US plans significant military presence in Kuwait

From AP, Via Blacklistednews:

The United States is planning a significant military presence of 13,500 troops in Kuwait to give it the flexibility to respond to sudden conflicts in the region as Iraq adjusts to the withdrawal of American combat forces and the world nervously eyes Iran, according to a congressional report.

The study by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee examined the U.S. relationship with the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman - against a fast-moving backdrop. In just the last two days, Saudi Arabia's ruler named Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz as the country's new crown prince after last week's death of Prince Nayef, and Kuwait's government suspended parliament for a month over an internal political feud.

The latest developments inject even more uncertainty as the Middle East deals with the demands of the Arab Spring, the end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq at the end of 2011 and fears of Iran's nuclear program.

Add another US military presence around Iran... ugh
Antiwar

map source


How far can the US military stretch itself? It seems obvious that someone in the Pentagon believes that the US will be getting involved in Iran very very soon. Mitt Romney came out and said that no matter what he will pursue Iran, regardless of congress approval or not!
ATS-Mitt Romney promises war with Iran if he gets elected
Mitt Romney Says He Could Wage War on Iran Without Congress' Approval

It appears that the Nuclear talks are falling apart..
ATS- Iran, world powers in 'last chance' nuclear talks

Trouble on the horizon?!?!

From the article, to me, the REAL reason why:

"Home to more than half of the world's oil reserves and over a third of its natural gas, the stability of the Persian Gulf is critical to the global economy," the report said. "However, the region faces a myriad of political and security challenges, from the Iranian nuclear program to the threat of terrorism to the political crisis in Bahrain."

Its always about oil and resources and MONEY... of course

Thoughts?!

reply to post by Nspekta


We have been in Kuwait forever. Arifjan;centcom;;;;we started building there decades ago and never stopped.

Now when the US stops building bases that will be news.

reply to post by Nspekta


It really doesn't have much to do with oil. The US gets like 7% of its oil from the middle east. Canada, Mexico and the United States have enough oil to never use anybody outside of North America for the next 200 years.

What it's REALLY about is religion. The Bible, the quran and the Torah are very clear that, He who controls the Holy Land, controls the world.

Bush didn't ever mention wanting to go into Iraq for the oil, he explicitly said "I want to conquer Babylon".

They also have a presence in Azerbaijan...

Obviously, when Iran announced it's nuclear program in 1996, America was wary of what that would mean....regardless of what the Ayotollah's preach from their pulpit, Iran clearly wants to become a nuclear power - not simply for civilian purposes, but for military application.

This bodes very bad, not just in terms of regional power struggles, but for Israel's safety. One can trust a balanced democratic country with nuclear capability, but NOT - and they SHOULD NOT trust a theocratic Islamist government with nuclear weapons.

You are nothing short of retarded if you think there isn't a difference between the two. Iran is a major threat to Israel's Jews; all it would take for a second holocaust to occur would be to 'allow' this theocratic Jew hating islamist regime to either drop a nuke on Tel-Aviv/Haifa, and right their kill some 3-4 million Jews in a nuclear holocaust, which essentially erases Israel from the map, and then absorb an Israeli counter attack which would be relatively slight compared to the damage they would inflict on Israel, or, the much more likely scenario, Iran could clandestinely transfer a nuclear bomb to a terrorist group who could bomb an Israeli port city, such as Tel Aviv or Haifa, and then deny having anything to do with it.

reply to post by dontreally

Iran is a major threat to Israel's Jews

You must be a War Monger Republican, Iraq had No WMDs and neither does Iran.

reply to post by Agent_USA_Supporter


Perhaps Iraq was never the prime target???

And as for Iran's nuclear program, they've been publicly discussing it since 1996 - for over 16 years. Since 2002, western intelligence has acquired knowledge that Iran was developing a weapons program.

It's been 10 years since then, and Iran flagrantly boasts time and again that they would like to see the end of the jewish state, and that they even CONTRIBUTE to that end by FUNDING Hezbollah (which directly reports to Iranian agents, a well known fact) Hamas and Fatah. How can anyone on earth even debate the threat Iran poses to Israel??? They already do so much; all this Islamic terrorism originates in Iran.

reply to post by dontreally


I think Iran hates Isreal for its arrogance and its Zionism.. Who are they to tell anyone that they can't have nuclear tech, (Remember Iran said they want it for medical isotopes, obviously i realize they could be lying) when they themselves have nukes, yet will not admit to if officially and will not join any nuclear councils/groups/etc... repulsive!

