U.S. holds navy exercise after Iran comments on Gulf

Reuters ^ | Mon Jul 7, 2008 4:29pm BST

[Perdogg]

The U.S. Navy said on Monday it was carrying out an exercise in the Gulf, days after vowing that Iran will not be allowed to block the waterway which carries crude from the world's largest oil-exporting region.

"The aim of Exercise Stake Net is to practice the tactics and procedures of protecting maritime infrastructure such as gas and oil installations," Commodore Peter Hudson said in a U.S. Fifth Fleet statement.

[Perdogg]

ping

[johnny7]

Those small speed boats worry me. If used en masse and in sucicide mode... they could be a problem.

[Joiseydude]

Just heard on the news that the carrier Abraham Lincoln left the Persian Gulf for the Arabian Sea to support troops in Afghanistan. The departure of the Abraham Lincoln leaves no carrier in the Persian Gulf.

[catbertz]

Maybe they don’t want her left a sitting duck with little room to run?

[Vermont Lt]

If there isnt a carrier in the Gulf, how long would it take a jet to get from one end to the other? Another half hour? I really don’t know, but I cannot imagine it makes a whole heck of a lot of difference.

And I wouldnt want a bunch of those little fast boats to get within a few miles with some sort of dirty bomb, or small nuke.

[Eye of Unk]

I would presume we will have several dozen UCAVs on patrol.

[freema]

Speculation about a possible attack on Iran because of its nuclear program has risen since a report last month said Israel had practiced such a strike.