U.S. WAR GEAR ON MOVE: SHIPPERS

New York Post ^ | 8/13/02 | Reuters

[kattracks]

Some of the high-tech, gadget-loaded planes that could be used in a campaign against Iraq include the EA-6B Prowler (above).

August 13, 2002 -- The U.S. Navy is seeking to charter a large ship to carry military helicopters and ammunition from the United States to two ports in the Red Sea, shipping brokers said yesterday.

[.45MAN]

Ping

[zarf]

Does someone have a megaphone to announce the date and time of the attack? Geesh!

Loose Lips sell papers.

[Mo1]

said a shipping broker familiar with the U.S. military's tendering process.

I'm thinking this dude needs to learn to keep his fat mouth shut

[cartoonistx]

Worry not. I'm sure the D.O.D. "teachers" are introducing his big fat mouth to the "board of education" as we speak!

[truth_seeker]

Not a very well guarded secret.

Since the arab-muslim religion/cultures are irrational, it must eventually come to a military defeat for ENOUGH of them, to be convinced.

Diplomacy works better, when concrete, recent examples are laid down. Iraq seems to be intransigent, not willing to heed Afghanistan.

I expect the rest of them (all?) will be willing to take heed, when the recent examples are Afghanistan and Iraq.

Coming to a (war) theater near your region, at the time and place of our chosing. Just as promised. Arabs and muslims need (to be taught) to think like 1945 issue Germans and Japanese.

I seriously doubt they will ever make great cars and video-cameras, however. They cannot even build their own airports, refineries or dams.

To me, it is sort of like a game of seven card stud "high-low" poker. Pretty soon, you can no longer declare "both." Rule change time.

Our military equipment shipments indicate the game is getting interesting; analogous to the US showing some real high up cards.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Perhaps Sen. Lott can budget a couple of Navy transport ships in stead of the porked out, never completed, taxpayer milked, luxury cruise ship rusting away in the shipyard at Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Did anyone ever think that our heavy-lift ship leases would be secret?

[Soul Citizen]

recomend exhaustive disinformation campaign effective immediately.

Press is too stupid for their own good

[Robert Drobot]

kattracks, I have no problem with your posting this story from the NY Post. I have a real problem with whomever is in the Bush administration who knows what's going on, and is tipping our logistic planning to the media.

Dollar to a donut the weak link sits in the State Department.

Both the weak link and the media ( in this case the NY Post ) are proving they can not be trusted with sensitive information.

The Post needs to plug the leak. Plain and simple. Mail the info to the Sec. of Defense, and let responsible men and women turn some screws.

I'm sick of this yellow backed, sell-out un-American crap.

Suggestion: Return to the original name of what we now call the "Defense Department" - The War Department, and properly name Rumsfield Secretary of War. Tell it like it is to our 'friends', and especially to those who have publicly declared their hatred for every man woman and child in America.

Zip Loose Lips</font size></font color>

[chance33_98]

This may well be a dis-information campaign in and of itself. The military may be moving those items any and want to set up 'targets' for terrorism (ie a ship loaded with military equipment). Who knows :)

[chance33_98]

The military may be moving those items any and want to set up 'targets' for terrorism

OOPS
Should be 'The military may be moving these items themselves and wants to set up dummy targets...

[kattracks]

So far there have been three or four "reports" on US war plans. Do you know which one is true, if any?

Neither does Saddam.

Do you think maybe that's part of "the plan"?

Apparently, something as huge as this movement cannot be hidden. I would inmagine the administration is aware of that.

Just an aside, but this was reported by Reuters, and the Post picked it up.

[cva66snipe]

August 13, 2002 -- The U.S. Navy is seeking to charter a large ship to carry military helicopters and ammunition from the United States to two ports in the Red Sea, shipping brokers said yesterday.

Hey congress where's the ships? National Defense First! All other programs second. Four new flat tops would be a good start along with about 4 LPH's. Oh and built in this decade please. Yes I know the logistics but we could use another shipyard tooled and ready. You'd be suprised what can be done once you set your mind to it. Honest try it.

