Iran

Iran Attempts To Show Military Strength by Threatening to Close Down the Strait of Hormuz

Published by Papa Giorgio

Debka, the best news on the Hormuz issue:

Tehran raised the pitch of its threats to the United States when Dep. Chief of the Revolutionary Guards Gen. Hossein Salami declared: “The United States is in no position to tell Tehran what to do in the Strait of Hormuz,” adding, “Any threat will be responded [to] by threat… We will not relinquish our strategic moves in Iran’s vital interests are undermined by any means.”

The Iranian general spoke after the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and its strike group passed through the Strait of Hormuz to the Sea of Oman and into the area where the big Iranian naval war game Veleyati 90 is taking place.

At around the same time, Israel’s chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz spoke of “the rising potential for a multi-arena event,” i.e. a comprehensive armed conflict. Facing in several directions as we are “between terrorist organizations and Iran’s progress toward a nuclear weapon… we can’t afford to stay on the defensive and must come up with offensive measures,” he said.

Earlier Thursday, Dec. 29, debkafile reported that an Iranian plan to mine the Strait of Hormuz had put US and NATO forces in the Persian Gulf on the alert.

US and NATO task forces in the Persian Gulf have been placed on alert after US intelligence warned that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are preparing Iranian marine commandos to sow mines in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The new deployment, debkafile’s military sources report, consists of USS Combined Task Force 52 (CTF 52), which is trained and equipped for dismantling marine mines and NATO Maritime Mine Counter measures Group 2 (SNMCMG2). The American group is led by the USS Arden mine countermeasures ship; NATO’s by the British HMS Pembroke minesweeper. Other vessels in the task forces are the Hunt-class destroyer HMS Middleton and the French mine warfare ships FS Croix du Sud and FS Var.

Also on the ready are several US Expeditionary Combat Readiness units of the US Fifth Fleet Bahrain command. Seventeen of these special marine units are attached to the Fifth Fleet as America’s answer to the Iranian Navy’s fast assault boats and marine units.

US military sources told debkafile Wednesday, Dec. 28, that United States has the countermeasures for sweeping the waterway of mines and making it safe for marine passage after no more than a 24-48 hour interruption.

…Read More…

Debka File is Reporting that the U.K. expects Israeli attack on Iran next month with U.S. logistical support

Published by Papa Giorgio

(Some 2009 commentary by Hitchens on this)

From Debka File

A senior Foreign Office official says British government ministers have been told to expect Israeli military action in the wake of the UN watchdog report “as early as Christmas or very early in the new year,” the London Daily Mail reported Thursday, Nov. 10.  The ministers were told that Israel would strike Iran’s nuclear sites “sooner rather than later” – with “logistical support” from the US.

According to the British paper, which has good military and intelligence ties in London, President Barack Obama would “have to support the Israelis or risk losing Jewish-American support in the next presidential election.” The bigger concern is that once Iran is nuclear-armed, it will be impossible to stop Saudi Arabia and Turkey from developing their own weapons to even out the balance of nuclear terror in the Middle East.

debkafile’s military sources add that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has told Obama more than once this year, “If Iran gets nuclear arms, Turkey will get nuclear arms.”

The Daily Mail goes on to report that in recent weeks, British Ministry of Defense sources confirmed that contingency plans had been drawn up in the event that the UK decided to support military action.

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Ex IAEA Chief Says He Would Declare War on Israel (Eschatology Watch)

Published by Papa Giorgio

Y-Net News reports that former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who had previously announced his intentions to run for the presidency of Egypt, said Monday that “if Israel attacked Gaza we would declare war against the Zionist regime.” They continue:

In an interview with the Al-Watan newspaper he said: “In case of any future Israeli attack on Gaza – as the next president of Egypt – I will open the Rafah border crossing and will consider different ways to implement the joint Arab defense agreement.”

He also stated that “Israel controls Palestinian soil” adding that that “there has been no tangible breakthrough in reconciliation process because of the imbalance of power in the region – a situation that creates a kind of one way peace.”

Discussing his agenda for Egypt, ElBaradei said that distribution of income between the different classes in Egypt would be his most important priority if he were to win the upcoming elections.

…(read more)…

It looks as thought we are headed to some action in the Midlle-East, and Hamas may have gotten their hands on some chemical weapons:

Senior Libyan rebel “officers” sold Hizballah and Hamas thousands of chemical shells from the stocks of mustard and nerve gas that fell into rebel hands when they overran Muammar Qaddafi’s military facilities in and around Benghazi, debkafile’s exclusive sources report. The rebels offloaded an estimated 2,000 artillery shells carrying mustard gas and 1,200 nerve gas shells for cash payment amounting to several million dollars negotiated by Iran. The consignments may still be in Sudan en route for Lebanon and Gaza.

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Any good news you ask? Saudi Arabia may be going head-to-head with Iran… if that is good news?

Change-In the wrong direction

Published by Papa Giorgio

This disturbing report comes from Gateway Pundit and shows just how radical the Left is in this country. The popular Left, to be clear.

We’re starting to see a pattern here…

  1. When the Iraqi people were being slaughtered in the street Obama said genocide was preferable to continued US presence in the region.
  2. When the Iranian freedom protesters were being shot at from rooftops, he turned his back on them.
  3. When the Honduran people rose against their socialist tyrant, he supported the tyrant.

And, now we learn that the Obama Administration has allowed American companies to do billions of dollars of business with evil anti-democratic regimes – including the Iranians who are supplying terrorists with bombs to kill US soldiers.

