Andreas,Did you read this article or merely the excerpt that I posted? Because it clearly says that
The Tehran regime has made no secret of its desire to gain control of the Straits as part of its larger strategy of turning the Gulf into an Iranian lake. Indeed, in a preemptive move, it has begun to threaten a cut-off of tanker traffic if the UN should be foolish enough to impose sanctions in connection with the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. “We have the power to halt oil supply,” a senior Iranian official warned the European Union last January, “down to the last drop.”
And by my count goes on for eight paragraphs describing the problem in detail. Iran knows the importance of the Straits to worldwide Persian Gulf oil supply and they have threatened closing it by military force if necessary. So when you say nobody is endangering the oil flow I conclude you didn't read it.
Further, what army are you talking about? After laying out his plan Herman reiterates that "This would be a naval and air war, not a land campaign. Requiring no draw-down of U.S. forces in Iraq, it would involve one or two carrier strike groups, an airborne brigade, and a Marine brigade. Since the entire operation would take place offshore, there would be no need to engage the Iranian army." He's talking about utilizing available assets to address the most immediate menace Iran poses, which is not nuclear but conventional in nature, and possibly handling both threats at the same time.
Wouldn't it be easier to say that since Commentary is a conservative magazine and conservatives are out to lunch you won't read this, instead of reacting to an excerpt as if you're engaging the whole piece?
~Brian Birmingham, AL On Dec 17, 2006, at 1:52 AM, Andreas Ramos wrote:
The first step would be to make it clear that the United States willtolerate no action by any state that endangers the international flow of commerce in the Straits of Hormuz.Nobody is currently endangering the flow, so Herman threatens to prevent what isn't happening?We had an Xmas party tonight. After the dishes were cleared, we played poker. One of the guys made too many mistakes and very quickly, he lost all of his chips. As the next hand was dealt, he said he would win this round. Somebody said "and with what chips will you be betting?" :-)As for Herman's war: And with what army will you do this? Read the Iraq Study Group Report. We are about to collapse militarily in Iraq. We have no more army to send to Iraq or anywhere. We can't start or fight any more wars. The USA is currently unable to defend itself.Game over. yrs, andreas www.andreas.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
