Iran Warns U.S. Over Aircraft Carrier

[Tams 20]

Iran warned the United States Tuesday not to return a U.S. aircraft carrier "to the Persian Gulf region."

 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/03/world/meast/iran-u-s-/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

 

I afraid a war is inevitable... probably within the next 90 days.

 

:-(

[MightyMouse 12]

BBC News - Iran nuclear crisis: Sanctions 'beginning to bite'

[UrmaBlume 10]

Iran warned the United States Tuesday not to return a U.S. aircraft carrier "to the Persian Gulf region."Iran warns U.S. over aircraft carrier - CNN.comI afraid a war is inevitable... probably within the next 90 days.:-(

 

You are probably right Tams - except sooner than 90 days and not just in the Gulf.

 

Don't forget that since the 1950's Turkey has been a US surrogate in certain covert areas (U2 Flights and the missles that settled the Cuban Crisis) and Syria is Iran's most significant surrogate.

 

From Debka:

 

"Military tensions are building up on Syria's borders. Wednesday, Jan. 4, Turkish military sources reported sighting an Israeli Eitan (Heron) drone in the sky above the Turkish Hawk Brigade 14 stationed on the northern Syrian border at Kirikhan in the Hatay district of southern Turkey. The Israeli drone was said to have hovered over the encampment for four hours.

 

A request by local Turkish officers to fire anti-air missiles to down the Israeli Eitan went unanswered by the Turkish general staff until the drone was gone. According to the Turkish sources, two Turkish F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from the Diyarbakir 2nd Air Force Command Strike Center and stayed overhead as long as the Israeli drone was present.

 

debkafile reports this is the first time Israeli UAV's have been reported monitoring events on the Turkish-Syrian border. On Dec. 16, our sources disclosed 21 Syrian Scud missile launchers had been stationed opposite Hatay province as a warning to Turkey, NATO and Arab forces to stay out of the Syrian uprising.

 

Then, on Dec. 27, our military sources reported that Qatar had organized and funded an airlift to Hatay of Libyan militia fighters under the command of former Abdelhakim Belhaj, ex-al Qaeda and commander of Islamic Fighting Group in Libya-IFG which seized control of Tripoli. He has established a command post in the Turkish town of Antakya (Antioch).

 

The Libyan and Free Syrian Army-FASA fighters are training together in Turkish military camps, the main

one being the Hawk Brigade 14 over which the Israeli drone hovered. It is expected to be the main jumping off base for any foreign military intervention in Syria.

 

Across the border meanwhile, Syria continues its military buildup.

 

At the opposite end of Syria, the southern Horan province, fierce battles raged Tuesday, Jan. 4 between Syrian troops and mutineers of the 38th Mechanized Brigade, the bulk of which has gone over to the anti-Assad opposition. Both sides fighting with heavy T-72 tanks and artillery around Sida, a village in the Syrian-Jordanian-Israeli border triangle, suffered dozens of casualties.

 

The 38th Brigade belongs to the 7th Division which is stationed on the Syrian-Israeli border which cuts through the Golan. Sounds of gunfire were clearly heard in Israel. The brigade was the largest military unit to have deserted Bashar Assad's army in the ten-month popular uprising against his regime."

[UrmaBlume 10]

Seems like the situation in the Middle East just keeps on getting hotter and hotter.

 

Again from Debka:

 

"The armies of Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council states stood ready Thursday Jan. 5, for Washington to stand up to Iranian threats and send an aircraft carrier or several warships through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. Riyadh has been leaning hard on the Obama administration not to let Tehran get away with its warning to react with "full force" if the USS Stennis aircraft carrier tried to reenter the Gulf or Iran's pretensions to control the traffic transiting the world's most important oil route.

 

Wednesday night, the Iranian parliament began drafting a bill prohibiting foreign warships from entering the Gulf without Tehran's permission.

 

debkafile's Washington sources report that Saudi Arabia has warned the Obama administration that Iranian leaders mean what they say; their leaders are bent on provoking a military clash with the United States at a time and place of their choosing, rather than leaving the initiative to Washington. To this end, Iranian officials are ratcheting up their belligerence day after day.

 

Notwithstanding their military inferiority, the Iranians believe they can snatch a measure of success from a military confrontation, just as the Lebanese Hizballah did in the 2006 war against Israel. In any case, they expect any clash to be limited – at least at first. The two sides will begin by feeling for the opposite side's weaknesses while endeavoring to hold the line against a full-blown war.

