2]US to occupy Persian Gulf? 'Iran is not a sitting duck!'
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Published: 13 January, 2012, 04:01
Edited: 13 January, 2012, 15:13



Iranian navy conducts the "Velayat-90" naval wargames in the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran. (AFP Photo/Jamejamonlne/Ebrahim Noroozi)
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TRENDS: Iran tension
TAGS: Conflict, Nuclear, Politics, Iran, USA, Bill Dod, Israel, War

With US and UK warships gathering in the Persian Gulf and US troops deployed in Israel, tensions in the region keep rising. But a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel explained to RT that Western powers are unlikely to invade Iran.
The Obama administration, through its secret channels, warned Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei that closing the Strait of Hormuz would be crossing a "red line" which will not be tolerated, New York Times reported on Thursday.

According to the newspaper, the officials declined to disclose whether they had received any response from the Iranian side.
Last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin E. Dempsey, said that in case of the closure of the strait, through which 16 million barrels of oil pass every day, the United States will "take action and reopen the strait." This would involve military means, including warship escorts, air strikes and minesweepers.

On Thursday Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that his country will not tolerate closure of the passage.

Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, who worked in the Pentagon and the National Security Agency, believes the tensions are a part of a long-term provocation by the West against Iran.
"In some way this is a continuation of a long, long, long provocation with that country. And certainly we work with Israel in doing that. When oil prices drop a little bit – stoke the fires."
Kwiatkowski believes the US has no serious intention of putting any ground troops in Iran because Iran is a much stronger country than Iraq and Afghanistan.
"That would be an instant loss for the United States to do that," she stated. "Iran is a very much different terrain. It has a very effective army. It can defend itself. Iran is not a sitting duck."
She predicts instead there will be a lot of rhetoric on both sides with continued low-level harassment.
Kwiatkowski also claims that the tensions could be a part of a long-term trend to decrease US dependence on the oil that passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
"In a more strategic sense the periodic threat of having the Strait of Hormuz limited or shut down for any short period of time in some way incentivizes these alternative routes for getting the oil to the world markets."
However, Lindsey German from the Stop the War Coalition, believes the sanctions and military pressure could indeed lead to absolutely devastating consequences.
"The troop movements, the ships in the gulf, all of this points to more and more pressure on Iran, and even when people say nobody will be mad enough to start this war… people have said this before and there have been these wars. Sometimes they can start quite accidentally as a result of this kind of pressure," German told RT.
German believes the pressure is not justified and that the US and Israel are playing a very dangerous game.
"It is absolutely well known that the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons is Israel, and yet Israel feels it has a justification for waging air strikes and possibly other forms of attack on a country it accuses of wanting to develop the same weapons that it [Israel] already has."

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Robert Naiman, policy director of US-based NGO Just Foreign Policy, says the Iranian threat is being overblown by American politicians – with even the highest officials silenced if they dare question it.
"Defense Secretary Panetta was on Face the Nation on Sunday and [when he was asked] ‘Are they trying to build a nuclear weapon?' [Panetta replied] ‘No.' And the very next night PBS News Hour edited it out, that statement by Panetta, and used his remarks to try and argue the opposite," he told RT. "This is part of the pattern in US media. Its certainly part of the pattern in the presidential campaign."

 

[Neter]

Iran Is ~ NOT ~ Our Enemy

 

[Saint Ivuga]

[h=2]US stations 15,000 troops in Kuwait
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Published: 13 January, 2012, 22:25

U.S. Army soldiers (AFP Photo / Joe Raedle)

TAGS: Military, Asia, Iran, USA, War

The United States is not at war with Iran yet, but just in case,the Pentagon says they want to be prepared. To do so, the Department of Defense has dispatched 15,000 troops to the neighboring nation of Kuwait.
Gen. James Mattis, the Marine Corps head that rules over the US Central Command, won approval late last year from the White House to deploy the massive surge to the tiny West Asian country Kuwait, which is separated from Iran by only a narrow span of the Persian Gulf.
The latest deployment, which was ushered in without much presentation to the public, adds a huge number of troops aligned with America's arsenal that are now surrounding Iran on literally every front. In late 2011, the US equipped neighboring United Arab Emirates with advanced weaponry created to disrupt underground nuclear operations. In adjacent Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, American military presence has long been all but enormous.
While the US has not placed any boots on the ground in Iran, an unauthorized surveillance mission of a US steal drone in December prompted Tehran to become enraged at Washington. US officials insist that Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weaponry program, despite lacking sufficient evidence or confirmation. During the drone mission, Iran authorities intercepted the craft and forced it into a safe landing. Tensions have only worsened between the two nations in the month since, but Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that stealth missions into Iran will continue "absolutely," despite ongoing opposition from overseas.
In calling for the latest surge to Kuwait, Gen.Mattis said the deployment was necessary to keep Iran in check and keep America prepared for any other threats in the area. It comes only weeks after the last American troops vacated nearby Iraq, where the US still in actuality has an advance presence - the American embassy in Baghdad employs thousands of armed military contractors.
The move to build up military presence in Kuwait comes at a time when the foreign government is at odds to a degree with a US. While protesters in America this week have demonstrated against the ten year anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, the Kuwait government has increased efforts to have two of their own men transferred out of Gitmo and sent back home. Both Fawzi al-Odah and Fayiz al-Kandari have been detained at Guantanamo since 2002, although only one of the two Kuwaiti citizens has ever been charged.