Today there's a a report in: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/215163.html. It seems to be a little bit of good news. It notes: "However, USS Nimitz, which headed home today after reaching the end of its deployment period, will be missed by the Indian fighters."
If it is true that it is at the end of its deployment and is coming home then the likelihood of war with Iran is diminishing.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
An Incident
Blogging "Iran Attack" provides several interesting articles that suggest the attack is an absolute certainty. I'm not as positive as some of them because I think we will need an incident to occur.
I know all the demonization of Iran has started which is a necessary prelude to war. What is a little scary is that some question whether Iran will fight back. They suggest that after the three to five day of "Big Mother Shock and Awe" the Iranians will beg for peace. I should mention these are the people who predicted the people greeting our forces with flowers on the streets of Iraq . But if they think Iran will fold then that makes them more anxious to attack.
But with all the hype, isn't there still a need for an incident so the president can point to it as the reason he is attacking.
Will we, I mean they, sink one of our ships? Not a big one but one like the one the Brits were captured in. Or, having already used the ship thing, ala the Tonkin Gulf, will we try something new.
If I had to guess then I would suggest that the the incident that leads up to this war will be a capture of American service men and the holding of them as hostage.
Cowboy George will strap on his six shooter and, well you know the outcome.
Watch the Carriers 9/11
The Rule:
We won't attack with one;
We may with two;
We will with three.
September 11, 2007 finds no news on the Truman which is is moored at Pier 14 at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. The USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) is reported to be in the Indian Ocean; the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) is reported to be in the Persian Gulf; USS Nimitz (CVN 68) is reported to be in the Indian Ocean.
I expect the Truman & Nimitz to be going to the Persian Gulf; the Kitty Hawk back to its station at Yokohama in Japan.
Stayed tuned.
A Poem After Listening to General Petraeus Testify
On 9/11 the day we were attacked
Al Qaeda had no presence in Iraq.
So illogically thinking it was right
We decided it is Iraq we will fight.
We attacked and low and behold
Al Qaeda is now there we are told.
So right this day it seems to appear
Al Qaeda in Iraq is our great fear.
That they are there we have to stay
Until the time we chase them away.
If we didn’t go there it seems to me
Iraq would have been Al Qaeda free.
After four long years and four thousand dead
From all that appears we’ve not gotten ahead.
We're trying to get what we already had
That is why this war makes me so mad.
General Petraeus Lays the Groundwork
Listening to the good general testify I could not but be struck by his answer to one of the question whether our forces were being stretched too thin. He sort of agreed by saying that the Army and Marine ground forces were. He left the impression that the Navy and the Air Force were still robust and ready. I wondered why he gave such an answer unless he knows that they are being readied to bomb Iran.
I wish someone had asked him about what he knew about the intended attack on Iran. It seems strange the general would know and our Congressmen would not. But then again, our Congress has become so irrelevant to the Iraq war that Bush feels no need to keep them in the loop.
I missed it but Andrew Sullivan at "andrew@thealtantic.com" pointed out the general also said: "We cannot win in Iraq solely in Iraq." Sullivan suggests that the US's Anbar strategy is to arm to Sunnis who will be able to take on the Shiite, the natural ally of Iran, when we attack Iran. I sort of agree but also have a sense that the surge's purpose is also to insure that the US forces in Iraq are positioned so that when we attack Iran they will be free from danger. As noted in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, we are building up a base right on the border of Iran. That will probably be used as a location from which we can launch helicopter rescue missions and special forces into Iran once the attack begins.
How dizzying is it all. We were attacked by Al Qaeda on 9/11. At that time they had no presence in Iraq. We attack Iraq and now Al Qaeda has such a presence that the publicly stated ongoing purpose of the Surge is to now try to accomplish what existed before the Iraq attack.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
Robert Graves wrote about his experience in World War I in his book GOOD-Bye To All That. He was a famous British poet who served in the trenches in France as a 19 year old lieutenant. He saw much action.
He tells how in late 1915 he boarded in the house of a woman he called Old Adelphine while waiting to go back to the trenches. He says she told him "all the girls in Annezin prayed every night for the war to end, and for the English to go away - as soon as their money was spent."