[Robert Drobot]

Dumb he ain't. Madman Sadamn and friends will know, before you and I, when equipment and men are being moved, and where they're going. It will come from his own spies, and eagerly confirmed by our internal traitor enemies who believe our external enemies have a right to our technology in the stupid belief that we won't fight an enemy who has the same ability to kill our servicemen and women. Case in point - the tech give-a-way by the anti-American Clinton administration to our enemies in China. China is now sharing that high-tech with the Madman. Good to know something as mundane as war isn't interfering with anti-American greed and gluttony of American global business.

[cva66snipe]

There's only one viable way I see to handle the Middle East and give our troops and sailors any relief from these annual call ups. Return the MED SEA Operations Area to a Cold War strenght force. Place At least one other carrier group in or very near the IO 24/7/365 as well. This of course means a build up. That is needed anyway after the overzealiousness in the RIF's of the military in the past 12 years.

But to be realistic about it we either need to do this or stay home. The ships, the crews, the special forces, and others are being over deployed, over extended, and spread way too thin. A long term solution is a return to Cold War era patrols and presense. At least we would be on station and strikes within hours or days and not weeks to months. We should be able to handle our own matters with our own equipment. Congress should see to it we can.

[Salman]

Loose lips sink ships. Here are some folks who sink ships:

[McGruff]

Oh, I thought this was David Shippers leaking info.

[Rome2000]

They cannot even build their own airports, refineries or dams

Did you ever see an Iraqi pack of cigarettes?

My brother brought back a pack and gave it to me after he was there in '91 with the 2nd Marine Division.

Sorry looking thing, picture of a guy with a turban on the front, inside twenty crudely hand rolled marijuana joint looking "cigarettes" that tasted really, really, bad.

It was right then and there I realized that a country that can't even make a modern looking cigarette is no match for the USA(as long as the GOP is in charge).

[BlueNgold]

I'm caught between two thoughts:
The first is outrage that the media is publishing items like this ...
The second is that the military is smart enough to only use existing MSC capabilities during a build-up so as not to tip-off the enemy...
Actual plans and thus a security breach? Intentional misinformation? Any thoughts?

[Vermont Lt]

I thought we were using those big black triangular blimp things to do all of the heavy lifting....

Oh wait....that was a secret. Never mind.

[rintense]

Exactly. What a bunch of idiots.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

The source of this story has obviously never heard of MPS or the Military Sealift Comand.

[Tribune7]

This could be premeditated disinformation. I can't think of of one nation on the Red Sea -- accept Israel but why would we use their Red Sea port? -- that would support us attacking Iraq.

[section9]

Unless, of course, some of those ships were heading towards the Jordanian port of Aquabah.

The U.S. has made some promises to the Jordanians, I expect. Right now, we have troops on manouevers in Western Jordan.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Publius6961]

"It's another big one - 48,000 square feet of helicopters, ammo and assorted rolling stock," said a shipping broker familiar with the U.S. military's tendering process.

I do hope this self-important loser no longer has a job.

I can't believe this is happening...

[B4Ranch]

The newspaper editor needs to have his head bumped into the closest wall. That will be our troops on the ground. They are the ones who will be dieing for us.

[humblegunner]

Ping.

[Arkinsaw]

ping

[Paradox]

Doesn't anyone else find all this "leaking" more than a bit suspicious? My theory is that this all MAY be a ruse, in order to get old Sodom Hussein to move his military around, make him weaker at home. It also might be a move to scare him underground, while our "agents" watch and record his move..

Just seems to me there is more here than meets the eye...

[dennisw]

Who will sell the satellite imagery to Iraq? That reveals US positions?

China? Russia? The French?

[section9]

All three, actually. Except the French, of course. They won't sell unless Saddam wires the cash first.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[dennisw]

It also might be a move to scare him underground, while our "agents" watch and record his move..

