After Provocation:
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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Will Iran Try To Provoke The USS Harry S. Truman? |
| 2008-01-12 |
| Kuwait is the US President George W. Bush’s first stop Friday, Jan. 11 in his Persian Gulf tour, at the end of his talks in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The high security focus has therefore shifted to the Persian Gulf region, centering on the USS Harry Truman. DEBKAfile reports that US intelligence has learned that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards may be planning further provocations after harassing the US Navy on Jan. 6. According to our Iranian sources, the new Revolutionary Guards (IRGS) commander, Mohamed Jaafari, is instigating these incidents with wholehearted encouragement from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed out of the picture. These episodes also serve as live drill for the IRGS’s naval units. In the last two years, they have taken over Iran’s regular navy and built up a new backbone of small, speedy boats manned by marine commandos, like those which provoked three American warships in the Strait of Hormuz on Jan. 6. They have also boosted Iran’s submarine force with home-made mini-subs designed for underwater guerrilla tactics to catch American and Israeli vessels unawares. The IRGS is now working on a “living torpedo,” a suicide bomber who rides in to attack enemy shipping athwart a torpedo with a powerful, fast engine. In practice operations, the bomber jumps out of a fast boat as it sails close the target-vessel and blows it up. Israeli military circles conclude from Bush’s talks with Israel leaders that his administration has given up on serious pressure to make Iran abandon its covert military nuclear program. Iran now feels able to consummate its nuclear aspirations free of impediments and the threat of sanctions. In a paper he published on Jan. 10, the former Israeli Military Intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi affirmed that this effect was wrought by the recent US National Intelligence Estimate’s statement that Iran had given up its covert nuclear weapons program. This report, he said, had seriously unsettled the moderate pro-US Sunni nations, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who have accordingly lost hope of Washington acting to strip Iran of its nuclear arms potential. They have responded by enhancing relations with Tehran. Amid the shower of verbiage on the Palestinian issue and personal backing for prime minister Ehud Olmert, the visiting US president’s talks in Jerusalem exacerbated Israel’s concerns with regard to its primary security threat, Iran and its nuclear activities. The USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is commanded by Rear Adm. William E. Gortney. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 He might be quite out of the picture of they actually fire on us. I would imagine that most of the Iranian coast and probably every single oil refinery in Iran would also be "out of the picture" shortly after engagement. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-01-12 23:53 |
| #6 According to our Iranian sources, the new Revolutionary Guards (IRGS) commander, Mohamed Jaafari, is instigating these incidents with wholehearted encouragement from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed out of the picture. Somehow I doubt he's out of the picture. |
| Posted by: Snique Dark Lord of the Apes1889 2008-01-12 23:06 |
| #5 Maybe the IRG should google the words Saratoga and Gulf of Sidra. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2008-01-12 22:55 |
| #4 Metaphorically, I think that Messing with Sasquatch also works. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2008-01-12 22:51 |
| #3 After NIE: After Provocation: |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-01-12 22:30 |
| #2 ...yes, by all means please do. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2008-01-12 22:12 |
| #1 "Will Iran Try To Provoke The USS Harry S. Truman?" We can but hope.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-01-12 22:05 |