 

America's failure to rise to Iran's challenge will confirm its rulers in the conviction that the US is a paper tiger and encourage them to press their advantage for new gains.

 

The assessment of British military experts Thursday, Jan. 5, was that the question now is: Who will blink first? Will the US follow through on the Pentagon's assertion that the deployment of US military assets in the Persian Gulf will continue as it has for decades? Or will Iran act on its warnings and block those waters to the entry of American warships?

President Barack Obama can't afford to cave in to Iran, especially while campaigning for reelection in Nov. 2012; Tehran, for its part, has made too many threats to easily back down.

 

The entire region is now on tenterhooks for the next move, with US, Iranian and Gulf armies on the highest war alert. American and Iranian war planners both accept that their advantage lies in surprising the enemy – without, however, catapulting the Persian Gulf into a full-dress war.

 

US Navy publications as of Wednesday, Jan. 4 showed a sign of the times: One ran a series of photos of F-18 Super Hornet fighter-bombers standing on the runways of the USS Stennis aircraft carrier ready for takeoff at any moment. Another depicted for the first time ever row upon row of huge bombs in the carrier's hold to show the Iranians what they are taking on.

 

In the view of debkafile’s military sources, the fact that the US has deployed only one large aircraft carrier in the region does not signify any reluctance on Washington's part to preserve the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. There is no longer a need to rush more carriers to a flashpoint in these strategic waters. The US maintains five huge air bases in the Gulf region – two, the Ali Al Salem and Ahmed Al Jaber bases, in Kuwait; the Al Dhafra base in the UAE; and the largest air bases outside the US – Al Adid in Qatar and the Thumrait in Oman.

 

The concentration of aircraft carriers at any given location is no longer treated as the marker of an imminent US military operation."

[RealDemo 10]

 

I afraid a war is inevitable... probably within the next 90 days.

 

:-(

 

Inevitable? how would the US justify a war? is Iran attacking the USA? are Americans that insecure? what exactly is at risk here?

 

If Obama has any sense at all he'll stay well away from any warmongering.

 

American people don't want it.

Iranian people don't want it.

Israelis don't want it.

[Tams 20]

Inevitable? how would the US justify a war? is Iran attacking the USA? are Americans that insecure? what exactly is at risk here?

 

If Obama has any sense at all he'll stay well away from any warmongering.

 

American people don't want it.

Iranian people don't want it.

Israelis don't want it.

 

Every American soldier died in Afganistan was killed by Iranian supplied weapons.

Do you think USA will let this go?

[MightyMouse 12]

Inevitable? how would the US justify a war? is Iran attacking the USA? are Americans that insecure? what exactly is at risk here?

 

If Obama has any sense at all he'll stay well away from any warmongering.

 

American people don't want it.

Iranian people don't want it.

Israelis don't want it.

 

If Iranians didn't think they could benefit, they wouldn't be acting the way they are. If the Americans didn't think they could benefit, they wouldn't be acting the way they are.

There is a very long list of beneficiaries to what is occurring. Therefore, there is no incentive to stop it yet.

[RealDemo 10]

Every American soldier died in Afganistan was killed by Iranian supplied weapons.

Do you think USA will let this go?

 

Every soldier? come on lets discuss the issue without extreme propagandist statements.

 

Yes Iran supplies weapons..... but so do many other countries.

 

If you want to talk about letting things go why not attack Saudi arabia.

[bobcollett 10]

Every soldier? come on lets discuss the issue without extreme propagandist statements.

 

Yes Iran supplies weapons..... but so do many other countries.

 

If you want to talk about letting things go why not attack Saudi arabia.

 

Hi RealDemo,

Your comments are starting to worry me.

I see you come from France. No problem.

I think Iran is a real trouble maker.

 

Do you think closing the Strait will help your trading?

Do you think a nuclear Iran will help?

And you are supporting Iran??

As a strong supporter of the USA, I think Homeland Security should have a careful look at you.

 

bobc

 

PS

Part of my pension is invested in MTN, the 4th biggest share on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. MTN have a huge investment in Iran -they are the biggest Cellphone provider.

Yesterday , MTN was knocked back 5% because of Iran trouble making.

I think I lost about $20 000

[Tams 20]

Every soldier? come on lets discuss the issue without extreme propagandist statements.

 

Yes Iran supplies weapons..... but so do many other countries.

 

If you want to talk about letting things go why not attack Saudi arabia.

