Thursday, November 2, 2006

Great Prophet Two

Much saber-rattling and flexing of muscles in the Persian Gulf area. From Al Jazeera:

Iran has started military exercises in the Arabian gulf just days after six other nations, including the United States, held a series of exercises in the same area.

The television station said that the military manoeuvres, named Great Prophet Two, would last until November 11 and include drills in the gulf and Sea of Oman, and would be a show of defensive strength.

General Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, was quoted as saying: "The war games are aimed at demonstrating the deterrent power of the [Iranian Revolutionary] guards against possible threats."

Safavi said the drills were not a threat to Iran's neighbours.

"Our neighbours are our friends," he said. "The guards just want to prove that they ready to resist in any threatening situation."

The announcement came two days after US-led warships finished a two days of exercises in the gulf which were described by Iran as "adventurist".

Iran said the drills involving Australia, Bahrain, Britain, France, Italy and the US would not improve security in the waters of the gulf, through which about 20 per cent of the world's oil passes. It also called on gulf nations to set up their own regional security arrangements.

"Regional security arrangements" sounds to me like a warning to those gulf states allied with the U.S.

These are the country's third war games this year.

In August, Iranian armed forces held a cross country military exercise called Zolfaghar Blow to test new weapons and tactics against a potential enemy. The first stage of the Great Prophet war games was held in April.

"Potential enemy"? Who could that be?

"Cross-country military exercise"? Gee, what country could they possibly want to cross? I guess they want to make to make sure all their tanks and trucks run good in case they have to make a dash to Baghdad.

Read what a few experts have to say about "military options in Iran". You'll know more than Bush on the subject if you don't already.

Dare a crazy motherfucker like Ahmadinejad to do crazy shit, say by bombing his country, and we're likely to find out just how crazy he really is.

The Iranian army isn't very big, best guess about 350,000 troops and mostly draftees, but double that by combining them with Iraqi Shiite militias and all the Iraqi troops and police we've trained, who will turn on us in a minute because they have to live there after we're gone, and we may get to fight the kind of war we thought we would have with Saddam's army.

Only this time we'll get to do it with worn-out troops and equipment, and a 300 klick contested overland supply route from Kuwait to Baghdad, let alone to Anbar, etc. I think it will be all we can do to get our guys out of there. Read up on Dunkirk. Better yet, the German retreat from Russia, or the fighting withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir. Those are all about defeated armies GTFO of places.

"Number Two" does not begin to describe what our "Great Prophet" Bush has gotten us into.

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