NYT: US Adds Forces in Gulf, A Signal to Iran
The "New York times" newspaper reported that "the United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf."
According to the famous daily, the US move "comes to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran."
One US official stressed that "the deployments are part of a long-planned effort to bolster the American military presence in the gulf region, in part to reassure "Israel" that in dealing with Iran, "When the US president [Brarak Obama]says
there are other options on the table beyond negotiations, he means it."
"The most visible elements of this buildup are Navy ships designed to vastly enhance the ability to patrol the Strait of Hormuz," the report added.
It further mentioned that " the US Navy has doubled the number of minesweepers assigned to the region, to eight vessels."
"The message to Iran is, ‘Don't even think about it,' " one senior War Department official said. "Don't even think about closing the strait. We'll clear the mines. Don't even think about sending your fast boats out to harass our vessels or commercial shipping. We'll put them on the bottom of the gulf," he threatened.
Senior Pentagon and military officials acknowledge that Iran has the capability to close the strait.
Since late spring, stealthy F-22 and older F-15C warplanes have moved into two separate bases in the Persian Gulf to bolster the combat jets already in the region and the carrier strike groups that are on constant tours of the area.
And the US Navy has moved a converted amphibious transport and docking ship, the Ponce, into the Persian Gulf to serve as the Pentagon's first floating staging base for military operations.
In parallel, the daily estimated the move as "an Obama's signal support for "Israel", but not so much support that the "Israelis" see the buildup as an opportunity to strike the Iranian nuclear facilities."
"Obama's team believes that an "Israeli" strike could set off a war without significantly setting back the Iranian program," the paper said.
It also reported that "the US administration is also seeking to expand military ties with the six nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman."
Source: NYT, Edited by moqawama.org
