Posts Tagged ‘Iran’
Saying goodbye to Iraq, but for how long?
It’s strange seeing the last of the troops pulling out of Iraq. As many of you know, I was there at the Iraq/Kuwaiti border at the kickoff, and after seeing the initial waves of Marines and 3rd ID troops pouring through the breach we were supposed to have made in the dirt berm, picturing them leaving, possibly forever, seems so far-fetched somehow.
I still picture Iraq the way it was in 2003 in my head, people lining the roads waving, kids hoping I’d throw the Skittles from my MRE their way (I hate them things), old women raking salt from what looked like mud puddles to me. They thought the bottled water we threw their way was like nectar from heaven.
I know things have changed over there since way back then, but one thing I’m pretty sure hasn’t changed is the threat Iran poses to the peace our forces tried desperately to secure in the intervening years.
Not only the threat from Iran, but the country was and remains split by tribal and religious factions that could someday undo everything. Blackfive describes the situation here;
…there are intense tribe/clan rivalries, and these are increased by religious differences. A Sunni I spoke to at length would admit that some individual Shia/Shi’ites were okay; but, was quick to say that no Shia could be trusted. You can pretty much reverse that to get a conversation with a Shia. Kurds, Christians, Sufi, and others in the area pretty much felt the same way.
Read the whole thing to understand what’s going on there now.
Sometimes when I’m at work at my part-time job towing cars, I’ll come up on a scene of a car in a ditch. The hopeless look on the faces of the vehicle owners as they look at their car says what their expectations are; they are going nowhere any time soon. But I look it over and many times see things differently. I may see a car basically undamaged except for a broken light and a flat tire from hitting the curb. With the equipment I have available and some skill, I can coax the car out of the ditch, change the tire, and they are back on the road in shock at their good fortune.
I saw that in Iraq, too. People who expected the US to come storming in shooting people in the backs of the head (much the way the left and many Ronulans like to portray it today), destroying everything in sight and enslaving them. The look of wonder in their faces as we not only didn’t kill them but tossed them MREs and water bottles was a sight to behold.
We got their car out of the ditch and put them back on the road to wherever they’re headed today, and we hope they get there in one piece. We also hope to not see them any time soon in the same situation.
Or worse.
Now today as many of the last bunch to leave Iraq are arriving at Ft. Hood, we remember the folks in Afghanistan. Here’s to hoping images on Pepsi cans don’t bode bad things to come.
Crossposted to Unified Patriots
Related articles
- What Iraqis Think of the American Withdrawal: Kurdish Region (atwar.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Analysis: What Now For Iraq After US Pullout? – Sky.com (news.sky.com)
- Iraq hit by boycott as US troops pull out (smh.com.au)
- Bomb attack on Iraq Shia pilgrims (bbc.co.uk)
*Yawn* Iran to send it’s MASSIVE Naval Might to US Waters
The US Navy makes overseas deployment LOOK easy…
…so easy even the Ayatollahs can do it;
The Iranian navy plans to move naval vessels out of the Persian Gulf and into the Atlantic Ocean, “near maritime borders of the United States,” the Tehran Times reported Tuesday.
Snip
“As the global arrogance (forces of imperialism) have a (military) presence near our sea borders, we also plan to have a strong presence near the U.S. sea borders with the help of the soldiers who are loyal to the vali-e faqih (supreme jurisprudent) [my link],” said Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, as quoted and paraphrased by the Tehran Times. Read more-
Now, maintaining an active naval force overseas is no mean feat, a naval patrol force is tougher still. Ships at sea need fuel and constant re-provisioning, a neat trick with a massive navy like the United States (so far) maintains. Iran? Not so much.
Now, Iran has been making friendly with Hugo Chavez for years, repair and replenishment could be handled in Venezuela or even Cuba, if the ties are strong enough between Ahmadinejad and El Fidel, which I’m not sure they are.
But interesting to me, all kidding aside about Iranian tugboats needing to travel 12,000 miles to pick up a broken-down flagship of the Iranian Navy, are the words “vali-e faqih” I linked above in the second blockquote from the FNC article. See if this looks problematic to you;
The vali-e-faqih is empowered to abrogate the religious commitments he has undertaken with the people should he find them contrary to the interests of the nation and Islam. Governing is one dimension of the absolute authority of the velayat-e-faqih and takes precedence over all secondary commandments, even prayer, fasting, and the hajj.
-Khomeini’s open letter to Ali Khamenei, January 7,19881
I don’t know, I may have been seeing things, but on first read that seemed to be saying their naval presence would be assisting those “loyal soldiers”, but reading again it’s more “with the assistance of” those loyal soldiers. Meaning what? The crews on the Iranian ships? Or…
Over a year ago, I noticed this bit about an Iranian presence in Venezuela, called it “FOB Hugo”, and wondered what would become of it. To refresh;
Now for the monkey wrench, courtesy of Bill Gertz;
Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force operatives in Venezuela while covertly continuing supplies of weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Pentagon’s first report to Congress on Tehran’s military.
The report on Iranian military power provides new details on the group known formally as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the Islamist shock troops deployed around the world to advance Iranian interests. The unit is aligned with terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, North Africa and Latin America, and the report warns that U.S. forces are likely to battle the Iranian paramilitaries in the future.
