SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
ABU DHABI — Iran may pose a greater security threat to the strategic Persian Gulf than does Al Qaida, warned the U.S. Fifth Fleet commander at a news conference in Bahrain.
“We consider this moment in time unprecedented in terms of the amount of insecurity and instability that is in the region,” U.S. Fifth Fleet commander Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh said.
“Although our presence in the Arabian Gulf is for defensive and not offensive purposes, the U.S. will take military action if ships are attacked or if countries in the region are targeted or U.S. troops come under direct attack,” Walsh added.
Read on if you have the courage.
—snip—
Walsh’s assertion represented the clearest signal of U.S. alarm concerning Iran’s threat to the region. Only two weeks earlier, leading U.S. naval commanders said the Iran Navy was acting with caution and seeking to avoid a conflict with the United States.
Officials said the United States has begun to highlight the Iranian threat as Teheran continues to test and deploy a range of medium- and intermediate-range missiles. They said the U.S. military was countering this by sending two carrier strike groups to the Gulf, ready to assure shipping through the Straits of Hormuz.
“An increasingly belligerent Iran thinks it can control, threaten and intimidate,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for the Middle East Mark Kimmitt said.
Officials said the Defense Department has been quietly preparing for confrontation with Iran that would focus on control of the Gulf. They said naval commanders, including Walsh, were being promoted to senior positions in Central Command and the Pentagon.
“There is a historic tension between Iran and the region and we recognize that,” Walsh said. “Iran is the concern that we all have at the moment.”
—snip—
“It is not as if we are out looking for a fight, we are not patrolling Iranian waters,” Walsh said. “We have assumed a defensive posture here to reassure our friends and provide stability in the region. We have not experienced the targeting of U.S. troops.
—snip—
How much clearer need it be said?
Despite the ongoing “diplomatic” processes, despite the clearly voiced preferences of the American people, despite the posturing and political tacticizing going on in Congress, they believe that they can run their usual cry wolf game and stampede the people of the US into the acceptance of a wider war.
And y’know what?
They are probably correct, if they run their game well.
“Remember the Maine!!!“
It worked then.
“Remember Pearl Harbor!!!“
It worked then.
“Remember the Gulf of Tonkin Incident!!! “
It worked then.
“Remember 9/11!!!“
It worked then.
They will work it until it DOESN’T work.
Only…in a nuclear age, when it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work BIG TIME.
Watch.
Watch for a “provocation” of some sort.
“Remember the Straits of Hormuz!!!“
Watch.
(If of course the Israelis’ nukes are not used first.)
Watch.
It’s all you can do.
AG
