Posted on 12/28/2011 9:46:35 AM PST by ColdOne
(CNN) -- The U.S. Navy said Iran's threat to block the strategically and economically important Strait of Hormuz is unacceptable.
"The free flow of goods and services through the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity," Navy 5th Fleet in Bahrain spokeswoman Cmdr. Amy Derrick Frost told reporters on Wednesday.
"Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated."
The 34-mile-wide shipping channel leads in and out of the Persian Gulf between Iran and Oman. It is strategically important because tankers carrying oil travel through it.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Shouldn’t this be coming from the Dept of State?
I was about 8 when we had the Suez Crisis. I decided way back then that the Arab world was insane...and nothing has come about to change my mind.
This would be more convincing if it came from the White Hut, and not from the fleet.
Any takers on when THAT announcement will ever be made? Anyone?
Commander Frost will soon be demoted and ozero will apologize.
Right...
America the Stupid is going to get checkmated real soon.
But hey, at least we have green energy and SMRT cars DUUUUR HUUUURRR!
Not Arabs, mooselimbs.
The Iranians are Persian, but mooselimbs.
See my tag line, but remember, we should save the moderate mooselimbs, both of them.
I have no doubts that the U.S. Navy could handle the situation and wipe out the the Iranian navy in days, if not hours.
But if the Iranians sink just a couple of tankers in the region, the shock-waves will be felt worldwide anyway.
But my biggest doubt is that 0bama would permit the Navy to act decisively, rapidly..
Or he might over-react and do something REALLY stupid hoping to usher in the 12th Imam.
This should be coming from the CIC or the state dept.
Most people think that diesel boats are easy targets, they are not. Actually they are pretty damn invisible to passive sonar when on batteries. Pinging them might cause unwanted hydrophone effects on the reverse bearing.
me thinks that Europe needs the straits open more than u.s.
What a silly post they are on Christmas break till next year
Given the stories that came out about his decision-making process during the Somali pirates incident, I would agree we have reason to worry.
Hey Derrick....take a look at news ...the Turks are shelling the international sea boundary between Israel and Cyprus....which happens to be on top of a huge gas/oil deposit...
What you gonna do about that eh..?
What a great time to block the Keystone XL pipeline Barack!!
The commodore of the escort group will do what was done during the “Tanker War” phase of the Iran-Iraq war. He’ll line the tankers up line-ahead and let the lead tanker absorb the mine hit. A modern double-hull supertanker can take a hit and keep going.
I’d fill a tanker with ballast rather than an oil cargo and use it as a low-tech minesweeper. It’s not elegant, but it worked before.
I must have heard wrong . . . on Fox they said oil could approach 300.00 a barrel. Oh yeah. And no Keystone pipleline? Bring it on Nutjob. Let’s see what Zero has when it comes to Texas Hold ‘Em. Oh I forgot, he is busy snorkeling and playing golf in HI.
Iran's vice president would never had made such a statement if he wasn't convinced that the Obama administration was weak and cowardly. The CIC and the State Department have failed to stand up to Iran. It was left to a naval officer to fill the vacuum.
The appeasement and weakness of the Obama Administration only encourages bad behavior by our enemies.
But some in our government do not think Iran is our enemy. We will end up paying dearly for their stupidity.
That’s pretty cool info. Never knew that.
It looks like someone accidentally put a real leader in charge while the entire Obama Administration is away on vacation.
The idea is double hull, as in, not easily sinkable, which COULD block the strait.
Stage a few old tankers on either side of the straight to run interference for the convoys as they enter/exit the Gulf.
Could probably improvise some platforms and a crude hangar deck for ASW helo’s. Of course most of this stuff would have to be done in advance as the missile shooting phase would probably stop with days as I’d expect the Army & Marines to land significant assets to hunt the launchers.
There’s also a few restive provinces in that area of Iran that would probably take the opportunity to string-up some mullahs. There are significant No-Go areas for the Khameni regime.
It will affect everyone. Oil is sold on a global market. Any shortfall in supply will result in higher prices for everyone. It won't matter where that oil comes from. Whether it comes from Alberta, Nigeria, Brazil, or North Dakota, the price will still go up.
The very first thing I thought when I saw the headline this morning. This thing is on several sites and noone seems to be asking the obvious. Since when does the Navy set US foreign policy? Where is the administration? the senate?
The very first thing I thought when I saw the headline this morning. This thing is on several sites and noone seems to be asking the obvious. Since when does the Navy set US foreign policy? Where is the administration? the senate?