 

I agree with that..........

 

but why would you do that?

[RealDemo 10]

...............................

 

Hi RealDemo,

Your comments are starting to worry me.

I see you come from France. No problem.

I'm glad my geographical location on the planet isn't a problem for you, I hope you haven't drawn any false conclusions from that fact... I'll try not to do the same about where you live.

 

I think Iran is a real trouble maker.

 

Do you think closing the Strait will help your trading?

Do you think a nuclear Iran will help?

And you are supporting Iran??

 

Are you telling me or asking me?

I think you already have me boxed up and ready to ship Bob. Do you normally jump in with so many feet?.

 

Seriously Bob I'm not the enemy, though I now seem to be yours.

 

Your aggression is unsettling.

[Tams 20]

.......... Lol ..........

[Tams 20]

anybody who gets upset over an anonymous post by an anonymous person on an anonymous forum needs to have his head examined.

 

anybody who expects to change an anonymous person's mind on an anonymous forum is hallucinating.

 

only an idiot would reply to a stupid post.

[RealDemo 10]

I agree with that..........

 

but why would you do that?

 

....well exactly, you wouldn't, even though the terrorists on 911 were nearly all Saudi's. Sorry sarcasm doesn't translate well, I'll refrain.

 

Obviously Iran has a despicable regime, but there are better ways of containment than all out war.

War is expensive and generally creates more problems than it solves.

 

I think I have a right to an opinion other than just 'bomb the bastards'.

[Tams 20]

....well exactly, you wouldn't, even though the terrorists on 911 were nearly all Saudi's. Sorry sarcasm doesn't translate well, I'll refrain.

 

Obviously Iran has a despicable regime, but there are better ways of containment than all out war.

War is expensive and generally creates more problems than it solves.

 

I think I have a right to an opinion other than just 'bomb the bastards'.

 

war is an aggression

 

war was never justified, never needs to.

 

war always begin with an excuse

 

 

the way i see it,

if the war breaks out,

iran will loose half of its navy within 24 hrs.

 

it won't be a pussy footing see-saw game

it will be decisive

this is the election year

it is either an all out win,

or a new president.

 

and i don't see a new president in the cards

[UrmaBlume 10]

Latest Debka:

 

"Thousands of US troops began descending on Israel this week. Senior US military sources told debkafile Friday, Jan. 6 that many would be staying up to the end of the year as part of the US-IDF deployment in readiness for a military engagement with Iran and its possible escalation into a regional conflict. They will be joined by a US aircraft carrier. The warplanes on its decks will fly missions with Israeli Air Force jets. The 9,000 US servicemen gathering in Israel in the coming weeks are mostly airmen, missile interceptor teams, marines, seamen, technicians and intelligence officers.

 

The incoming American soldiers are officially categorized as participants in Austere Challenge 12, the biggest joint US-Israeli war game ever held.

 

The maneuver was originally designated Juniper Stallion 2012. However, the altered name plus the comment heard from the exercise's commander, US Third Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, during his visit two weeks ago, that the coming event is more a "deployment" than an "exercise," confirmed that Washington has expanded its mission. The joint force will now be in place ready for a decision to attack Iran's nuclear installations or any war emergency.

 

Our sources disclose that it was decided at the last minute in Washington and Jerusalem to announce the forthcoming Austere Challenge 12 on Thursday night, Jan. 5, ahead of the bulletin released by Tehran about another Iranian naval exercise at the Strait of Hormuz to take place in February, although its 10-day drill in the same arena only ended Monday, Jan. 2.

 

The early release was decided in consultations among US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the two army chiefs, US Gen. Martin Dempsey and Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.

 

British Defense Minister Phillip Hammond, on a visit to Washington, was brought into the discussion.

 

The handout circulated to US correspondents from Hammond's talks in the US capital affirmed that Britain stands ready to strike Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is closed.

However, that phrase was omitted from the British minister's remarks at a news conference, following a last-minute request from Panetta, signifying the Obama administration's interest of keeping a low profile on plans for attacking Iran.

 

Tehran too is walking a taut tightrope. It is staging military's maneuvers every few days to assuring the Iranian people that its leaders are fully prepared to defend the country against an American or Israeli strike on its national nuclear program. By this stratagem, Iran's ground, sea and air forces are maintained constantly at top war readiness to thwart any surprise attack.

 

The joint US-Israeli drill will test multiple Israeli and US air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets, according to the official communiqué.

