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| US Bolsters MidEast Missile Defense To Counter Iran |
| 2012-07-18 |
| Pentagon constructing radar station at secret Qatar site, organizing largest-ever minesweeping drill in Gulf, 'WSJ' reports. Amid increasing tensions over the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, the United States is constructing a missile-defense radar station at a secret site in Qatar and organizing its largest-ever minesweeping exercises in the Persian Gulf, the Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying Monday. The bolstering of the US military in the Gulf is designed to defend the US, Israel and EU countries against Iranian rockets, officials said. The radar base in Qatar will supplement two similar X-band radars already in place in Israel's Negev and central Turkey, according to officials. Together, the three sites will form an arc to detect missile launches from within Iranian territory. The report also stated that the installations will also be linked to US missile interceptor batteries. The Journal report came after the US Navy deployed small underwater drones capable of destroying sea mines to the Persian Gulf, according to The Los Angeles Times. The US has also sent a navy ship, previously slated for decommissioning, to help with mine-clearing operations, part of a series of moves indicating a gradual US build-up as tensions with Iran smoulder. Four US minesweepers arrived in the Gulf last month to bolster the Fifth Fleet and ensure the safety of shipping routes in a waterway through which 40 percent of the world's seaborne oil exports flow. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 See also TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > VARIOUS = US GEARS UP FOR IRAN ATTACK: CONSTRUCTION OF MISSLE DEFENSE STATION [Radar] IN QATAR. * DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [WSJ = Yahoo News] US BUILDING MISSLE DEFENSE STATION IN QATAR. * WORLD NEWS > [Business Insider = Qatar] HERE'S WHY THE US IS SELLING MISSLES [Hellfire ATGMS + Longbow Apaches] TO OUR NEW BEST FRIEND IN THE PERSIAN GULF. OTOH IRONY = the US has directly or indirectly the various "Arab/Muslim/Islamic Spring", "anti-Regime pro-Democracy/Islamist", mass protests = movements which are also heavily supported by Islamist nemesis IRAN. HOW WILL THE US RESPOND IFF THE SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY IS REMOVED FROM RULING POWER, OR OTHERWISE HEAVILY ISOLATED OR MINIMIZED, I.E. OF SAUDI ARABIA ENDS UP DEVOL INTO ANOTHER POST-UNCLE QADDAFI LIBYA WHERE FORMERLY ALLIED ANTI-QADDAFI MILITIAS ARE NOW COMPETING [violently?] AGZ EACH OTHER FOR NATIONAL CONTROL??? Iran wins. The above being said, it remains true that Nuke-wannabe Islamist Iran is not ready yet to navally oppose the US = US-led Coalition in the Gulf proper - HOWEVER, THE ARABIAN PENINSULA, AFPAK, + CAR IS QUITE ANOTHER MATTER. As per former Iranian INTEL Officer Hassan Abbassi, "ISLAMIC AWKENING" > IRAN + IRGC + HARDLINE/RADICAL ISLAMIC GROUPS, ETC. HAVE SEEN FOUR PRO-US OR "MODERATE" MUSLIM GOVTS FALL VEE THE "ARAB/MUSLIM SPRING", + EXPECT MORE TO FOLLOW. * FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Video = RAJA News] IRANIAN [future Strategic?] MISSLE "QIAM", GOING BEYOND EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE INTO SPACE. Iran doing a North Korean LR alleged "Space Rocket" = ICBM??? * SAME > IRGC: US AIRCRAFT CARRIERS ARE "RUSTY IRON" | [Fars News Agency] IRGC LIEUTENANT COMMANDER [LCDR Hossein Salehi] CALLS US AIRCRAFT CARRIERS "RUSTY IRON", proclaiming that Iran + IRGC do NOT fear the size or internal arsenals, etc. of the these USN Ships, to include those of the US' trans-regional Allies |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2012-07-18 23:44 |
| #1 Anybody know which interceptor missiles the radars are linked to? I think the Navy's Standard 3 has a pretty good record, as does the Patriot 3. Is there anything else out there? Navies are expensive. Iran can't keep on replacing theirs forever. Question is whether our ROE are equivalent to a boxer restricted to striking his opponent's forearms when the opponent punches. Said it before: The Westphalian model does not easily apply to non-state actors hiding in sovereign nations. Can't get to them without INVADING AN INNOCENT COUNTRY!!! And the Iranians will pretend to make a crappy effort at pretending the assets in question belong to somebody else and our wobblies will pretend to believe them. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2012-07-18 10:26 |