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Five US Warships Box in Iranian Flotilla
moonshine
Member Posts: 8,471
http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/news.php?Itemid=2685
The repeated delays and contradictory statements about the two Iranian warships' transit of the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean is accounted for by a standoff between the Iranian flotilla and five US warships deployed in recent days at the waterway's southern entrance and along its course, debkafile's sources disclose.
Thursday night, Feb. 17, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, escorted by missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and the fast supply ship USNS Arctic, headed south through the canal. By Friday morning, they were through and taking up position opposite the Kharg cruiser and Alvand missile destroyer of the Iranian Navy's 12th Flotilla, which were waiting to enter the Suez Canal at the southern Red Sea entrance.
Furthermore, since the first week of February, the USS Kearsarge, another aircraft carrier, was posted in the Great Bitter Lake opposite Ismailia and the canal's main routes with a large contingent of marines aboard.
The USS George Washington carrier and the USS Carl Vinson were additionally deployed in the Gulf of Aden, the latter having been moved from the Pacific.
A battle of nerves is therefore underway.
The Iranian warships found themselves cheek to jowl with a major concentration of America naval might piling up in the Red Sea and Suez and were not sure what would happen if they went forward with their mission to transit the Suez Canal for the Mediterranean for the first time in 30 years on their way to Syria.
Sunday night, the Canal authorities announced another 48 hours delay shortly after Tehran state TV claimed the warships were already through to the Mediterranean.
And, finally, the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier was quietly transferred from Bahrain, headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet amid the anti-government uprising, to a point opposite the Iranian Gulf coast.
This pile-up of US naval, air and marine might at strategic points in the Middle East is a warning to meddlers to keep their hands off the revolutions, uprisings and protests sweeping Arab nations. It carries a special message for Tehran that the Obama administration will not permit the Islamic Republic's rulers to make military and political hay from the unrest - in Bahrain or anywhere else.
By positioning the Enterprise opposite Iran's 12th Flotilla at the Red Sea entrance to the Suez Canal on Feb. 17 Washington has confronted Tehran with a hard dilemma, which was practically spelled out by US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley a day earlier: "If the ships move through the canal, we will evaluate what they actually do," he said. "It's not really about the ships. It's about what the ships are carrying, what's their destination, what's the cargo on board, where's it going, to whom and for what benefit."
This was the US spokesman's answer to the debkafile disclosure of Feb. 16 that the Kharg was carrying long-range surface missiles for Hizballah. It raised the possibility that the moment they venture to sail into the Suez Canal, the two Iranian warships will be boxed in between the Enterprise and the Kearsarge and called upon the allow their cargoes to be inspected as permitted by the last round of UN sanctions against Iran in the case of suspicious war freights.
According to debkafile's intelligence sources, the flurry of conflicting statements from Cairo and Tehran were issued to muddy the situation surrounding the Iranian flotilla and cloud Tehran's uncertainty about how to proceed. The next date announced for their passage, Tuesday night, Feb. 22, will be a testing moment.
The repeated delays and contradictory statements about the two Iranian warships' transit of the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean is accounted for by a standoff between the Iranian flotilla and five US warships deployed in recent days at the waterway's southern entrance and along its course, debkafile's sources disclose.
Thursday night, Feb. 17, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, escorted by missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and the fast supply ship USNS Arctic, headed south through the canal. By Friday morning, they were through and taking up position opposite the Kharg cruiser and Alvand missile destroyer of the Iranian Navy's 12th Flotilla, which were waiting to enter the Suez Canal at the southern Red Sea entrance.
Furthermore, since the first week of February, the USS Kearsarge, another aircraft carrier, was posted in the Great Bitter Lake opposite Ismailia and the canal's main routes with a large contingent of marines aboard.
The USS George Washington carrier and the USS Carl Vinson were additionally deployed in the Gulf of Aden, the latter having been moved from the Pacific.
A battle of nerves is therefore underway.
The Iranian warships found themselves cheek to jowl with a major concentration of America naval might piling up in the Red Sea and Suez and were not sure what would happen if they went forward with their mission to transit the Suez Canal for the Mediterranean for the first time in 30 years on their way to Syria.
Sunday night, the Canal authorities announced another 48 hours delay shortly after Tehran state TV claimed the warships were already through to the Mediterranean.