About that time he wrote home saying about the French, "I have not met a single case of the hospitality that one meets among the peasants of other countries. It is worse than inhospitality here, for after all we are fighting for their dirty little lives."
He goes on a little later to tell how the British and local French loathed each other saying, "We failed to realize that the peasants did not much care whether they were on the German or British side of the line. They just had no use for foreign soldiers, and were not at all interested in the sacrifices that we might be making for 'their dirty little lives.'”
One can only regret that almost ninety years after Graves experienced the feelings of the French to the English our leaders would not realize that basic fact. People do not like foreign soldiers on their land no matter what their motives. .
Summing Up as of September 10, 2007
President Bush in March dines with Neo-con Icon Norm Podhoretz and speaks of wanting to please his constituents: not the American people, but G_d.. Right after that meeting Icon Normsits down and tells the president that the best way to do this is to bomb Iran. We can't do this unless we have enough carriers in the area. We have the USS Enterprise (CVN 65); we bring back the USS Nimitz (CVN 68); and we plan to send the USS Truman (CVN 75) .
But in June of 07, the Navy decides to add to and display on the USS Truman(CVN 75) a Torah making it the only ship in the Navy with a Torah. It does this within months of sending it off to be in a position to bomb Muslim nations.
Interesting is that if I Google - USS Truman Torah - I come to some internet sites that tell of this dedication. But if I search the Google news site with the same words, nothing comes up. More interesting if I search Senator Levin's Senate site, http://levin.senate.gov/, with the words Torah or Truman there is no mention of it. If Senator Levin does not mention this, and if it has no news coverage, is there a reason for this? Just wondering.
But in June of 07, the Navy decides to add to and display on the USS Truman(CVN 75) a Torah making it the only ship in the Navy with a Torah. It does this within months of sending it off to be in a position to bomb Muslim nations.
Interesting is that if I Google - USS Truman Torah - I come to some internet sites that tell of this dedication. But if I search the Google news site with the same words, nothing comes up. More interesting if I search Senator Levin's Senate site, http://levin.senate.gov/, with the words Torah or Truman there is no mention of it. If Senator Levin does not mention this, and if it has no news coverage, is there a reason for this? Just wondering.
Two Big Problems
When the USS Truman deploys to the Persian Gulf it will be the only carrier, if not ship, in the US Navy that is carrying a Torah. According to a web site:
: See: http://www.israelforum.com/blog_article.php?aid=947031
"NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A Torah scroll rescued from Lithuania has a new home aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman. Commanding Officer, Capt. Herman Shelanski, left, and Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, bow their heads in prayer at the commencement of the Torah dedication ceremony in the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier's hangar bay. The holy Jewish Torah in the background, one of the few scrolls from Lithuania to survive the Holocaust, was presented to Truman by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and will be on loan to Truman and displayed for 41 years, or the duration of the ship's life." It was also reported the Senator Carl Levin , chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he found Truman's namesake carrier to be a fitting home for a Torah that would help service members "grow in their appreciation of our Jewish faith."
TWO PROBLEMS
First, isn't there a separation of Church and State issue for a Naval war ship to have a Torah on it? I assume Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore who lost his job for defying a federal court order to move a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building would find this ironic. It makes me wonder if the Ten Commandments are on display on any naval ship? And what would be the reaction if Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions dedicated a cross to be displayed on a Navy ship and he said, "this will help the service members grow in their appreciation of our Christian faith."
Second, aren't we doing exactly what we shouldn't be doing. With the Muslims having been incensed by our actions at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib why are we giving them another reason to stoke up animosity against us. By having planes take off from the one carrier that is carrying a Torah to bomb the Muslim nations will be easily turned to an attack by a Jewish ship upon those nations. Do we really need this?
