WAR PREPARATIONS ADVANCE AROUND AND IN IRAN
OCT 26 2010
The US and allies are building up naval, air force and marine
strength around Iranian shores as Barack Obama’s aide Dennis Ross reiterates
his determination to keep the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear arms.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Hizballah and Hamas are also deep in
military preparations, fearing a war eruption in weeks
or months – as IranLiveNews reveals in its coming days with hitherto
unpublished disclosures.
Target Iran - More warships head to Arabian sea - Oct 26 <---- Must read article
The monumental expansion of arms sales and the buildup of
naval and air power in the Arabian Sea region are unprecedented. They are also
alarming to the highest degree.
A quarter of the world's nuclear aircraft carriers will soon be in the Arabian
Sea.
The Nimitz class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in
the region on October 17 to join the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group,
which in turn had arrived there on June 18 as part of a regular rotation.
The Charles de Gaulle, flagship of the French navy, the country's only
aircraft carrier and the sole non-American nuclear carrier, will soon join its
two U.S. counterparts. The U.S. possesses half the world's twenty-two aircraft
carriers, all eleven supercarriers (those displacing over 70,000 tons) and
eleven of twelve nuclear carriers.
Regarding the unscheduled deployment of a second American aircraft carrier to
the region, a CBS News report stated:
"Air strikes in Afghanistan are up 50 per cent and now Defense Secretary Gates
has ordered a second aircraft carrier, the USS Lincoln, into the fight.
"Two carriers operating off the coast of Pakistan means about 120 aircraft
available for missions over Afghanistan. And that's not counting U.S. Air
Force missions flown out of Bagram and Kandahar." [1]
The countries bordering the Arabian Sea are Somalia, Djibouti, Yemen, Oman,
Iran, Pakistan, India and the island nation of Maldives.
USS Lincoln and USS Truman are currently assigned to the Fifth Fleet's area of
responsibility, which encompasses the Northern Indian Ocean and its branches
and offshoots: The Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the eastern
coast of Africa south to Kenya, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
The nations on the Red Sea and Persian Gulf are, in addition to those
mentioned above, Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sudan and
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,
respectively.
The Fifth is the first fleet established in the post-Cold War period,
recommissioned in 1995 after being deactivated in 1947. (Similarly, the Fourth
Fleet, which is assigned to the Caribbean Sea and Central and South America,
was reactivated two years ago after being decommissioned in 1950.)
It shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
(CENTCOM) at Manama, Bahrain, across the Persian Gulf from Iran. CENTCOM was
the last regional military command launched by the Pentagon during the Cold
War (1983) and its area of responsibility stretches across what has been
referred to as the Broader Middle East from Egypt in the west to Kazakhstan,
bordering China and Russia, to the east.
The Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command are jointly in charge of five
naval task forces operating in and near the Arabian Sea which patrol several
of the most strategic chokepoints on the planet: The Suez Canal linking the
Mediterranean Sea, where the U.S. Sixth Fleet and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization's Operation Active Endeavor hold sway, to the Red Sea. The Bab Al
Mandeb connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. The Strait of Hormuz
between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.
Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) is a multinational naval group established
in 2001 with logistics facilities in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti and
operates from the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Aden and past the Bab Al
Mandeb to the Red Sea and south to the Indian Ocean nation of Seychelles. Last
year the Pentagon secured a military facility in Seychelles, its second in an
African nation, where it has deployed Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles
(drones), PC-3 Orion anti-submarine and surveillance aircraft, and 112 Navy
personnel. Other nations currently contributing ships and personnel to CTF-150
are Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Pakistan, South Korea and
Thailand. Recent participants also include Australia, Italy, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain and Turkey.
Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) was launched in January of 2009, operates in
the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin and covers an area of 1.1 million square
miles. Twenty nations are scheduled to participate in the U.S.-led task force
and Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore,
South Korea and Turkey have already enlisted. Its commanders to date have been
from the U.S., Britain, South Korea and Turkey.
Combined Task Force 152 (CTF-152) operates from the northern Persian Gulf to
the Strait of Hormuz, between the areas of responsibility of CTF-150 and
CTF-158, and is part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Combined Task Force 158 (CTF-158) operates in the northern-most part of the
Persian Gulf, is also part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and consists of British
and Australian as well as U.S. ships. Its main tasks are to oversee Iraqi oil
installations and to create an Iraqi navy under the Pentagon's control.