Iran does put out anti-semetic stuff, but its about Zionists, not Judaism..
Iran also has the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel.. so why, if they hate jewish people so much, haven't they just killed them all??
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org...

reply to post by Agent_USA_Supporter

Iraq had No WMDs and neither does Iran

My thoughts on this are these
Russia will not sign up to an embargo on Iran
Because they have installed there own ICBMs there

Cran

reply to post by Nspekta

I think Iran hates Isreal for its arrogance and its Zionism.. Who are they to tell anyone that they can't have nuclear tech, (Remember Iran said they want it for medical isotopes, obviously i realize they could be lying) when they themselves have nukes, yet will not admit to if officially and will not join any nuclear councils/groups/etc... repulsive!

Just think of the logic for a second. Look at this comparison:

-Israel is a secular democratic nation.
-Iran is a theocracy.

-Israel has nuclear bombs as a DETERRENT against Arab/Muslim aggression against it; the major wars, of '48, '67 and '73 were all initiated by the Arabs. This forced Israel to develop a nuclear program early on.
-Iran is a fundamentalist Islamist state, who have no reason at all to possess nukes for deterrence reasons; their only plausible reasoning would then be strategic and possibly genocidal; Iran is Shi'ite, and Shi'ites believe in the coming of the 12th Imam, who the hadiths say will come after a period of 'chaos and destruction'. Now, Iran's government is THEOCRATIC, driven by shari'a law domestically and geopolitically; Israel is believed by all Muslims to be waqf - meaning 'entrusted' by God to Muslims. The Jewish presence in Israel is therefore judged to be an offense against Allah and his one true religion, Islam.

What don't people understand??? The county of Iran is highly religious, and yet people naively insist in thiking that their foreign policy is dictated - like ours - by real politiks in the interest of peace and economic prosperity. It is simply not so. Iran is not France. Rousseau and Montesquieu are not the political theorists consulted; it is rather the Islamic jurists, trained in the art of political science, that are looked to. When I try to determine someones nature of action, I first have to assess what kind of person he is; if he's religious, his interests must then be religious. If he believes in the coming on an Imam mahdi amidst a period of chaos and destruction, then I must logically deduce that his highly suspicious predilection in developing nuclear energy must have some ulterior motive - which has been shown to exist time and again, related to their religious beliefs in the coming of their Imam Mahdi. What else need be shown? Why do people prefer to keep their heads in the ground when the evidence is so clear? They bomb Israel, kill millions of Jews, create an atmosphere of chaos and destruction - this fulfills their religious prophecies.

Additionally, Israel has been willing to concede an Iranian nuclear program with COMPLETE OVERSIGHT by the IAEA, but Iran conspicuously refuses. Why else would they refuse if not because they are trying to hide something?

Originally posted by Nspekta

Thoughts?!

The funny thing about that map is that according to wikileaks [Believable only if exposing the West's dirty laundry] is that many of those predominantly Muslim countries have asked the US to take action on Iran. [Which so far has been refused] by both Bush and now Obama

reply to post by dontreally


I'll play the adversary's advocate here...

Fact: Iraq was, purportedly, given technology to produce chemical weapons by the U.S. in order to wage war on Iran after the Muslim rebellion. Iraq used these weapons on Iran in the Iraq - Iran war..

To avoid defeat, Iraq sought out every possible weapon. This included developing a self-sustaining capability to produce militarily significant quantities of chemical warfare agents. In the defense, integrating chemical weapons offered a solution to the masses of lightly armed Basif and Posdoran. Chemical weapons were singularly effective when used on troop assembly areas and supporting artillery. When conducting offensive operations, Iraq routinely supported the attacks with deep fires and integrated chemical fires on forward defenses, command posts, artillery positions, and logistical facilities.

During the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq developed the ability to produce, store, and use chemical weapons. These chemical weapons included H-series blister and G-series nerve agents. Iraq built these agents into various offensive munitions including rockets, artillery shells, aerial bombs, and warheads on the Al Hussein Scud missile variant. During the Iran-Iraq war, Iraqi fighter-attack aircraft dropped mustard-filled and tabun-filled 250 kilogram bombs and mustard-filled 500 kilogram bombs on Iranian targets. Other reports indicate that Iraq may have also installed spray tanks on an unknown number of helicopters or dropped 55-gallon drums filled with unknown agents (probably mustard) from low altitudes

source: www.globalsecurity.org...

Israel has nukes, the US is surrounding you on all sides with ICBMs, carrier groups and attack drones ready at a moments notice. The US has actually used nukes twice in war. Your forces have had chemical weapons used on it in the past that could have come from the US.

So it's not possible that Iran wants it for deterrent reasons as well? Maybe they saw how the US was ramping up against North Korea and then NK tested the nuke and the pressure ironically backed off. Surely Iran's leaders are more fanatical and crazed than North Korean's leaders who have not nuked anyone?

Propaganda works both ways.

reply to post by majesticgent

So it's not possible that Iran want's it for deterrent reasons as well? Maybe they saw how the US was ramping up against North Korea and then they tested the nuke and the pressure ironically backed off. Surely Iran's leaders are more fanatical and crazed than the North Korean's who have not nuked anyone.