An illuminating series of reports (too bad the shoe maker didn’t pay close enough attention to the quality of his own shoes - STRATFOR got badly hacked over the past weekend, and is still ‘down for maintenance’):
I am not concerned about this issue or the possibility of $300BBL oil, because Obama has no doubt prepared our country for such events.
Obama’s energy policy will get us through this, in the same way he has taken care of us with his ground breaking policies on our economy.
Hang on, the democrats will save us......
See, there’s nothing to worry about.
I like your thinking.A behind the scenes special operations task force can also kick the Iranians in the balls.If they want to up the ante,we can smoke them at will.U.S. should never be underestimated even with BHO usurper in chief.
The US Navy is gonna shoot these 2 out to “Un-Plug” the “Straight of Hormuz”:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2823351/posts
If he has the patience to wait until the EPA and Democrat Party has worked its poison through the United States of America, he will not have to do anything. We will be in the same condition financially as Britian. Someone posted that servicing out national debt now or will require 41cents of every dollar. That leaves 59 cents. I have no doubt that the Democrats, with Republican help intend to use every one of the 59 cents.
The Iranians have some silkworms that could do some damage but we would detect one being launched immediately and we would start sinking their entire fleet. We have 80 attack aircraft on each carrier. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. The Iranians know this. They are just pulling our chain. It is irritating though.
“It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.”
The Iranians don’t have to win a naval duel. They just have to block the passage, a task which could be made easier by provoking the US Navy to sink a lot of vessels in the strait. For a nation that used child-wave attacks against Saddam’s military in their Mesopotamian replay of WWI trench warfare, sacrificing their limited naval assets to block the strait would not be unthinkable.
If the net effect is to block the passage of oil tankers through the strait, whether by sunk vessels which have to be removed, or laying down mine fields which produce sunk vessels which have to be removed, or land-to-sea missile attacks which sink vessels that have to be removed, then ‘mission accomplished’ from the Iranian perspective.
Oil is fungible and both supply and demand are closely balanced and inelastic in the short run, so that spiking prices in Europe, where much of the Iranian oil currently ships, would translate immediately to spiking prices globally. The Iranian economy would be wacked too because of their low refining capacity, but if sanctions are already crippling their economy, they have less to lose than Europe and the rest of the developed world.
1 Exocet nearly sunk the USS Stark one exocet did sink the British Destroyer in the Falklands War. While the Silkworm is not as modern as the Exocet a direct hit could cause major damage.
Its looks like Iran wants a war. OBammy needs a war to help his Image.
Lord protect our sailors from harm.
[ “Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated.” ]
OR WHAT?.............
Sure. Just like Jimmy Carter said the Soviet missiles discovered in Cuba in 1979 were "unacceptable." Then, voila! The "unacceptable" became "accepted."
That was a trial balloon for which the White Hut can claim plausible deniability when the sneers of ridicule commence. "The Navy Department just spoke prematurely."
Doesn’t it seem like it should be heavier than just 90,000 tons? Sure the hell looks heavier. Consider all the weight inside plus the planes, nuke plant, etc.
,1991.jpg/517px-Mine_damage_to_USS_Tripoli_(LPH-10),1991.jpg)
An interesting tagline to a recent HotAir posting:
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/12/28/saudis-to-iranian-mullahs-well-keep-pounding-sand/
And Iran itself — which has enjoyed record oil profits over the past five years but is faced with a dwindling number of oil customers — relies on the Hormuz Strait as the departure gate for its biggest client: China.
“We would be committing economical suicide by closing off the Hormuz Strait,” said an Iranian Oil Ministry official who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. “Oil money is our only income, so we would be spectacularly shooting ourselves in the foot by doing that.”
Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a political scientist running for parliament from the camp of hard-line clerics and commanders opposing Ahmadinejad, said it is “good politics” for Iran to respond to U.S. threats with threats of its own.
“But our threat will not be realized,” Ardestani said. “We are just responding to the U.S., nothing more.”
Besides, the UAE — whose exports would be most impacted by an Iranian blockade of the strait — will shortly complete a pipeline that bypasses Hormuz altogether. They can pump 2.5 million barrels a day through the pipeline, which would more than negate Iranian action.
Any intel on this?
Israeli spyware sold to Iran
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/security/israeli-spyware-sold-to-iran-20111227-1pb26.html
Israel Didn’t Know High-Tech Gear Was Sent to Iran
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-23/israel-didn-t-know-high-tech-gear-was-sent-to-iran-via-denmark.html
Is this an old story? I have been offline for a couple of days.
OOOOOOOO - Obama’s talking tough.
That should put the fear of Obama in them.
/sarc
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