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Three major US naval strike forces due this week in Persian Gulf
DEBKAfile
Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008
DEBKAfile’s military sources note that the arrival of
the three new American flotillas will raise to five the number
of US strike forces in Middle East waters – an unprecedented
build-up since the crisis erupted over Iran’s nuclear program.
This vast naval and air strength consists of more than 40 carriers,
warships and submarines, some of the last nuclear-armed, opposite
the Islamic Republic, a concentration last seen just before the
US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Our military sources postulate five objects of this show of American
muscle:
1. The US, aided also by France, Britain and Canada, is finalizing
preparations for a partial naval blockade to deny Iran imports
of benzene and other refined oil products. This action would indicate
that the Bush administration had thrown in the towel on stiff
United Nations sanctions and decided to take matters in its own
hands.
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2. Iran, which imports 40 percent of its refined fuel products
from Gulf neighbors, will retaliate for the embargo by shutting
the Strait of Hormuz oil route chokepoint, in which case the US
naval and air force stand ready to reopen the Strait and fight
back any Iranian attempt to break through the blockade.
3. Washington is deploying forces as back-up for a possible Israeli
military attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.
4. A potential rush of events in which a US-led blockade, Israeli
attack and Iranian reprisals pile up in a very short time and
precipitate a major military crisis.
5. While a massive deployment of this nature calls for long planning,
its occurrence at this time cannot be divorced from the flare-up
of the Caucasian war between Russia and Georgia. While Russia
has strengthened its stake in Caspian oil resources by its overwhelming
military intervention against Georgia, the Americans are investing
might in defending the primary Persian Gulf oil sources of the
West and the Far East.
DEBKAfile’s military sources name the three US strike forces
en route to the Gulf as the USS Theodore Roosevelt , the USS Ronald
Reagan and the USS Iwo Jima . Already in place are the USS Abraham
Lincoln in the Arabian Sea opposite Iranian shores and the USS
Peleliu which is cruising in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
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