Posted on 02/02/2006 11:48:43 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Actually the way the dems in D.C. have been acting, I think the dems want worse for us, like sending us to our graves.
I am not joking here, the democrats in D.C. have done everything thing, short of direct violence with their own hands, to try to destory the U.S.
Indeed it is ....
The pictures are worth a thousand words.....
Here's a bit of info that might make all this even more interesting. And be a precursor to conflict.
The Caspian Sea oil resides in a sloping field which means if Iran pumps oil from that field from Iranian territory, it drains the former "Soviet" reserves. During the time of the late-Shah, oil wells on the Iranian side were capped and not untilized for this very reason, to avoid butting heads with the Soviets.
As a side bar, the Caspian Sea depth levels are also in the form of a spoon with the handle in the north and the deep part in Iranian territorial waters. And sturgeon in general and the caviar producing Beluga and Sevruga like deep water. Thus they pretty much reside in Iranian waters.
Much of the Russian Caviar sold originating from the Caspian is actually Iranian caviar but the Iranian Shilat Fisheries had to sell a certain amount of their catch and caviar to the "Soviets" to re-export as Russian variety.
Now, with the new countries of the former Soviet Union in the region, it will be interesting to see what happens to the oil. Caviar is apparently already being "banned" by international bodies as a forbidden purchase to save the sturgeon.
Remember President Reagan with cajones???
Following the September 21 raid, Iran amassed 60 gunboats and directed the flotilla toward Khafji, a Saudi-Kuwaiti oil facility. The USS La Salle, flagship of Rear Admiral Harold Bernsen, commander of the U.S. Navy Middle East Force, moved to intercept the gunboats, which turned back after being buzzed by Saudi warplanes. Another encounter involved an Iranian warship that locked fire control radar on a USN destroyer, the Kidd; warned off by the Kidd's skipper, the Iranian ship sailed away. Then, on October 8, Iranian gunboats fired at a U.S. Army helicopter, missing the target but attracting the attention of two U.S. AH-6 gunship choppers, which sank one of the gunboats and damaged two others. Iran responded by firing Silkworm missiles at the U.S.-owned Liberian supertanker Sungari and the reflagged Kuwaiti tanker Sea Isle City, damaging both vessels. There were no fatalities, though the American skipper of the Sea Isle City, Captain John Hunt, was blinded.
Few doubted the U.S. would retaliate. Two weeks later, four U.S. destroyers fired over one thousand rounds of 5-in. shells into Iran's Rashadat oil-loading platforms in the Persian Gulf -- after giving the platform crews twenty minutes to evacuate. Ninety minutes of continuous shelling left the platforms smoldering ruins; SEAL commando teams exploded the pilings and sent the rubble plunging into the sea. The Iranians answered by firing another Silkworm at Sea Island, Kuwait's deep-water oil-loading facility, destroying the loading dock. "We're not going to have a war with Iran," said President Reagan. "They're not that stupid." But it certainly seemed as though an undeclared war was already underway. A public opinion poll revealed that while 68% of Americans expected a "military exchange" between the U.S. and Iran, 60% were in favor of stronger retaliatory action against the Iranians.
The situation remained tense throughout the winter, but not until April 1988 did violence erupt once again in the Persian Gulf. Ten seamen were injured when the USN frigate Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine on April 14. Being careful to consult with Congress this time, President Reagan ordered a retaliatory strike against two Iranian oil platforms in the southern gulf -- platforms that served as bases for Iran's intelligence service. While one platform was shelled by the frigates Simpson and Bagley, Marines helicoptered to the second, seized it, planted explosive charges, and destroyed it. A few minutes later, the Simpson sank an Iranian patrol boat that had fired a missile at the USN guided-missile cruiser Wainwright. (The Wainwright defended itself by dispensing aluminum chaff in the air, which deflected the missile.) Meanwhile, near the Strait of Hormuz, two Iranian frigates and several gunboats were sunk by American warships and an F-14 Tomcat from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. During the day-long battle, a Cobra helicopter carrying two American crewmen was shot down by the Iranians.
This defeat at sea, coupled with grave setbacks in the land war with Iraq, persuaded Iranian leaders to seek improved relations with the West. The Ayatollah Khomeini agreed with Hashemi Rafsanjani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, on the need to pursue a new foreign policy that would defuse tensions in the Persian Gulf. As for the United States, its resolve in the gulf in 1987-88 improved its standing with allies, not only in the Middle East but also around the world.
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