: See: http://www.israelforum.com/blog_article.php?aid=947031
"NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A Torah scroll rescued from Lithuania has a new home aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman. Commanding Officer, Capt. Herman Shelanski, left, and Michigan Senator Carl Levin (D), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, bow their heads in prayer at the commencement of the Torah dedication ceremony in the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier's hangar bay. The holy Jewish Torah in the background, one of the few scrolls from Lithuania to survive the Holocaust, was presented to Truman by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and will be on loan to Truman and displayed for 41 years, or the duration of the ship's life." It was also reported the Senator Carl Levin , chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he found Truman's namesake carrier to be a fitting home for a Torah that would help service members "grow in their appreciation of our Jewish faith."
TWO PROBLEMS
First, isn't there a separation of Church and State issue for a Naval war ship to have a Torah on it? I assume Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore who lost his job for defying a federal court order to move a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building would find this ironic. It makes me wonder if the Ten Commandments are on display on any naval ship? And what would be the reaction if Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions dedicated a cross to be displayed on a Navy ship and he said, "this will help the service members grow in their appreciation of our Christian faith."
Second, aren't we doing exactly what we shouldn't be doing. With the Muslims having been incensed by our actions at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib why are we giving them another reason to stoke up animosity against us. By having planes take off from the one carrier that is carrying a Torah to bomb the Muslim nations will be easily turned to an attack by a Jewish ship upon those nations. Do we really need this?
When Will We Bomb Iran
We will do it when the carriers are in position. Therefore watch the carriers. Right now there is one in the Persian Gulf: the USS Enterprise (CVN 65). One is returning to the Persian Gulf from exercises in the Indian Ocean: USS Nimitz (CVN 68) A third is going out this month. USS Truman (CVN 75).
How do I know this.
See: http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4583
"DEBKAfile’s military sources report that from the third week of July, the only American strike force- carrier in the Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea region was the USS Enterprise. By the end of September, it will be joined by the USS Nimitz and the USS Truman Strike Groups. Our sources note that with their arrival, three American naval, air and marine forces will again confront Iranian shores at a time of crisis in the military and civilian leadership of Iran - signaled by the abrupt change of Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders, rising Israel-Syrian tensions and a troubled situation in Lebanon.
The Nimitz left the region to take part in large-scale Malabar 2007 II exercise with five Asian nations, termed by Indian military observers “the first step towards establishing Asian NATO. Since the maneuver ended Friday, Sept. 7, the Nimitz has been on its way back to the Persian Gulf. The Truman group, made up of 12 warships and submarines, including a nuclear sub, with 7,600 sailors, air crew and marines aboard, has just completed a long series of training exercises and is preparing to set out for its new posting. It carries eight squadrons of fighters, bombers and spy planes."
It was only on July 10, 2007, see: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-10-3005752358_x.htm that USA Today headlined:
How do I know this.
See: http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4583
"DEBKAfile’s military sources report that from the third week of July, the only American strike force- carrier in the Persian Gulf-Arabian Sea region was the USS Enterprise. By the end of September, it will be joined by the USS Nimitz and the USS Truman Strike Groups. Our sources note that with their arrival, three American naval, air and marine forces will again confront Iranian shores at a time of crisis in the military and civilian leadership of Iran - signaled by the abrupt change of Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders, rising Israel-Syrian tensions and a troubled situation in Lebanon.
The Nimitz left the region to take part in large-scale Malabar 2007 II exercise with five Asian nations, termed by Indian military observers “the first step towards establishing Asian NATO. Since the maneuver ended Friday, Sept. 7, the Nimitz has been on its way back to the Persian Gulf. The Truman group, made up of 12 warships and submarines, including a nuclear sub, with 7,600 sailors, air crew and marines aboard, has just completed a long series of training exercises and is preparing to set out for its new posting. It carries eight squadrons of fighters, bombers and spy planes."
It was only on July 10, 2007, see: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-10-3005752358_x.htm that USA Today headlined:
"US may cut Navy presence in Persian Gulf" But the body of the article read:
"Ships currently in the region are the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz, and both are expected to leave soon. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise left Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia over the weekend to head to the area and will replace one of the carriers, the U.S. 5th Fleet announced Tuesday.As plans stand now, the Enterprise would be alone in the region for roughly three months because the USS Harry S. Truman isn't scheduled to deploy until the fall, two officials said.