He's gonna move way underground and unable to communicate with his people. We will blast all Iraqi communications and supplant them with our own propaganda beamed from "radio free Iraq" airplanes. Iraqi command and control will be decapitated.

[mewzilla]

Are you kidding? The French won't ask for money. All Saddam has to do is make mean faces at the French. They'll give him anything he wants.

[Robert Drobot]

"....The ships, the crews, the special forces, and others are being over deployed, over extended, and spread way too thin...."

Intentional frustration. Pure and simple. Targeting the command structure of our armed forces to eliminate our best and brightest. Pentagon globalists have no problem tossing the best and brightest to a UN command hierarchy that has no respect for America, or our troops.

Shed the pretenders, or watch them achieve their goal - erosion of America's might to a shell of what it was once upon a time.

The real war is not beyond our borders. Our greatest threat, our greatest enemy, is not external.

[Cate]

I now know what really happened to Rumsfeld hand. He has been busy slapping these stupid people who are endangering our troops and citizens of the United States.

[cake_crumb]

I remember the first Gulf War. I remember the first President Bush's irritation with the press. Someone in his administration...maybe the president himself...said something to the effect that if the press were allowed free access, all Saddam would have to do in order to know our plans was to "watch CNN."

I would imagine that the current President, as well as the veteran Cabinet members he has surrounded himself with, are well aware of how loose the collective lips of our media are, and keep it in mind always.

Hopefully, this information was allowed by the administration to be published.

Otherwise, we've got to slap some version of a "D" notice on the stupid press.

[1Old Pro]

Of course we are going to invade Iraq. The reason is clear, Saddam will have WMD's soon and will threaten the people of the United States.

This should not surprise anyone except the pro-arab war doves. Yesterday I could hear our National Guardsmen firing large machine guns for hours at their range. Anecdodal evidence of an invasion is widespread for anyone who has their eyes/ears open.

We might just as well prepare for it.

[blam]

"Perhaps Sen. Lott can budget a couple of Navy transport ships in stead of the porked out, never completed, taxpayer milked, luxury cruise ship rusting away in the shipyard at Pascagoula, Mississippi."

Most people don't know about that. What a waste of millions of $$$$.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

I had the same thought when i clicked to this post!David Shippers.

[reillyoburbank]

"Diplomacy works better, when concrete, recent examples are laid down. Iraq seems to be intransigent, not willing to heed Afghanistan."

That sentence should read: Diplomacy works better, when concrete standing as buildings, is returned to its original state... that of dust!

[Petronski]

What is the 'Loose Lips' status of a published report like this? It's already public record, but by linking them all here, do we add value by providing 'one stop shopping' for terrorists?

I'm not protesting your post, only raising a philosophical question.

[TheLurkerX]

I doubt it. Everything I've seen from various sources this week points to something in 3-4 weeks. I could be wrong, but that's the feeling I'm getting. And you're right, the media is to blame. I might think it was disinformation if a lot of it didn't appear briefly in the press and then disappear. Of course in this day and age of private satellite photography, I'm sure Saddam will see us a coming a mile away unless someone in the government is smart enough to prohibit more photos coming out like the ones of the Qatar base.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

The truth is that these ships would be reported in the M.E. when they start unloading their cargo.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Don't you mean you can't think of one nation that would suport us in Public?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

I don't know about where you are, but around here the National Guard always practices during the summer.

[John O]

along with about 4 LPH's

No more LPH's in service (Per Naval Vessel Register). Did you mean the LHA/LHD Amphibious flat top type ships or the LSD Landing dock type ships?

God Save America (Please)

[Zubercyber]

Pretty picture yeah one out of two, you know what I mean the beautiful, but you left the "Tripp" out! where is she ??

[1Old Pro]

I've never heard the large caliber machine gun fire, non-stop for weeks though.

[WhirlwindAttack]

As a father with 2 sons in the gulf,I think we should plug these security leaks.

.45 cal should plug them effectively

[Travis McGee]

Kick their ass and take the gas.