Press TV Iran extols the power of the Mighty Iranian Navy...
Iran has deployed naval ships to the high seas as part of a full-fledged campaign initiated by the highest level of government. Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari on Friday indicated that Tehran had overcome the self-imposed barrier of warship deployment in its own territorial waters to establish a powerful naval presence in international waters. "We have a right to have a naval presence in international waters. Our initiative will work to protect the national interests of the Islamic Republic and will hoist the Iranian flag with pride," explained the navy commander. But probably not for long... Life will be quiet for a short while. Then it will be very exciting. Then it will be very, very quiet again.
Ordered by Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Iran's Commander-in-Chief Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the newly-launched initiative will ensure that Iranian warships remain stationed in a large area of the Indian Ocean. Good luck, men! It maybe a 'large area' of the Indian Ocean, but I'll bet the US Navy can find them ... I bet the Indians could find them too...
Iran in late 2008 opened a naval base in the eastern part of the strategic Hormuz waterway. Military officials then described the base as a protective barrier against enemy infiltration at the main entrance to Iranian waters. ...and a big juicy target.
Dubbed as a "defense front", the Jask base was said to be part of plans to make the area "impenetrable" for a non-regional enemy. Impenetrable, I tells ya! Impenetrable!
Rear Adm. Sayyari said Friday that the Jask naval base plays a major role in the new push into high seas. "With this presence, we seek to convey the message of peace and friendship of the Iranian nation to the entire world, to help instruction and to pass on our experiences to our young generation," he continued. Those of us who survive...
According to the official, Iran is working on further strengthening its presence in international waters by improving its naval infrastructure and adding new destroyers to its fleet. An Iranian warship has already ended a one-month mission in the Indian Ocean as part of the initiative. Looks like we're outta goat meat, men. Time to head home... Continued on Page 47
#7
In the James Bond movie "Tomorrow Never Dies", a warship is attacked by a "boring" torpedo that cuts a hole in it. Now while that may not be the best technique to sink a ship without high explosives, which have an enormous sonar signature, perhaps there are other ways.
My point being if the Iranian ships just disappear at sea, without an explosion, well, it's just bad luck, isn't it?
#9
"Impenetrable" used in the same definition as with Paris Hilton
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/23/2009 19:49 Comments ||
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#10
This is the time when I wish we still had a couple of Iowa-class battleships. Have one of those pull up alongside, and watch the Iranians fill the scuppers. Even a destroyer looks like a toy beside a BB. They've seen carriers, but a battleship is something else. The one that came through the Panama Canal in 1968 (New Jersey, IIRC) impressed the locals AND those of us allowed aboard her.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/23/2009 21:04 Comments ||
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#11
OP
KiloBravo and I crawled all over the USS Missouri last fall while vacationing in Hawaii. What a beautiful ship.
#12
Agreed, OP. I've been on both the USS Wisconsin and the USS Missouri. We knew how to make intimidating and effective warships at one time (although I've seen a couple of the big Carriers in San Diego harbor and they're no slouches, either).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/23/2009 22:37 Comments ||
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Claudia Rosett at The Corner
We're just over a month into the Obama administration, and already American politicians are so deep into "engagement" with Syria that maybe it's time to start wondering about the wedding date. Post-inauguration, four congressional delegations have gone to Damascus to call on Syrian President Bashar Assad, one at the end of January, and three in the past week.
The star engager of the moment is John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who dropped by Damascus on Saturday to sit in an inlaid chair and talk for more than an hour with Assad. Apparently they did find some common ground. They share an aversion to the policies of former President Bush--who had the audacity to try to lever Syria's Baathist tyranny out of Lebanon and impose penalties on Syria for such activities as providing illicit banking services for Saddam Hussein, suspected involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and harboring such major-league terrorists such as al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas.
But hey, with today's new "smart" diplomacy, there's nothing here that can't be cured by an extended hand from President Obama and a nice long chat with John Kerry. On Saturday, Kerry emerged his audience with Assad to gush about their talks as "very long, frank, candid and open." We have arrived, Kerry told CBS News, at "an important moment of change, a moment of potential transformation."
Right. Except it's America that's changing, not Syria--sidekick to Iran, and paragon of "smart" tyranny.
In tandem with the congressional stampede to Damascus, the Obama administration has already waived sanctions on Syria to allow for repair of Syrian state-owned Boeing airliners, allowed a transfer of funds from the U.S. to a Syrian charity, and is planning talks this coming week aimed at restoring the diplomatic ties that Bush broke off following the Hariri murder in 2005. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has talked up prospects of Syria becoming a "constructive regional actor."
It's a lovely notion, except that Syria's regime has survived for decades by facilitating mayhem in the region, and then offering its services as a broker to fix the problem. Sure, Syria will talk. Assad in his munificence granted an audience to Jimmy Carter in 2008, and to Nancy Pelosi when she arrived, scarf-on-head, to go nut-shopping in the Damascus souk in 2007.
But what is Syria doing to bring on this Obamavision of transformation? Better ask what Syria is not doing--starting with Assad's refusal to allow any further inspection of the site of Syria's clandestine nuclear reactor at Al-Kibar, built with North Korean help, and destroyed by an Israeli air strike in September, 2007. Buried at the bottom of an Agence France Presse account of Kerry's meeting was the fascinating footnote that the diplomatic flurry in Damascus has been "clouded" by the International Atomic Energy Agency's recent report confirming the discovery at Al Kibar of "unexplained uranium particles."
Unexplained uranium particles? Note to future U.S. delegations: "Transformation" takes many forms. When you pack your bags for talks in Syria, bring yer lead-lined underwear.
Continued on Page 47
Iran plans to test its first nuclear power plant Wednesday in preparations for its launch after several delays of its original launching date in the fall of 2008, Iran's official news website announced Sunday.
IRNA agency announced a "pilot stage operation" of the power plant will start on Wednesday during a visit by the head of Russia's state Rosatom Atomic Corporation, Sergey Kiriyenko. Kiriyenko will attend Wednesday's "pre-commissioning" of Iran's first such power plant, located on the Gulf coast in south-western Iran, state radio said.
The long-awaited 1,000-megawatt power plant, built in the city of Bushehr with the help from Russia under a $1 billion contract, employs 700 Iranian engineers who were trained in Russia to operate the plant. Kiriyenko said this month Russia aimed to start up a nuclear reactor at Bushehr by the end of the year.
Iranian media said the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, would also attend the event at Bushehr.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran offered to stop attacking troops in Iraq if the West dropped opposition to its nuclear program, a top British official said in comments to be broadcast Saturday.
Sir John Sawers, Britain's current ambassador to the United Nations, told the BBC that Iranian officials had privately admitted their role in supporting insurgents' roadside bomb attacks on British and U.S. troops.
But the proposed deal, floated in teatime meetings at London hotels, was rejected by the British government. It was not clear exactly when the deal was suggested, according to pre-released extracts of the interview, which will appear in a documentary later Saturday.
"The Iranians wanted to be able to strike a deal whereby they stopped killing our forces in Iraq in return for them being allowed to carry on with their nuclear program," Sawers told the BBC.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
02/23/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
How about "Iran promises to end Iraq attacks if the West promises to nuke Iran."
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