The U.S. has divided the world between six regional military commands and six
navy fleets. The Arabian Sea is covered by three of the Pentagon's overseas
military commands - Central Command, Africa Command and Pacific Command - to
provide an indication of the importance attached to the region.
In addition to the Fifth Fleet's and Naval Forces Central Command's
headquarters in Bahrain, Central Command also maintains command, forward
deployment, air and training bases and facilities in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf in addition to 56,000 troops and
air, naval and infantry bases in Iraq.
Several months before the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and on
the Pentagon, the U.S. signed an agreement with the small nation of Djibouti
(with a population of 725,000) to take over a former French base, Camp
Lemonnier, which is now a United States Naval Expeditionary Base hosting the
Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, assigned to Africa Command since
the latter was activated two years ago. The Combined Joint Task Force - Horn
of Africa's area of responsibility takes in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Kenya, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Yemen, with the Indian
Ocean nations of Comoros, Mauritius and Madagascar effectively included.
In early 2002 the U.S. deployed 800 special operations troops to Camp
Lemonnier to conduct covert operations in Yemen across the Gulf of Aden from
Djibouti. There are now in the neighborhood of 2,000 U.S. troops in the
country and 3,000 French troops there in what has been described as France's
largest overseas military base. In the beginning of this decade Germany
deployed 1,200 troops to Djibouti along with forces from Spain and the
Netherlands. Britain added troops in 2005.
In total, there are as many as 8-10,000 military personnel from NATO nations
in Djibouti. The Pentagon has used Camp Lemonnier, the port of Djibouti and
the country's international airport for attacks in Yemen and Somalia, and
French troops in the country assisted Djibouti in its armed conflict with
neighboring Eritrea in 2008. France uses the country to train its troops for
the war in Afghanistan and the Pentagon used it to support the Ethiopian
invasion of Somalia in 2006.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet ordinarily has one aircraft carrier, serving as the
nucleus of a carrier strike group, assigned to it. With USS Lincoln joining
USS Truman in the Arabian Sea this month it now has two. USS Lincoln is
accompanied by a guided missile destroyer and "brings more than 60 additional
aircraft to the theater in support of Operation Enduring Freedom." [2]
USS Truman's strike group includes four Aegis class destroyers equipped for
Standard Missile-3 anti-ballistic missiles, a guided missile cruiser and the
German frigate FGS Hessen. Carrier Wing 3 attached to the aircraft carrier
includes three strike fighter squadrons, a Marine fighter attack squadron, and
airborne early warning, electronic attack and helicopter anti-submarine
squadrons.
Since passing though the Suez Canal on June 28 until late last month Carrier
Wing 3 had "completed more than 3,300 aircraft sorties and logged more than
10,200 flight hours, with more than 7,200 of those hours in support of
coalition ground forces in Afghanistan." [3] There are 7,000 sailors and
marines attached to the USS Truman carrier strike group.
Beforehand, shortly after entering the Mediterranean Sea in May, USS Truman
engaged in joint interoperability exercises in Marseille with its French
fellow nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. French warplanes landed on
the Truman's deck and American ones on Charles de Gaulle's.
The French carrier was returned to port for repairs on the day it set sail for
"a four-month mission to support the fight in Afghanistan," but "will recover
lost time at sea and its itinerary is not likely to change."
Its new mission, the first since 2007, "is to take it to join the fight
against piracy off Somalia in the Indian Ocean and the NATO mission in
Afghanistan.
"The new mission of the ship is to join the fight against pirates that is
taking place off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean [where a] NATO
mission is ongoing." [4] Nuclear aircraft carriers are a curious choice for
contending with piracy.
The NATO deployment in question is Operation Ocean Shield, inaugurated in
August of 2009 and extended to the end of 2012. Standing NATO Maritime Group 1
and Standing NATO Maritime Group 2, which have also visited Bahrain, Kuwait,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and participated in joint naval maneuvers
with Pakistan on the eastern end of the Arabian Sea, rotate for the operation
in the Gulf of Aden.
The U.S.'s Operation Enduring Freedom encompasses sixteen nations in all -
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba (Guantanamo Bay), Djibouti, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan,
Tajikistan, Turkey and Yemen - and NATO's efforts parallel and reinforce the
Pentagon's across the width of the Arabian Sea from the Horn of Africa to
South and Central Asia.