Been a couple years now. I don’t want to be accused of “scare-mongering”, but is there anyone but a complete leftist loon who could argue that none of those Qods forces who were in Venezuela could have found their way North to the US by now? None?
Well, some weird stuff is definitely coming together, but as yet it’s still all bits and pieces, but at least you have a few of those pieces for later use. Hopefully they won’t be needed.
As to the Iranian Navy ships ostensibly on their way to US waters. I’m sure the Iranians mean us no ill will, as their last encounter with US Naval forces ended very badly. Very badly.
Related articles
- Iranian Navy Plans to Move Ships Near U.S. Borders (foxnews.com)
- Iran Mulling Naval Presence Near US Coast (israelnationalnews.com)
- Iran planning to send ships near U.S. waters (cnn.com)
- Iran open to “hot line” with US (sfgate.com)
No missile worry from Iran until 2015. Unless…
A pending Hugo Missile Crisis?
Two things I would imagine have the Obama administration breathing a sigh of relief, both via the UK Telegraph;
Asked at a senate hearing about Tehran’s missile capability, James Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defence for policy, said current estimates indicate “that it could potentially be as soon as 2015 [where a missile from Iran could reach the US].”
This would put it well past Obama’s hoped for re-election date, sigh number one.
Last week, General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a senate hearing that Iran could make enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb in one year but would most likely not be able to field a usable weapon for three to five years.
Again, clearing the pesky 2012 re-election bid, this is sigh number two. All things are political.
Now for the monkey wrench, courtesy of Bill Gertz;
Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force operatives in Venezuela while covertly continuing supplies of weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Pentagon’s first report to Congress on Tehran’s military.
The report on Iranian military power provides new details on the group known formally as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the Islamist shock troops deployed around the world to advance Iranian interests. The unit is aligned with terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, North Africa and Latin America, and the report warns that U.S. forces are likely to battle the Iranian paramilitaries in the future.
Iran, currently the main nation supplying terrorists with both arms and technology in its proxy war with the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, now has a Forward Operating Base in Venezuela. Call it “FOB Hugo” if it needs a good name.
Venezuela is within 1,900 kilometers of Florida at its closest point, putting it just out of range of the between 1,350 and 1,600 kilometer range for the Shahab 3 missile currently operational in the Iranian inventory.
Reportedly, Iran has developed a newer missile, the Ashoura, which supposedly has a range of between 2000 and 2500 km which pushes a strike farther up and into Georgia (from the closest point in Venezuela measured by the seat of my pants using Google Earth).
Realistically all this still puts a long range missile strike from Iran into the US even from Venezuela a distance off in time, but at worst case we’ll assume two to three years given all the logistics involved in transporting components from Iran to Venezuela, hiding them where they could be readily assembled and quickly deployed, not to mention everything still needs to be tested.
Forget the pending missile crisis for now and let’s look at the more immediate problem that being what Iran has done best; aiding and abetting the enemies of the US.
Mexico today is at war with insurgent drug lords who have both the money and desire to kill, and would welcome a more deadly arsenal, as that which Iran could readily provide may already have at FOB Hugo. All this is of course speculation on my part, but really, what else would you be doing if you were them? How long have the Iranians had boots on the ground in Venezuela, time enough to possibly even today have ties with the cartels in Mexico?
Today the violence has crept across the US border with Mexico, imagine how that violence would escalate if the bad guys had access to crew-served weapons, sophisticated improvised explosive devices, or even as has been suggested EFPs which would decimate a Mexican Army armored vehicle and Iran has perfected in its use against our troops in Iraq.
Senators McCain and Kyl have jointly called for the immediate deployment of 3,000 National Guard troops on the US/Mexico border in Arizona, which of course in McCain’s case has been taken as “electioneering”;
McCain, who has supported comprehensive reform in the past but has shied away from it this year, said Congress should not consider reform until the border is secure. “The lesson is clear: We have to secure the border,” he said.
Former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is running against McCain, accused him of changing his position for political purposes. Hayworth has made border security and illegal-immigration enforcement the center of his opposition to McCain. “Arizonans have long desired, and long deserved, to have a secure southern border. McCain’s effort today is born of political convenience – driven by his need for personal political gain,” Hayworth said in a statement.
Whatever the border outcome, the ball is rolling listlessly in Obama’s court as he eyes more social engineering and government control. Regulating salt and demonizing US ally Israel has taken priority to dealing effectively with a sworn enemy in Iran.
Now the enemy is in this hemisphere and creeping closer.
Hillary a “blonde Condoleezza”? Hugo, I thought ya liked us now…
…now that TehWon has your book, that is
Via Reuters;
“To me, she’s like Condoleezza Rice … a blond Condoleezza,” said the Venezuelan, referring to former U.S. president George W. Bush’s secretary of state, with whom he exchanged frequent harsh words at long-distance.
Ummm, is that #Raaacist then? Just curious.
Apparently Clinton was in Brazil failing at diplomacy with regard to Iran sanctions, when she raised the ire of Señor Chavez by coming “…to Brazil to provoke us, to try and divide us from our brothers.”