 

debkafile's military sources add that they will also practice intercepting missiles and rockets coming in from Syria, Hizballah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

 

It will not be the first time a US aircraft carrier docks in Israel for joint operations with the Israeli Air Force. On June 9, 2010, the USS Truman dropped anchor opposite Israel to test a joint deployment against Iran and its allies. The carrier and its air and naval strike force then staged joint firing practices with the Israeli Air Force over the Negev in the South.

 

Washington and Jerusalem are doing their utmost to present a perfectly synchronized military front against Iran: American officers are stationed at IDF command centers and Israeli officers posted at the US European Command-EUCOM. At the same time, debkafile's military sources disclose that full consensus has not been reached on every last particular of shared operation against Iran, should one go forward."

[Tams 20]

there is a reason the troops got out of Iraq in a hurry.

they are needed else where.

[bobcollett 10]

...............................

 

 

 

Seriously Bob I'm not the enemy, though I now seem to be yours.

 

Your aggression is unsettling.

 

OK RealDemo

You are correct

Too aggressive

I am sorry

Kind regards

bobc

[UrmaBlume 10]

More Debka:

 

"According to debkafile's Iranian sources, Tehran is preparing an underground test of a one-kiloton nuclear device during 2012, much like the test carried out by North Korea in 2006. Underground facilities are under construction in great secrecy behind the noise and fury raised by the start of advanced uranium enrichment at Iran's fortified, subterranean Fordo site near Qom.

 

All the sanctions imposed so far for halting Iran's progress toward a nuclear weapon have had the reverse effect, stimulating rather than cooling its eagerness to acquire a bomb.

 

Yet, according to a scenario prepared by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University for the day after an Iranian nuclear weapons test, Israel was resigned to a nuclear Iran and the US would offer Israel a defense pact while urging Israel not to retaliate.

 

As quoted by the London Times Monday, Jan. 1, INSS experts, headed by Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel's National Security Council, deduced from a simulation study they staged last week that. Their conclusion is that neither the US nor Israel will use force to stop Iran's first nuclear test which they predicted would take place in January 2013.

 

Our Iranian sources stress, however, that Tehran does not intend to wait for the next swearing-in of a US president in January 2013, whether Barack Obama is returned for a second term or replaced by a Republican figure, before moving on to a nuclear test.

 

Iran's Islamist rulers have come to the conclusion from the Bush and Obama presidencies that America is a paper tiger and sure to shrink from attacking their nuclear program – especially while the West is sunk in profound economic distress.

 

debkafile's sources stress that both Tehran and the INSS are wrong: The Tel Aviv scenario is the work of a faction of retired Israeli security and intelligence bigwigs who, anxious to pull the Netanyahu government back from direct action against the Islamic Republic, have been lobbying for the proposition that Israel can live with a nuclear-armed Iran.

 

Our Washington sources confirm, however, that President Obama considers the risk of permitting a nuclear-armed Iran to be greater than the risks of military action.

 

Monday, Jan. 9, top administration officials said that developing a nuclear weapon would cross a red line and precipitate a US strike. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta: "If Iran takes the step to develop a nuclear weapon or blocking the Strait of Hormuz, they're going to be stopped." He was repeating the warnings of the past month made by himself and Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Martin Dempsey.

 

As for Israel, Dennis Ross, until recently senior adviser to President Obama, reiterated in a Bloomberg interview on Jan. 10: "No one should doubt that President Barack Obama is prepared to use military force to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon if sanctions and diplomacy fail."

 

As for Israel, Ross said: "I wouldn't discount the possibility that the Israelis would act if they came to the conclusion that basically the world was prepared to live with Iran with nuclear weapons," he said. "They certainly have the capability by themselves to set back the Iranian nuclear program."

 

Israel's media screens and front pages are dominated these days by short-lived, parochial political sensations and devote few words to serious discourse on such weighty issues as Iran's nuclear threat.

 

This is a luxury that the US president cannot afford in an election year. Iran's acquisition of a nuclear bomb and conduct of a nuclear test would hurt his chances of a second term. The race is therefore on for an American strike to beat Iran's nuclear end game before the November 2012 presidential vote.

 

The INSS have also wrongly assessed Russia's response to an Iranian nuclear test as "to seek an alliance with the US to prevent nuclear proliferation in the region."

 

This fails to take into account that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, running himself for a third term as president in March, has already committed Moscow to a new Middle East policy which hinges on support for a nuclear Iran and any other Middle East nation seeking a nuclear program. This is part of Russia's determined plan to trump America's Arab Spring card."