At its summit in Istanbul, Turkey in 2004, NATO launched the Istanbul
Cooperation Initiative to build military partnerships with the six member
states of the Gulf Cooperation Council - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - and has conducted military exchanges and
cooperation with them in the interim. [5] The United Arab Emirates has
supplied NATO with troops for the war in Afghanistan and hosts a secret air
base for the transit of troops and equipment to the war zone.
In May of 2009 French President Nicolas Sarkozy opened a military base in the
United Arab Emirates, the first permanent French base in the Persian Gulf and
the first overseas base in 50 years. Including a navy and air force base and a
training camp, it was seen at the time as a show of force against Iran which
contests the Abu Musa island in the Persian Gulf with the Emirates.
NATO forces also operate out of bases in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan. The North Atlantic Alliance has launched several helicopter
gunship attacks inside Pakistan since late last month and on September 30
killed three Pakistani soldiers.
There are 120,000 troops from almost 50 nations serving under NATO's
International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
This year NATO has airlifted Ugandan troops to Somalia for the armed conflict
there.
The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier en route to the Arabian Sea to support
the war in that country as well for operations off the coast of Somalia was
commissioned in May of 2001. Seven months later it sailed to the Arabian Sea
to support Operation Enduring Freedom and the war in Afghanistan. On December
19 of that year Super Étendard attack jets and Rafale Ms fighters took off
from its deck to conduct bombing and reconnaissance missions, in all over 140.
The following March Super Étendard and Mirage warplanes assigned to Charles de
Gaulle carried out air strikes before and during the U.S.-led Operation
Anaconda.
When the French carrier arrives in the Arabian Sea this month it will be
accompanied by two frigates, an attack submarine and a refuelling tanker,
3,000 sailors and 27 aircraft: Ten Rafale F3 fighters, 12 Super Étendard
attack jets, two Hawkeye early warning planes and three helicopters.
According to the commander of the group, Rear Admiral Jean-Louis Kerignard,
"the force would help allied navies fight piracy off the coast of Somalia and
send jets to support NATO in the skies above Afghanistan.
"The ships will also train alongside allies from Saudi Arabia, India, Italy,
Greece and the United Arab Emirates and make two stopovers at the French base
in Djibouti before returning to France in February 2011." [6]
With USS Lincoln and the USS Truman carrier strike group, there will be three
carriers, ten other ships, an attack submarine and as many as 150 military
aircraft in the Arabian Sea. That is in addition to the five warships of the
NATO Maritime Group 1 in theater, 14-15 ships with CTF-150 and perhaps dozens
more with CTF-151, CFT-152 and CTF-158. A formidable armada covering the sea
from one end to the other.
In the north of the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and into the Persian Gulf,
on October 21 the U.S. announced a $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia for
advanced fighter jets, helicopters, missiles and other weaponry and
equipment," according to a Western news agency "the largest US arms deal
ever." [7]
US military bases surround Iran
Last month the Financial Times disclosed that Washington plans to sell $123
billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab
Emirates. This January reports surfaced of White House plans to sell Patriot
missile batteries to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Navy
also patrols the Persian Gulf with Standard Missile-3 interceptor
missile-equipped warships. [8]
On the eastern end of the Arabian Sea, on October 23 Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton announced a $2 billion, five-year military aid package for
Pakistan, and President Obama's scheduled visit to India next month is
reported to include massive arms deals that will effect the U.S. supplanting
Russia as India's main weapons supplier.
The monumental expansion of arms sales and the buildup of naval and air power
in the Arabian Sea region are unprecedented. They are also alarming to the
highest degree.
The West, America and its NATO allies, are escalating military operations
across the area, from Asia to Africa to the Middle East. The theater of
operations has recently broadened from South Asia to the Arabian Peninsula
with drone and helicopter attacks in Pakistan and air and cruise missile
strikes in Yemen.
A war that started at the beginning of the century is in its tenth year and
gives every indication of being permanent.
Notes
1) CBS News, October 18, 2010
2) Navy NewsStand, October 17, 2010
3) Navy NewsStand, September 26, 2010
4) Associated Press, October 14, 2010
5) NATO In Persian Gulf: From Third World War To Istanbul
Stop NATO, February 6, 2009
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/nato-in-persian-gulf-from-third-world-war-to-istanbul
6) Expatica, October 13, 2010
7) Deutsche Presse-Agentur, October 21, 2010
8) U.S. Extends Missile Buildup From Poland And Taiwan To Persian Gulf
Stop NATO, February 3, 2010
http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/u-s-extends-missile-buildup-from-poland-and-taiwan-to-persian-gulf
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