Harper moves for presence in Strait of Hormuz with HMCS Regina deployment

[GAP]

Harper moves for presence in Strait of Hormuz with HMCS Regina deployment
Matthew Fisher, Postmedia News  Jul 3, 2012
Article Link

HMCS Regina sailed Tuesday from B.C. to replace HMCS Charlottetown in the Arabian Gulf at a time when the U.S. has been moving additional naval forces into the volatile region to prevent any attempt by the Iranian military to block the Strait of Hormuz.

The buildup of U.S. forces near Iran was reported in the New York Times Tuesday. The move is part of a game of high-stakes brinksmanship involving Iran, the U.S. and Israel over Iran’s nuclear program.

In a related action, the U.S. and its allies have put in place an almost total embargo on Iranian oil exports to try to force Tehran to make concessions.

The Charlottetown has made several transits of the Strait of Hormuz in the past few weeks, for shore visits in the Persian Gulf and not for operational reasons, a senior military officer told Postmedia News Tuesday.
More on link

 

[Pat in Halifax]

Good Luck Boys, keep your heads down.

BTW, it is "Prime Minister Harper".

 

[Fishbone Jones]

BTW, it is "Prime Minister Harper".

Thank you. The MSM, amongst others, has a habit of forgetting that.

 

[jeffb]

In a related action, the U.S. and its allies have put in place an almost total embargo on Iranian oil exports to try to force Tehran to make concessions.
More on link

Hey wait, didn't the U.S. try to restrict oil from another country and that didn't work out so well? Sure it was imports in that case but still...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Events_leading_to_the_attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Hey wait, didn't the U.S. try to restrict oil from another country and that didn't work out so well? Sure it was imports in that case but still...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Events_leading_to_the_attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

Nice to see you feel Iran is being victimized by the big bad west...... :

 

[jeffb]

Not at all, in fact, I think we should be doing more to face down Iran's nuclear ambitions. Just pointing out that these things sometimes have a way of getting out of hand and I'm not sure the US is really ready to face the consequences of cutting off a country's economic underpinning.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Thank you for the clarification

 

[PuckChaser]

Not at all, in fact, I think we should be doing more to face down Iran's nuclear ambitions. Just pointing out that these things sometimes have a way of getting out of hand and I'm not sure the US is really ready to face the consequences of cutting off a country's economic underpinning.

They've been doing it for years, and have now basically closed out of Afghanistan with Iraq in the rearview mirror. They're far closer to being ready than they were a few years ago.

 

[jeffb]

Militarily perhaps but look from the outside in, it would seem that three factors are working against a war with Iran. Firstly, the instability of the political situation at home. With the Democrats holding both the Presidency and the Senate and the Republican holding the House, any war vote would have to find support from both parties. Also, given that this is an election year, I do not think that a war with Iran would help Obama politically.

Secondly, the economy is in the tubes in the US. I don't think that the US has the money to fund a war with Iran and the associated costs with the loss of access to oil from Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia if Iran is able to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly given the first situation, the lack of support from Europe. Obama would need to have support of at least some European states if he is going to keep his supporters happy and avoid being labeled as "another George Bush". With Europe in almost full panic mode trying to keep the Euro zone together, I can't see them getting too heavily involved in the middle east.

 

[Maxadia]

Unfortunately, none of the three arguments would convince me that they would stop the US from going ahead anyway....

 

[GAP]

Europe may not be that enthusiastic, but you can bet the rest of the Arab world would like Iran government brought down. They have created more than their share of religious dissent