[jimmydean]

All I'm saying is that if we start shooting, expect oil to triple and our economy to go down the crapper. But hey, I bet $10/gallon gas should do great for the bike industry.

I ride the bus for free.

Paging Toshi's $20/gallon thread... It's closer than you think.

 

[IH8Rice]

Ummm, I'm pretty sure that they don't put those on ordinary oil tankers these days...

but the navy ships escorting them through the strait do.

 

[dante]

but the navy ships escorting them through the strait do.

So, if 28 tankers pass through the Straights every day (half with oil, half without), that would only require 1/3 of the entire Aegis destroyers that the US has (28/82) in operation just to babysit oil tankers......

 

[Andyman_1970]

So, if 28 tankers pass through the Straights every day (half with oil, half without), that would only require 1/3 of the entire Aegis destroyers that the US has (28/82) in operation just to babysit oil tankers......

I think more than just Aegis destroyers are arms with CIWS, I know CVN's are.

 

[IH8Rice]

So, if 28 tankers pass through the Straights every day (half with oil, half without), that would only require 1/3 of the entire Aegis destroyers that the US has (28/82) in operation just to babysit oil tankers......

who says you need that much coverage for 28 tankers? and are they the only ships with a CIWS?

edit: sniped by Andyman

 

[jimmydean]

I think more than just Aegis destroyers are arms with CIWS, I know CVN's are.

Everything is these days. you wouldn't need full escorts. All you would need is a pair on either end really. It wouldn't be pretty, but I was master helm on an Aegis CG (57) and we could do damage.

<edit>
I will find my cruise book with the straight art, there is a shot of me behind the wheel as we cruised into SD home, too. Classic jimmydean.

 

[DaveW]

Yep more than just the Aegis have them.... Hell even NZ's ANZAC class frigates have them!
Can you imagine the USN's reaction to a request that it use it's precious CVN's to block missiles!

 

[IH8Rice]

egg on face?

A U.S. Navy ship rescued 13 Iranian sailors from pirates in the Arabia Sea, a military spokesman said Friday.
The destroyer USS Kidd responded to calls for help from the Iranian-flagged dhow Al Molai, which had been hijacked by pirates two months ago, Navy Capt. John Kirby said.

A Navy team boarded the ship, took 15 pirates into custody and sent the dhow on its way, Kirby said. A dhow is a type of sailing vessel frequently used for commercial transits in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean.


The Iranian captain thanked the crew of the Kidd for their help, Kirby said.

http://www.fox43.com/news/wpmt-us-navy-rescues-iranian-sailors-20120106,0,402540.story

 

[jimmydean]

 

[stevew]

But hey, I bet $10/gallon gas should do great for the bike industry.

every time i click by fox news they keep on saying $5 a gallon gas is right around the corner....and they have been saying this it seems like for the past two years....and it still hasn't happened...

 

[Straya]

every time i click by fox news they keep on saying $5 a gallon gas is right around the corner....and they have been saying this it seems like for the past two years....and it still hasn't happened...

They'll keep saying that as long as there's a Democrat President.

 

[IH8Rice]

every time i click by fox news they keep on saying $5 a gallon gas is right around the corner....and they have been saying this it seems like for the past two years....and it still hasn't happened...

but its coming this summer!

 

[stevew]

so if gas can't get to 5 anytime soon...ten....twenty.....

 

[JohnE]

They'll keep saying that as long as there's a Democrat President.

...but when we get a Republican POTUS they will celebrate $10 per gallon as a sign of economic robustosity...

 

[DaveW]

Bet the bidding war between the Russians and the Chinese will be interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16095823

 

[jimmydean]

...but when we get a Republican POTUS they will celebrate $10 per gallon as a sign of economic robustosity...

Spoken like a true patriot.

 

[kidwoo]

....and it still hasn't happened...

Has where I live.

 

[rockofullr]

Bet the bidding war between the Russians and the Chinese will be interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16095823

meh...

Everyone always has a heart attack when this kind of stuff happens but honestly without any way to produce them or any way to use them it's pretty useless. All they can do is test how effective it is.

It's most likely just an adaptation of our existing stealth tech which has been captured before.

 

[sanjuro]

meh...

Everyone always has a heart attack when this kind of stuff happens but honestly without any way to produce them or any way to use them it's pretty useless. All they can do is test how effective it is.

It's most likely just an adaptation of our existing stealth tech which has been captured before.

It is a question I have, which is how much can our enemies learn from the Sentinel, or rather how tamper-proof have we made it?

 

[Silver]

Anyone catch this whoops?

 

[sanjuro]

Right now it is all a bluff game.

 

[rockofullr]

Right now it is all a bluff game.

We're not bluffing.

 

[JohnE]

Who is this "we" Kemo-sabe? You coming with?

 

[jimmydean]

Who is this "we" Kemo-sabe? You coming with?

Been there, no thanks.

 

[rockofullr]

Who is this "we" Kemo-sabe? You coming with?

Nope. I'm staying right here.

In terms of the "we" that I meant, you have no more say than I do.

I'm just making the point that "we" (the POTUS and other foreign policy makers) have not shown a tendency to bluff in this sort of game. Saddam tried to call our bluff. Look as far back as the Cuban Missile Crisis when the stakes were global thermonuclear war.

The pressing issue is actually the Strait of Hormuz not nukes, as the sensationalists would have you believe. I'm a betting man and my money is on taking General Dempsey on his word.

