Posted on 09/02/2007 1:09:49 PM PDT by kristinn
This might just be another BS moment at the Kos - theyve had so many of them Ive lost count. But if this is legit we just had a serious breach of national security.
I have a friend who is an LSO on a carrier attack group that is planning and staging a strike group deployment into the Gulf of Hormuz. (LSO: Landing Signal Officer- she directs carrier aircraft while landing) She told me we are going to attack Iran. She said that all the Air Operation Planning and Asset Tasking are finished. That means that all the targets have been chosen, prioritized, and tasked to specific aircraft, bases, carriers, missile cruisers and so forth.
I asked her why she is telling me this.Her answer was really amazing. .I know this will sound crazy coming from a Naval officer, she said. But were all just waiting for this administration to end. Things that happen at the senior officer level seem more and more to happen outside of the purview of XOs and other officers who typically have a say-so in daily combat and flight operations. Today, orders just come down from the mountaintop and theres no questioning. In fact, there is no discussing it. I have seen more than one senior commander disappear and then three weeks later we find out that he has been replaced. Thats really weird. Its also really weird because everyone who has disappeared has questioned whether or not we should be staging a massive attack on Iran."Were not stupid. Most of the members of the fleet read well enough to know what is going on world-wise. We also realize that anyone who has any doubts is in danger of having a long military career yanked out from under them. Keep in mind that most of the people I serve with are happy to be a part of the global war on terror. Its just that the touch points are what we see since we are the ones out here who are supposedly implementing this grand strategy. But when you liason with administration officials who dont know that Iranians dont speak Arabic and have no idea what Iranians live like, then you start having second thoughts about whether these Administration officials are even competent.
(So much for the apolitical moniker)
I asked her about the attack, how limited and so forth.
I dont think its limited at all. We are shipping in and assigning every damn Tomahawk we have in inventory. I think this is going to be massive and sudden, like thousands of targets. I believe that no American will know when it happens until after it happens. And whatever the consequences, whatever the consequences, they will have to be lived with. I am sure if my father knew I was telling someone in a news organization that we were about to launch a supposedly secret attack that it would be treason. But something inside me tells me to tell it anyway.
I asked her why she was suddenly so cynical.
I have become cynical only recently. I also dont believe anyone will be able to stop this. Bush has become something of an Emperor. He will give the command, and cruise missiles will fly and aircraft will fly and people will die, and yet few of us here are really able to cobble together a great explanation of why this is a good idea. Of course many of us can give you the 4H Club lecture on democracy in the Mid East. But if you asked any of the flight officers whether they have a clear idea of what the goal of this strike is, your answer would sound like something out of a think tank policy paper. But its not like Kosovo or when we relieved the tsunami victims. There everyone could tell you in a sentence what we were here doing.
Thats whats missing. A real sense of purpose. Whats missing is the answer to what the hell are we doing out here threatening this country with all this power? Last night in the galley, an ensign asked what right do we have to tell a sovereign nation that they cant build a nuke. I mean the table got EF Hutton quiet. Not so much because the man was asking a question that was off culture. But that he was asking a good question. In fact, the discussion actually followed afterwards topside where someone in our group had to smoke a cigarette. The discussion was intelligent but also in lowered voices. Its like we arent allowed to ask the questions that we always ask before combat. Its almost as if the average seaman or soldier is doing all the policy work.
She had to hang up. She left by telling me that she believes the attack is a done deal. Its only a matter of time before their orders come and they will be sent to station and told to go to Red Alert. She said they were already practicing traps, FARP and FAST. (Trapping is the act of catching the tension wires when landing on the carrier, FARP is Fleet Air Combat Maneuvering Readiness Program- practice dogfighting- and FAST is Fleet Air Superiority Training).
She seemed lost. The first time in my life I have ever heard her sound off rhythm, or unsure of why she is doing something. She knows that there is something rotten in the Naval Command and she, like many of her associates are just hoping that the election brings in someone new, some new situation, or something.
Yes. Were gong to hit Iran, bigtime. Whatever political discussion that are going in is window dressing and perhaps even a red herring. I see whats going on below deck here in the hangars and weapons bays. And I have a sick feeling about how its all going to turn out.
I passed this post on to the ONI AG - Office of Naval Intelligence AG to have a look-see and see if they can find this young lady - if she exists and have a chat. An active duty officer on a ship preparing for operations giving out the op plans to said operation is called - treason.
Again, considering the source (Kos), buyer beware, but if true the poster who goes by the name Maccabee - will be having some visitors.
This is going to be fun.
All the treason that's fit to print
Bush has become something of an Emperor. He will give the command, and cruise missiles will fly and aircraft will fly and people will die...”
Sounds more like Slick Willie! Just add a baby food factory.
Bump
How can anyone take anything off KOS seriously? It’s like putting faith in something off the DU.
The Navy plans contingency strikes all the time. Just like the Army, Marines and Air Force. Just because they are planning strikes does not mean that they are going to be carried out. The whole idea behind drawing up contingency strike plans is to eliminate the planning phase time should a short fused order come down to execute a strike. Plus it gives them time to do rehearsals. Many strikes must be executed almost down to the second, especially if there are more than one sumultaneous run into the target (called deconfliction) so they have to be rehearsed over and over so the timing becomes second nature.
Nothing to see here. Show’s over. Move along folks.
I also question the authenticity of this article since I haven't heard any of these grumblings about waiting out the change in the administration. Some of the terms are strange as well. FARP hasn't been used by the fighter end of the Navy since the early 90's and I've never heard of FAST.
The military is constantly updating operational plans for all sorts of contingencies. My operational unit used to look at contingencies for the Korean Penninsula all the time. That was in the 90's and we still haven't bombed anybody in NK.
I've been flying in the Navy since 91, fighters since 94, instructing SFARP since 98.
If this is accurate, the lady should be shot on sight. One thing for sure though, if it is true, she doesn’t read history. Many things are done in the military that the average officer or sailor doesn’t know anything about. Many pilots during WWII were in the air before they even knew where they were going. When our bombers were sent to Iraq, the crew had no idea what the target was....their computers took over and the course was set. Once they were over Iraq, the crew was notified of the target.
The Navy will run a hundred different scenarios and practice, practice, practice. They may have just been given a problem to solve.........just in case the order came down.
Please refrain from using the term split tails. It is highly offensive to Navy women. I usually have a thick skin, but that particular pejorative has always grated on me.
If she were really in the Navy, she would realize that Bush is the CIC, the only Emperor that she will ever know. In fact, her Ass belongs to Bush—he can have her planted in a garden in Herzogovinia if he wants....and be perfectly legal.
It ain’t real...
That does not mean it will happen though.
If this report is true and they want to Naval intelligence can and will find the little lady.
I’m not saying I believe everything “she” said, but if this really is an LSO, then “she” should be reprimanded for telling a civilian about plans that may or may not come to pass.
The Times and Reuters are reporting the same thing. You think they had the same source? </sarcasm>
"Hmmm...could it beeee...SATAN!?"
Hey stupid at KOS...I think your just outed you traitor friend........
How many female LSO are there right now on deployment in the Gulf of Hormuz?....
Complete leftist fantasy. Too bad actually, because I want Iran bombed. Unfortunately, this isn't even a psyop. It's just more Bush Derangement Syndrome from the excitable nutroots. When people ramble like this, it's time to sing the song:
Bomb bomb bomb
Bomb bomb Iran
Bomb bomb bomb
Bomb bomb Iran
Bomb Ir-a-a-an...
Jayson Blair would approve of this. They are even scoffing at this over at the dump.
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