The Pentagon could decide to change the scheduling -- keeping the Nimitz in the region longer or sending the Truman there early, one official said.
Officials declined to comment on whether the expected reduction in carriers in the region was a matter of scheduling or funding. They also pointed out that the norm is for one carrier to be deployed there."
Usually one carrier, now two, then three. I'd say the bombing will begin shortly after the USS Truman arrives on scene if the other two are still there.
Why We Will Bomb Iran
In March 7, 2007, in the TimesonLine, Irwin Stelzer writes about a lunch at the White House with President Bush. He pointed out: “It was an intimate affair: the historian Andrew Roberts and I had to squeeze our chairs together to allow the vice-president, Dick Cheney, to pull his up to the table. . . . In addition to Roberts and myself the group included the historian Gertrude Himmelfarb, neocon Norman Podhoretz and theologian Michael Novak.”
He went on to note that “The president divulged with convincing calm that when it comes to pressure, “I just don’t feel any”. Why? His constituency, he feels, is the divine presence, to whom he must answer. Don’t misunderstand: G_d didn’t tell him to put troops in harm’s way in Iraq; his belief only goes so far as to inform him that there is good and evil. It is the president who must figure out how to promote the former and destroy the latter. And he is confident that his policies are doing just that.”
On June 2007 Norman Podhoretz wrote in Commentary Magazine, "The Case for Bombing Iran." He decries Europe's unwillingness to prevent a second Holocaust by conducting a massive bombing raid on Iran. He goes on: "Not so George W. Gush, a man who knows evil when he sees it and who has demonstrated an unfailingly courageous willingness to endure vilification and contumely in setting his face against it. It now remains to be seen whether this President, battered more mercilessly and with less justification than any other in living memory, and weakened politically by enemies of his policy in the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular, will find it possible to take the only action that can stop Iran from following through on its evil intentions both toward us and toward Israel. As an American and as a Jew, I pray with all my heart that he will."
It seems Mr. Podhorets listened to President Bush and decided to pen his article. He thought: "If Bush thinks G_d is his only constituency then why not play upon that belief. Tell him that he has been “battered” and “weakened” by his enemies. Then tell him that it is G_d’s will that he had to suffer this in order to prevent a “second Holocaust”. He can only do this by destroying Iran’s nuclear and other military strikes.
When you have a man to lunch and he agrees with you about your divine mission and he suggests a noble idea to fullfil it then you are likely to do this.
He went on to note that “The president divulged with convincing calm that when it comes to pressure, “I just don’t feel any”. Why? His constituency, he feels, is the divine presence, to whom he must answer. Don’t misunderstand: G_d didn’t tell him to put troops in harm’s way in Iraq; his belief only goes so far as to inform him that there is good and evil. It is the president who must figure out how to promote the former and destroy the latter. And he is confident that his policies are doing just that.”
On June 2007 Norman Podhoretz wrote in Commentary Magazine, "The Case for Bombing Iran." He decries Europe's unwillingness to prevent a second Holocaust by conducting a massive bombing raid on Iran. He goes on: "Not so George W. Gush, a man who knows evil when he sees it and who has demonstrated an unfailingly courageous willingness to endure vilification and contumely in setting his face against it. It now remains to be seen whether this President, battered more mercilessly and with less justification than any other in living memory, and weakened politically by enemies of his policy in the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular, will find it possible to take the only action that can stop Iran from following through on its evil intentions both toward us and toward Israel. As an American and as a Jew, I pray with all my heart that he will."
It seems Mr. Podhorets listened to President Bush and decided to pen his article. He thought: "If Bush thinks G_d is his only constituency then why not play upon that belief. Tell him that he has been “battered” and “weakened” by his enemies. Then tell him that it is G_d’s will that he had to suffer this in order to prevent a “second Holocaust”. He can only do this by destroying Iran’s nuclear and other military strikes.
When you have a man to lunch and he agrees with you about your divine mission and he suggests a noble idea to fullfil it then you are likely to do this.
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