The New York Times reported:

Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government has allowed American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism, an examination by The New York Times has found.

In an interview, the Obama administration’s point man on sanctions, Stuart A. Levey, said that focusing on the exceptions “misses the forest for the trees.”

Some Historical Connections To The Ground-Zero Mosque Issue

Published by Papa Giorgio

PJTV h/t:

Just One Minute has an excellent post in regards to the Ground-Zero Mosque, here is the end to his post:

We were attacked by Muslim extremists; this mosque would be a powerful symbol of victory for extremists, it may be financed by extremists, and it may be that, regardless of the motivations of the founder, it will be one day be run by extremists.

If the imam seriously wants reconciliation and bridge-building, he should relocate.  If he wants to give offense (as is his right), he should stay on his current course, and we will see how the debate unfolds.

Personally, I doubt he can raise the money.  Any investor will be calling attention to himself, his family, his business associates, and all past deals, all of which will go under a microscope.  If there is a hint of a whiff of a suggestion of a link to extremists, we will read about nothing else.  Who needs the publicity?

THE DEBATE SO FAR:  From the cacophony I hear my people from Jersey: “Yo, fool, reconcile yourself to this!”  Yeah, I got something for you to tolerate right here, buddy.”

My main man, Chris Christie, punted; I guess he doesn’t have the body to tap dance.

LET’S PUT ALL THE ‘PC’ EGGS IN ONE BASKET… Maybe they can complete the mosque quickly enough that it will be available to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during his NYC trial.

OUCH!

One should not miss my posts on this either:

Weird Iranian Happenings Days Prior To Possible Israel Attack

Published by Papa Giorgio

DebkaFile mentions a few interesting this, the most interesting to follow these pics and story:

…Tuesday afternoon, another Iranian high-up, defense minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, talked to reporters. He declared that the “long range UAV called Karrar would be unveiled on this day” – an apparent reference to the debkafile report of Monday, Aug. 16, that the death of Iran’s drone program head Reza Baruni had buried the program for years go come.

Regarding the delay in Moscow’s delivery of S-300 anti-aircraft missile system, Vahidi declared: “We build whatever we want inside the country… and the production of long-range air defense system in Iran is already on the agenda of the defense ministry.”

Former US envoy to the UN John Bolton Tuesday Aug. 17 repeated his warning that Israel has “eight days” to launch a military strike against Bushehr and stop Tehran from acquiring a functioning atomic plant. Once Russian loads it with fuel on Saturday, it will be too late because any attack would spread radiation and affect Iranian citizens, he said…

Here is the more interesting part of this story:

“Three drones hit the reactor killing at least five of its staff members”??

Are these drones being hijacked by Israeli hackers or Iranian patriots that dissent from the religious/political radicals in charge? These combination of events seem far from accidental – DEBKA Reports:

…Two mysterious incidents are reported by debkafile in the run-up to the fueling up of Iran’s first nuclear reactor Saturday, Aug. 21

Tuesday, Aug. 17, an Iranian F4 Phantom fighter jet was claimed by Tehran to have crashed 6 kilometers north of the Bushehr nuclear reactor in southern Iran. debkafile’s military sources report it was shot down by Russian-made TOR-M1 air-missile defense batteries guarding the reactor. A local government official Gholam Reza Keshtkar said the pilot and co-pilot ejected from the plane before it crashed and were rushed to hospital….

[….]

According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s Iranian and intelligence sources, Bushehr citizens were sure they heard three mighty explosions – not one. So the deputy district governor for security affairs, Mohammad Hossein Shenidi, who is responsible for safeguarding Bushehr and its reactors against air or missile attacks, pitched in with a lighter version of the communiqué: A single drone had indeed been fired, he admitted, but it carried no explosives because its only purpose was to simulate a loud bang to check the level of local alertness.

According to our sources, the townspeople were correct: Three drones hit the reactor killing at least five of its staff members….

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Military Build Up Around Iran Continues

Published by Papa Giorgio

This is a growing story and DebkaFile fills in recent military news in its growth. Here are my two previous stories on it:

Here is an update:

USS Nassau

debkafile’s military sources report that Washington has posted a third carrier opposite Iran’s shores. It is supported by amphibious assault ships and up to 4,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel, bringing the total US strength in these waters to three carriers and 10,000 combat personnel.

The USS Nassau (LHA-4) Amphibious Ready Group 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, tasked with supporting the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet area of operations, is cruising around the Bab al-Mandeb Straits where the Gulf of Aden flows into the Red Sea. Its presence there accounts for Tehran announcing Sunday, June 27 that its “aid ship for Gaza” had been called off, for fear an American military boarding party would intercept the vessel and search it. This would be permissible under the latest UN sanctions punishing the Islamic Republic for its nuclear program.

The third US carrier group to reach waters around Iran consists of three vessels:

1. The USS Nassau Amphibious Assault ship is not just an enormous landing craft for the 3,000 Marines aboard; its decks carry 6 vertical take-off AV-HB Harrier attack plans; four AH-1W Super Cobra, twelve CH-46 Sea Knight and CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, as well choppers convertible to fast V-22 Osprey airplanes capable of landing in any conditions.

This vast warship has 1,400 cabinets for sleeping the entire Marine-24th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard.

2. The amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde which carries 800 Marines equipped for instantaneous landing.

3. The amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland which carries 400 Marines and 102 commandos trained for special operations behind enemy lines.

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