Panetta: U.S. will respond if Iran closes Strait of Hormuz

reply to post by GAOTU789


I have to wholeheartedly agree with you. Regardless of how much one Arab nation may despise another, when it comes to an all-out war with Israel they will stand shoulder to shoulder to fight a common and deeply hated enemy.

Originally posted by IamAbeliever
english.alarabiya.net...

The United States will respond if Iran tries to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday, saying his country will still have the strongest army in the world despite a recent decision to slash military spending.

“We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz,” Panetta told CBS television. “That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.”

Can you hear that? It's the sound of war drums and they are beating loudly. The U.S. government is hell bent on destroying Iran. They will not rest until they have started the "mother of all wars."

I don't get worked up about much but this situation is becoming dire and I am becoming very, very concerned about it. I fear for the future of our civilization. This may very well be the year we destroy ourselves. Let's hope cooler heads prevail.

edit on 8-1-2012 by IamAbeliever because: (no reason given)

Let's see....Iran threatens to close the worlds most importand energy tranport point and you blame the U.S.?

It is highly unlikely that Iran would be so stupid as to do this as they depend on this waterway for their oil exports.

If Iran was to do this...the U.S.N. Fifth Fleet is more than capable to destroy the entire Iranian Navy, Airforce and all costal military installations. They wll stop there although they capable of destroying targets deep in Iranian territory...but they will stop at what I have said. Split Infinity

Originally posted by GAOTU789
reply to post by Wrabbit2000

 

I pray it doesn't happen because I am not sure how this one is going to go. Iraq and Afghanistan, I had a pretty good idea on how they would turn out and they both kinda ended up that way. Iran is a different beast. China and Russia are wild cards in it. Will they, won' they? And a lot of the Wests military is over extended right now and weary after ten years of fighting counter insurgencies warfare.

This is what bothers me at such a deep level as well. No other power was ever going to help Afghanistan in the early stages where we should have ended things and left. Iraq was never really going to do more than push some diplomatic buttons and make some serious hard feelings in that arena, which it did. This one though... yeah, there are too many elements in play and I feel we aren't seeing connections and players here. Iran isn't the cult of personality that Iraq was, so the whims and annoyances of a single man are nowhere near enough to carry something all the way into war like this. It just doesn't make sense...unless we're missing things like underestimating the level of commitments Russia or China have made behind the scenes.

We'll see, unfortunately. It looks like events are carrying this along at a faster and faster rate. Once the tipping point comes....there we go.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I think we may share some common ground here. I am not saying that the U.S Navy or its carriers are invincible. But I was speaking about China becoming militarily engaged with the West to aid Iran. If things get hot it will be in the near term before China will have significantly increased its naval structure. We both agree that China's blue-water capacity is seriously lacking. China does not presently have the capability to defend shipping lanes out side of its own territorial waters. They cannot sortie a fleet of any credible size. I am not under any illusion that their recent missile developments are something that we should take lightly. Hubris is the surest way to get your clock cleaned. However, the Chinese are not in a position strategically to impact the Persian Gulf. If you notice their recent modernization programs are primarily aimed at tactical systems...China should be building more logistics ships to support their war ships. While China may be more wise than the Soviet Union was in procurement practices in some ways its military reminds me of the the Soviet Red Army: Fists of Iron but Feet of Clay.