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Pat Dollard: Iran Invades Oman
Pat quotes no sources, but he's usually right. May be why all those ships have moved into location.

For close to a month now, certain pockets of the U.S. intelligence and military communities have been deeply focused on a few key developments in the Iranian front of the War on Terror. When Iran declared war on America a few years ago (without a suicidal public announcement of course ) the entirety of the burden of execution fell on the shoulders of its Revolutionary Guards. No other military units in Iran are competent enough for any type of engagement with Western forces.

The Guards were to do what they always do. Operate in the shadows, provide weapons, munitions, training, cash, personnel and other sundry types of support to a proxy army in Iraq. This proxy army would wage Iran’s war with enough distance to allow for Iran to avoid an open conflict with superior American forces, essentially by providing it plausible deniability to the charge that it was waging war against America in the first place. S.O.P. - same deal as in Lebanon where Hezbollah fronts Iran’s war on Israel.

In the modern age, it is critical to enemies such as Iran that they never openly declare war on us, or we shall clearly have the right to annihilate them as we can. Plus it provides a critical weapon in their campaign to prevent American popular support for any U.S. military action against them. By never openly declaring war, they fool the American people into believing that they are indeed not waging war on us, so that when a President should call for military action against them, Iran is in the position to, and indeed does, say: “Who us? We ain’t doing shit. Your President’s a warmonger.” With the sounds of their IEDs and RPGs exploding in the background.

One of the key developments that has absorbed Washington’s attention deeply, and resulted in the very significant personal involvement of Vice President Dick Cheney, was the fact that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have invaded and seized almost all meaningful control of the strategic Masandam Peninsula in Oman - a peninsula that covers the Southern mouth of the Straight of Hormuz.

Occupying this peninsula solidifies Iran’s complete control of the straight. The Northern chokepoint has long been Iran’s; the Southern chokepoint has long been Oman’s. They are now both Iran’s. The Revolutionary Guard also decided to make this area their own, because it makes for a smuggler’s paradise. And smuggling is one of their #1 jobs. A priority for the Guard is to engage in as much profitable illegal activity, on a global scale, as they can, in order to pay for their very existence, and help bankroll the country’s nuclear program.

And, long anticipating the oncoming sanctions, the Guard has kept an eye on various ways to keep goods flowing into the country. Their new stronghold in Oman, with such control over the Straights, provides for just that.

And Oman, terrified of the direct confrontation with Iran that our military has planned and suggested, has decided to do nothing.

Cheney visited Oman on Feb. 26, and discussed these plans for joint Omani and U.S. forces to lay seige and slowly eject the Iranians from Masandam. The Omanis ultimately got cold feet. And Tehran remains in positon to use the peninsula to threaten tankers, American supplies and reinforcements, and even American troops as they leave.

Posted by: Sherry 2007-03-26
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=184123