If Iran wasn't ruled by Shi'ite clerics, that argument would be more persuasive. But, since that is not the case, the more likely scenario is not nuclear weapons for deterrence, but for offensive purposes.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

The funny thing about that map is that according to wikileaks [Believable only if exposing the West's dirty laundry] is that the many of those predominantly Muslim countries have asked the US to take action on Iran. [Which so far has been refused] by both Bush and now Obama

I like that map. Iran is a lovely shade of blue.

It looks pretty as a lake, doesn't it?

reply to post by dontreally


I see both sides of the story, but I don't seriously think Iran would use a nuke offensively for it would be their demise. The fallout would hit all of the neighboring countries, including Iran itself, isolating them from every country in the region. Israel would respond in kind. It's a lose lose. That's why I deduce deterrent.

As far as the US being in Kuwait. Makes since. Easier to spy from that proximity.

There will be a surgical strike.probably mostly air, secret ground forces, but no heavies,if it happens.But nobody should discount the fact that Iran might tweak after they get thumped.We have contingency plans to cover what ever Russia ,China and Iraq do in that even't judging by the current chess board.
I still see Iran imploding with China following in about 5 years.Unless something extraordinary occurs.

That map has been floating on the internet for over a decade, and "allies in the middle east" there is no such thing.

Turkey denied access to the US during Operation Iraqi freedom,denied airspace access as well then don't get me started on Afghanistan, both are in the pockets of the Iranians.

Pakistan the guys who hid Bin laden for how many years?

Saudi Arabia 19 hijackers, and Kuwait ha ha ha ha. there has been a US presence there since gulf war one.

Meh.

reply to post by majesticgent

I see both sides of the story, but I don't seriously think Iran would use a nuke offensively for it would be their demise.

How would it be their demise? Who is going to punish them?

Presuming they did attack, they would obviously be willing to incur an Israeli counter-attack, which could readily be absorbed while their attack on the Jewish state would effectively end it.

That's why I deduce deterrent.

Nukes are essentially useless if the threat of using them isn't credible. Also, I think Islamism has amply shown how completely unreasonable it can be: blowing your self up is ridiculous, something most secular minded people (minus the manchurian candidate) couldn't fathom doing: but when one is religiously motivated by an ideal greater than life itself, immediate concerns take a back seat to the absolutism of religious doctrine.

If Iran has the bomb, I imagine it's Shi'ite belief of a 12th imam coming at the heels of a period of chaos and destruction will suffice to offset imminent concerns of fallout; destroying Israel, effectively eliciting a period of chaos and destruction, would be worth it in the eyes of Islamists, inasmuch as it ends the Zionist regimes control of Palestine and brings the world into a time period which the Hadith (sacred to Shi'ite) promises will harbinger the coming of their 12th and final Imam.

Until people realize were dealing with an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PARADIGM, where sacrifice is ennobled and evil done for some ultimate end sanctified, the Islamic threat will go on unnoticed until it's too late.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by Nspekta

Thoughts?!

The funny thing about that map is that according to wikileaks [Believable only if exposing the West's dirty laundry] is that many of those predominantly Muslim countries have asked the US to take action on Iran. [Which so far has been refused] by both Bush and now Obama

edit on 19-6-2012 by SLAYER69 because: (no reason given)

Your Map speaks volumes !!!!

Originally posted by Nspekta
It seems obvious that someone in the Pentagon believes that the US will be getting involved in Iran very very soon.

Hmmm.....

All this Talk of Military action,but..............

Why didn't America keep all those troops in Iraq,when it would have been a hell of alot easier to stage operations from right next door?

Originally posted by Nspekta
reply to post by dontreally

 

I think Iran hates Isreal for its arrogance and its Zionism.. Who are they to tell anyone that they can't have nuclear tech, (Remember Iran said they want it for medical isotopes, obviously i realize they could be lying) when they themselves have nukes, yet will not admit to if officially and will not join any nuclear councils/groups/etc... repulsive!

Since, as you observed, Israel hasn't committed itself to any of the treaties, why would it be anyone's business what they have or don't have? Iran, on the other hand, DID sign those treaties, voluntarily, agreeing that what they do or don't have is everyone else's business...

Iran does put out anti-semetic stuff, but its about Zionists, not Judaism..
Iran also has the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel.. so why, if they hate jewish people so much, haven't they just killed them all??
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org...

The Iranian Jews are Dhimmis. they live under Islam and pay the protection tax. Israeli Jews, however, are "in the wild", not under Iranian control, not paying the jizyah. Under shariah, they are fair game, since they aren't paying in to the protection racket. They may or may not "hate" both, but they are obligated to protect the one population, and obliterate the other.