[Tams 20]

3rd aircraft carrier in the gulf

 

US naval strike group arrives in Arabian Sea

 

Read more: US Naval Strike Group Arrives In Arabian Sea As Tensions Rise With Iran | Fox News

[RealDemo 10]

Really Tams?..... Fox news? you surprise me.

[UrmaBlume 10]

3rd aircraft carrier in the gulfUS naval strike group arrives in Arabian Sea Read more: US Naval Strike Group Arrives In Arabian Sea As Tensions Rise With Iran | Fox News

 

Debka:

 

"US President Barack Obama is busy aligning Middle East allies with the next US steps on Iran. Contributing to the mounting sense in Washington of an approaching US-Iranian confrontation, the Pentagon is substantially building up its combat power around Iran, stationing nearly 15,000 troops in Kuwait - two Army infantry brigades and a helicopter unit – and keeping two aircraft carriers in the region.

 

Iran's Ali Larijani told Turkish leaders in Ankara that his country is prepared to take on any attacks and may go public on a nuclear weapon."

[UrmaBlume 10]

Somebody on our side doesn't seem to be able to see the whole board.

 

More Debka:

 

"The bombing attack in Tehran which killed Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan last Wednesday, Jan. 11, generated an angry phone call from US President Barack Obama to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the next day, debkafile's Washington and intelligence sources report. Washington is increasingly concerned, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, that Israel is preparing to strike Iran's nuclear sites over US objections and has bolstered the defenses of US facilities in the region in case of a conflict.

 

Obama, Defense and Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been sending private messages to their Israel contacts warning them about the dire consequences of a strike, the paper reports. Top US armed forces chief Gen. Martin Dempsey will visit Israel next week.

 

debkafile's exclusive sources report that the differences between the US and Israel surfaced before the tough Obama-Netanyahu conversation last Thursday. Political, military and intelligence officials privately voiced resentment over the strong and unusual condemnation the White House and Secretary Clinton issued over the death of the Iranian nuclear scientist.

 

By denying "absolutely" any US involvement in the killing, the administration implicitly pointed the finger at Israel – an unusual act in relations between two friendly governments, especially when both face a common issue as sensitive as a nuclear-armed Iran.

Obama seemed to suspect that Israel staged the killing to torpedo yet another US secret effort to avoid a military confrontation with Iran through back channel contacts with Tehran, while the administration's extreme condemnation is seen as tying in with its all-out campaign to hold Israel back from a unilateral strike.

 

As part of this campaign, the Foreign Policy publication ran an "investigative report" Friday, Jan. 13, the point of which was to show that US and Israeli undercover agencies have been at odds for years after what was called a Mossad "false flag" operation. "Two US intelligence officers" are said to have revealed to the publication that in 2007 and 2008, Israeli Mossad officers posing as US intelligence agents with American passports recruited terrorist group Jundallah operatives for covert attacks in Iran.

 

This Pakistan-based Baluchi extremist group was described as utterly shunned by the CIA.

 

The weekly's sources said they were "stunned by the brazenness of Mossad's recruiting activities…under the nose of US intelligence officers, most notably in London."

 

They implied that Jundallah were sure they had been recruited by US intelligence. But so was Tehran. The Israeli "false flag" program was therefore accused of putting American agents at risk.

 

A "serving US intelligence officer" told the paper that President George W. Bush when informed of this episode "went absolutely ballistic."

 

debkafile adds: At the time of this alleged operation, Ehud Olmert was prime minister of Israel and Meir Dagan director of the Mossad. While the Bush administration is not known to have ever taken it up with Israel, Barack Obama decided to cool US intelligence cooperation with Israel on the Iranian issue when he took office in 2009.

 

Foreign Policy in its tendentious and selective report presents Mossad as the sole recruiter of Jundallah for sabotage and hit operations for defeating Iran's drive for a nuclear bomb. It omits the slightest mention of the fact that US intelligence started using Jundallah for such operations from early 2005 with ample US-dollar funding approved personally by President Bush.

 

Our Washington and intelligence sources note that the report appeared two days after the Iranian nuclear scientist was killed and the day after Obama took Netanyahu to task. It had two objective: to show that US is not responsible for all the covert operations of recent months against Iran's nuclear targets and, secondly, to demonstrate that Washington means to continue harassing and pressuring Israel by every means to hold it back from a military operation against Iran."