Source: Prison PlanetPaul Joseph Watson
Following the announcement that a third US aircraft carrier, the USS
Enterprise, would be heading to patrol waters near the Strait of Hormuz
in March, it has also been revealed that the nuclear submarine USS
Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen are also likely to heading
towards the Persian Gulf in the build up to a possible attack on Iran.
“Two ships of the US Navy, the nuclear submarine USS
Annapolis and the destroyer USS Momsen have passed through the Suez
Canal into the Red Sea. Although their destination is confidential, they
are now getting dangerously close to the Persian Gulf,” reports RT, citing Interfax News Agency.
With the likely destination of the two ships being the U.S. Fifth Fleet area of operations, they will be joined next month by the USS Enterprise,
the third aircraft carrier to be stationed in the region along with the
USS Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln. The US also has a 15,000-men
force deployed in Kuwait comprising of an expeditionary marine battalion
and an amphibious landing group. British and French warships are also
acting as escorts to the US aircraft carriers.
What all this means is that the United States will have a
massive naval presence just off Iranian waters to coincide with
rhetoric concerning an attack reaching a crescendo. Earlier today a
prominent bipartisan think tank, ostensibly a front for the US military-industrial complex, called on the Obama administration to increase pressure on Iran by sending even more naval firepower to the tense region.
The US is currently conducting its biggest naval
exercises in over a decade. The Bold Alligator joint Navy and Marine
Corps exercise, taking place off the coast of Virginia and North
Carolina, is clearly geared towards simulating a naval conflict with
Iranian forces despite official claims to the contrary.
“Navy and Marine forces involved with the exercise will
work scenarios involving mine warfare, countering small boat attacks and
other irregular threats and fighting in shallow coastal waters,
(Command chief Adm. John) Harvey pointed out. Those threats, among
others, are the hallmarks of Iranian naval forces,” reports AOL News.
Iran’s repeated threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, a
key oil choke point, have led many to speculate that the trigger for a
military assault aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear enrichment
facilities could happen in the waters of the Persian Gulf.
Tehran is set to conduct more naval exercises in the Strait later this month.
Experts estimate that around 1,000 mines would be required to block the
55km wide passage and that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have already
stockpiled 2,000 mines for that very purpose.
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com.
He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular
fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.