And, finally, the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier was quietly transferred from Bahrain, headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet amid the anti-government uprising, to a point opposite the Iranian Gulf coast.
This pile-up of US naval, air and marine might at strategic points in the Middle East is a warning to meddlers to keep their hands off the revolutions, uprisings and protests sweeping Arab nations. It carries a special message for Tehran that the Obama administration will not permit the Islamic Republic's rulers to make military and political hay from the unrest - in Bahrain or anywhere else.
By positioning the Enterprise opposite Iran's 12th Flotilla at the Red Sea entrance to the Suez Canal on Feb. 17 Washington has confronted Tehran with a hard dilemma, which was practically spelled out by US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley a day earlier: "If the ships move through the canal, we will evaluate what they actually do," he said. "It's not really about the ships. It's about what the ships are carrying, what's their destination, what's the cargo on board, where's it going, to whom and for what benefit."
This was the US spokesman's answer to the debkafile disclosure of Feb. 16 that the Kharg was carrying long-range surface missiles for Hizballah. It raised the possibility that the moment they venture to sail into the Suez Canal, the two Iranian warships will be boxed in between the Enterprise and the Kearsarge and called upon the allow their cargoes to be inspected as permitted by the last round of UN sanctions against Iran in the case of suspicious war freights.
According to debkafile's intelligence sources, the flurry of conflicting statements from Cairo and Tehran were issued to muddy the situation surrounding the Iranian flotilla and cloud Tehran's uncertainty about how to proceed. The next date announced for their passage, Tuesday night, Feb. 22, will be a testing moment.
Comments
Four aircraft carriers?! We didn't send that many over to Taiwan when China was lobbing missiles at them! That tells me two things: we only thump our chests when we know the other guy has no means of responding and Iran can play us like a fiddle.
Deploying all of those vessels in response to two Iranian naval vessels tells Iran they can distract us without trying very hard.
If true, Iran was the stage magician and we were the audience... and we just got fooled big time.
If true, it's an idiotic response to a dinghy full of Persian screwheads.
Four aircraft carriers?! We didn't send that many over to Taiwan when China was lobbing missiles at them! That tells me two things: we only thump our chests when we know the other guy has no means of responding and Iran can play us like a fiddle.
Deploying all of those vessels in response to two Iranian naval vessels tells Iran they can distract us without trying very hard.
If true, Iran was the stage magician and we were the audience... and we just got fooled big time.
I'd say one Jr. Naval vessel and one garbage scow and the only one that got fooled was PrezBO. Time to stop the charade.
They passed through today without incident.
Interestingly, though, the Iranians have managed to do what the Japanese Imperial Navy could not.
Concentrate four US carriers in a very small and dangerous bit of water.
The difference is that the Japanese had a force capable of inflicting heavy damage upon its adversary.
Today the danger in that bit of water is to anyone foolhardy enough to attack the four US carrier groups there.
The Kharg is not a cruiser but a replenishment ship and the Alvand is a small Frigate about half the size of what is typically classed as a Frigate.
Point is the Kharg as a m naval fast frieghter could carry a large amount of offensive weapons for Hezbollah and as per UN sanctions should be boarded.
If Bami doe not have the will to interfere with his Muslim brothers the assumption the cargo poses a threat to Israeli security gives them the legitimate right to sink them both.
A simple as per international law inspection will avoid an escalation but that takes something Bami ain't gots, a pair when it comes to dealing with his people.
I hope he proves me wrong.
Wulfmann
"Fools learn from their own mistakes. I learn from the mistakes of others"
Otto von Bismarck
It's purely propaganda and BS!! None of this happened!!
Don't give it any more justice than it's due...which is absolutely ZERO!!
TRUE but I would give a dollar to see it happen....
Lets line up all our carriers so some rouge can fire a Chinese made missile and see if they can get two for one shot.
Hey! Everybody knows that Chinese stuff never works out of the box.
I don't see this news story anywhere else. And, some of the statements in the story seem to contradict actual events.
Now how the hell can they get away with that? [:D]
Clouder..
Guys, guys...this story is a 'non-story'.
It's purely propaganda and BS!! None of this happened!!
Don't give it any more justice than it's due...which is absolutely ZERO!!
Liar! You read it on the internet. It just HAS to be true. [:D]