&#8220;They&#8217;ve invested in capabilities that could, in fact, for a period of time block the Strait of Hormuz,&#8221; Dempsey said in an interview aired yesterday on the CBS &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; program. &#8220;We&#8217;ve invested in capabilities to ensure that if that happens, we can defeat that.&#8221;

Should Iran try to close Hormuz, the U.S. &#8220;would take action and reopen&#8221; the waterway, said Dempsey, President Barack Obama&#8217;s top military adviser.

When it comes to the nuke issue "our" position is less clear. Obama has made it fairly obvious that he will exhaust all other options before considering military action.

Continued pressure, rather than threats of air strikes, is the best way to forestall Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Panetta said.

While the U.S. shouldn&#8217;t &#8220;take any option off the table,&#8220; Panetta said &#8220;the responsible thing to do right now is to keep putting diplomatic and economic pressure on them to force them to do the right thing, and to make sure that they do not make the decision to proceed with the development of a nuclear weapon.&#8221;

Both quotes are from this article:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-08/iran-able-to-block-strait-of-hormuz-general-dempsey-tells-cbs.html

 

[sanjuro]

U.S. Navy again rescues Iranian sailors in Arabian waters

POSTED January 11, 2012 BY BNO News 2 Comments

Persian Gulf (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. Navy on Tuesday rescued six Iranian sailors from a sinking cargo ship in the North Persian Gulf, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. It is the second time in less than a week that U.S. forces rescued Iranian sailors.

http://www.minews26.com/content/?p=12995

 

[JohnE]

Been there, no thanks.

Yep...wasted too much of this life in that ****ty area of the Earth. Dont need to waste any more...nor does any other American IMHO. Let them all fight it out, and then buy the squished and juiced dead dinosaur sauce from the winning idiot.

 

[rockofullr]

Well someone isn't waiting on diplomacy.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iDxVOYdqMzeQces3bzLvaiuS0afQ?docId=1b1994c0787b46be938217d3c8c88ab2

 

[dante]

Well someone isn't waiting on diplomacy.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iDxVOYdqMzeQces3bzLvaiuS0afQ?docId=1b1994c0787b46be938217d3c8c88ab2

The part of me thinks that this is Israel trying to sabotage any type of goodwill that originated between the US and Iran over the rescuing of the sailors... I highly doubt the US would do something this inflammatory (and relatively pointless, since Iran's already on their way to enriching Uranium) right now, and so unless this was actually concocted by the hard-liners in Iran to stir up nationalistic / anti-US sentiment, all signs either point to rebel groups inside Iran or Israel...

 

[IH8Rice]

the mossad's record for killing their nuclear scientist is looking pretty good...batting 1.000?

 

[rockofullr]

The part of me thinks that this is Israel trying to sabotage any type of goodwill that originated between the US and Iran over the rescuing of the sailors... I highly doubt the US would do something this inflammatory (and relatively pointless, since Iran's already on their way to enriching Uranium) right now, and so unless this was actually concocted by the hard-liners in Iran to stir up nationalistic / anti-US sentiment, all signs either point to rebel groups inside Iran or Israel...

I'm with IHR. Probably the same people who did stuxnet, which I'm guessing was Mossad.

I don't think their actions have anything to do with US-Iran relationships. The Israelis are taking things into their own hands. Which is probably a good idea as Iranian nukes would surly be aimed at them.

 

[ohio]

the mossad's record for killing their nuclear scientist is looking pretty good...batting 1.000?

If I recall, there was a survivor in a past attempt, so something like .750 or .800.

Which is concidentally the same odds I'm putting on military action over the Strait.

 

[IH8Rice]

If I recall, there was a survivor in a past attempt, so something like .750 or .800.

nope, they got em all

The scientist, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, was deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. He was killed on his way to work in rush-hour traffic in Tehran Wednesday morning. Iranian news accounts said that a motorcyclist slapped a magnetized bomb on his car and it blew up, killing Mr. Roshan and mortally wounding his driver-bodyguard, identified as Reza Qashaqei.

Mr. Roshan was at least the fifth Iranian scientist with nuclear connections to be killed since 2007

 

[dan-o]

a sixth scientist, Fereydoon Abbasi, survived a 2010 attack and was put in charge of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.

The Zionists missed one.

 

[ohio]

nope, they got em all

Here, they missed one back in November.

On November 29, 2010, there were two almost simultaneous attacks using magnetic bombs. Majid Shahriyari was killed and his wife injured when the bomb attached by motorcyclists to his car went off. Shahriyari was an expert in the reactions at the heart of nuclear reactors and bombs.

Fereidoun Abbasi, a specialist in nuclear isotope separation and now head of Iran's nuclear program, was more lucky. He realized a bomb had been attached to his car and got out before it detonated. He and his wife were only injured in the explosion.

edit: Doh! smoked by dan-o

 

[rockofullr]

The threatened sanctions against the Iranian Central Bank may be working.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/apnewsbreak-diplomats-say-iran-ready-to-discuss-nuclear-arms-allegations-during-iaea-visit/2012/01/12/gIQAjTu2tP_story.html

Sounds like they are just trying to buy time to me.

 

[IH8Rice]

hmm, thanks for the correction. i hadnt heard that

 

[dante]

Republicans often claim that they want to "listen to our generals" in the case of military affairs. I wonder if this will be one of those times?

And yes, pre-emptive war of choice with Iran WILL cause me to sit at home on Election day and not vote.

 

[?????]

Republicans often claim that they want to "listen to our generals" in the case of military affairs. I wonder if this will be one of those times?

And yes, pre-emptive war of choice with Iran WILL cause me to sit at home on Election day and not vote.

You could vote for Ron Paul....

 

[Pesqueeb]

You could vote for Ron Paul....