British Naval Power Amassing in the Gulf as Israel Prepares Iran Strike

Title and news as reported here: Telegraph UK

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were significant portions of truth to this report; not only because of Israel's clearly stated intent to prevent Iran from progressing further toward nuclear arms, but also because any conflict between Israel and Iran will inevitably draw in the US and UK - even despite their own objection to a strike now. Iran's own intent to strike US military sites etc. means that the US and UK can't NOT be involved.

What would this do to the US/Israel relationship, should the US be unwillingly drawn into a third war (yes, I'm counting Afghanistan and Iraq as ongoing conflicts)?

Time will tell, I suppose.

For those of us who are Christians, this scenario falls very neatly into the prophecy of Psalm 83 and the alignment of nations against Israel... so it's something to watch. Say what you will about the Bible, the prophecy is spot on, time and time again.

Iran has had so much time to prepare and this massing of naval ships in the gulf is a sign (to them) that something is about to happen. They're ready, they've been given the time.

It seems futile, not even bringing up the insanity, to make a preemptive strike at this point.

But, we're on the home stretch people, this could be it!

Peace.

For those of us who are Christians, this scenario falls very neatly into the prophecy of Psalm 83 and the alignment of nations against Israel... so it's something to watch. Say what you will about the Bible, the prophecy is spot on, time and time again.

Could you elaborate on the " ....the prophecy is spot on, time and time again" part?

starting to think westerners are suicidal... with all the current outbreaks of conflict in the middle east they want to start yet another war... guess they going to start drafting people to have enough cannon fodder to waste so the corrupt bastards make their bloodmoney from more mass murder.. damn sure wont be israel doing the heavy fighting as they only know how to kill the elderly..infirm..women and children...

This just reminded me of something I read a long time ago, i don`t remember where i read it, it might have been in the bible, anyhow it said that WW3/armageddon whatever you want to call it would pit the chinese,russians and arabic world against the rest of the world.

TextThe carriers are supported by at least 12 battleships, including ballistic missile cruisers, frigates, destroyers and assault ships carrying thousand of US Marines and special forces.

that from the op's link kinda makes me question it as we have not fielded a battleship in many years....im gonna assume they wanted to say cruiser? either way i thought the british ships that were in the area have been there for some time allready? or did a new ship show up today or something

Originally posted by KilrathiLG

TextThe carriers are supported by at least 12 battleships, including ballistic missile cruisers, frigates, destroyers and assault ships carrying thousand of US Marines and special forces.

that from the op's link kinda makes me question it as we have not fielded a battleship in many years....im gonna assume they wanted to say cruiser? either way i thought the british ships that were in the area have been there for some time allready? or did a new ship show up today or something

They should have said 'warships'. That is the level that journalists have sunk to. Follow the line, don't worry, any crap will do, the readers are asleep and if they're not then they don't read our trash anyway.

P

Originally posted by Expat888
starting to think westerners are suicidal... with all the current outbreaks of conflict in the middle east they want to start yet another war... guess they going to start drafting people to have enough cannon fodder to waste so the corrupt bastards make their bloodmoney from more mass murder.. damn sure wont be israel doing the heavy fighting as they only know how to kill the elderly..infirm..women and children...

No need for a draft, just destroy the economy and they'll be lining up for jobs with the military.

Originally posted by Ericthenewbie

For those of us who are Christians, this scenario falls very neatly into the prophecy of Psalm 83 and the alignment of nations against Israel... so it's something to watch. Say what you will about the Bible, the prophecy is spot on, time and time again.

Could you elaborate on the " ....the prophecy is spot on, time and time again" part?

I could... but I don't actually want to sidetrack the thread into a discussion about prophecy. Despite the fact that it's relevant, I'd rather stick to the Iran/Israel conflict than diverge into discussions about prophecy in general.
So... in brief, there are over 2500 specific, fulfilled prophecies in the Bible. Google can help you out, but here's a link to just a small handful, with comments: Reasons to Believe: Fulfilled Prophecies

Without any means to derail this thread, this is my personal opinion:

This is nothing more than another fear mongering by the media as we all gotten used to. The same drill happens every year.
It's just like how the news sources blast massive headlines such as "US CRUISER ON IT'S WAY TO THE GULF", while keeping quiet about how it's merely a shift change and there were always US Cruisers at the same spot.

I could be wrong and this is indeed something special, but as far as everyone's concerned this is nothing more than the same drill that happens every year at the same location, only this time it's broader.

While that could potentially be true, the article states that there are "Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations... converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz".

Whether the journalist in question knows that Battleships are no longer active, and that the correct term is "cruisers" probably isn't relevant (unless it suggests that the author is embellishing facts, or something similar).

There's a world of difference between stationing 1-2 cruisers in the Strait (as we've seen over the past months) and 25 nations' military forces converging on a single location.

I suppose time will tell...

Oooooookay...

so, a brief thank you first to the Telegraph UK for being a classy establishment and presenting the facts clearly, and without even the slightest hint of sensationalism (yes, that's sarcasm).

And now, the final reveal:

US, Allies set to launch Anti-Mine operations in Gulf

...false alarm, or pretext?

-edited-
Sorry I thought the Telegraph changed the title of the article.. heh.

The point is that in the Persian Gulf mines have been used extensively in the past and Iran has recently been ranting and raving that they could close the Straits of Hormuz.

What better response to these threats than to do a mine clearance exercise. Except, the exercise may well uncover sea mines left over from past conflicts which remain hazardous to shipping.

Naval anti-mine technology is really quite fancy and such an exercise would give many navies the opportunity to work together. If Iran did start to lay mines then many innocent seamen will be thankful of exercises like this. It is civilian shipping which would suffer from sea mines floating around the Gulf and much of that shipping is not oil related.

Regards

Originally posted by Expat888
starting to think westerners are suicidal... with all the current outbreaks of conflict in the middle east they want to start yet another war... guess they going to start drafting people to have enough cannon fodder to waste so the corrupt bastards make their bloodmoney from more mass murder.. damn sure wont be israel doing the heavy fighting as they only know how to kill the elderly..infirm..women and children...

If they start national conscriptions my son will refuse to fight, he won't go. And I support him.

Let TPTB and politicians send their own sons to their deaths.

My son says if it were a situation of us defending our shores and under attack - then he would rush to defend our country and citizens. But this isn't the case, and he will have no part in it.

Surely all they have to do is call Tony Blair.

He is the middle east peace envoy after all, and such a nice chap, he will have a word with both sides and get it all sorted over a cup of tea.