Article

2007-05-12 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

IHT: In Gulf, Cheney warns Iran of U.S. resolve

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by gorb 2007-05-12 00:46|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ] Top

#1 Good luck on keeping the sea lanes open. Last I heard the Mullahs had deeply dug-in missiles facing the Strait of Hormuz. Fire a couple of those at a supertanker, and watch world oil shipping tank. The Mullahs are probably dug in deeper than those missiles and they couldn't care less about what happens to the Iranian populace.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-05-12 02:30|| 2007-05-12 02:30|| Front Page Top

#2 Tow an inflatable "supertanker" up and down the straits and see where they shoot from. Drop 2000# JDAMs where the missiles come from until they get the idea.

Works every time. :-) [Now that's silly!]

Posted by gorb 2007-05-12 02:36|| 2007-05-12 02:36|| Front Page Top

#3 inflatable "supertanker", named Potemkin.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-05-12 02:50|| 2007-05-12 02:50|| Front Page Top

#4 If the Iranians hit tankers in the Gulf to shutdown oil traffic, Khargh Island is a perfect retaliatory target : nearly all of Iran's oil goes out there. Plus, a naval embargo of fuels going to Iran would collapse their transportation network : the great majority of fossil fuels like gasoline are IMPORTED into Iran.
The last time the Iranians tried a Tanker War, they lost. It would not be any different this time; especially considering that oil is Iran's only major export - besides terrorism.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2007-05-12 05:22|| 2007-05-12 05:22|| Front Page Top

#5 Ima remember the last Tanker War, Exocets fired and hit..... any clue on the number of sunk superTankers? Zilch. Zero. Nil. Skary for the crew but bunkers in the sand don't work against ships.

Posted by Shipman">Shipman 2007-05-12 05:33|| 2007-05-12 05:33|| Front Page Top

#6 "With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we're sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike, ~~they have nothing to fear from an uninterested American public, and defeatist congress~~"

Might want to watch out for that lame duck President though, he'll kick your ass.

Posted by JerseyMike 2007-05-12 07:17|| 2007-05-12 07:17|| Front Page Top

#7 He kind of runs by his own rules

No....
He doesn't play by liberal, spineless, wishie-washie diplomat DC rules. I wish more of our leaders wouldn't play the DC game.

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2007-05-12 08:17|| 2007-05-12 08:17|| Front Page Top

#8 "The problem with the two-track policy is that the first track - coercion, sanctions, naval deployments - can undercut the results on the second track," said Ray ~~Takeyh~~ Taqiyya

Fixed.

Posted by Excalibur 2007-05-12 08:45|| 2007-05-12 08:45|| Front Page Top

#9 If the MMs and proxies are smart [oxymoroon alert!] they would not have to lob missiles at tankers to succeed. They would keep at the job of wussifying the US. We can do it to ourselves, thankyouverymuch. We have the dems working for you. At least right now.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2007-05-12 12:02|| 2007-05-12 12:02|| Front Page Top

#10 They won't shut the straits and delay their oil shipments to ChiComs and Japan until the pipeline through Ubekizstan has come online. Anyone know the status ? I think it's 3-5 years away. This oil is their only revenue source other than pistacios o EU.

Posted by Woozle Elmeter2970 2007-05-12 12:41|| 2007-05-12 12:41|| Front Page Top

#11

Don't forget all the revenue that is funneled "home to Iran" from abroad.

I hope we hang tough and have the resolve.

Posted by JohnQC 2007-05-12 13:40|| 2007-05-12 13:40|| Front Page Top

#12 We have no resolve. Osama bin Laden was right. The American public cares more about Paris Hilton's jail sentence than it does about whether we win the war in Iraq. The American media and the Democratic Party are traitors. Bush intends to do nothing about Iran -- nothing. This war is lost. All that remains is to negotiate the terms of our surrender. Unfortunately, this surrender will be a beginning, not an end. Having beaten us once, our enemies will be eager to do it once more. It's hard to imagine our ever commiting troops overseas again no matter what the provocation, especially if the Democrats take the White House. The future looks very gloomy. I especially wouldn't want to be an Israeli right now.

Posted by Infidel Bob 2007-05-12 15:40|| 2007-05-12 15:40|| Front Page Top

#13 Cheney is ratcheting things up not only for Irants consumption. He's trying to inject steel in the spines of the other ME countries by showing our resolve.

For the donks he is demonstrating that for the Bush Admin, politics gets trumped by national security. And the dangers of ditching Iraq under such circumstances.

Posted by Captain America 2007-05-12 16:23|| 2007-05-12 16:23|| Front Page Top

#14 The American public believe that if we pull out of Iraq the bad guys will follow us home. The American public do not want their troops starved of the funds they need to win in Iraq. The American public don't think highly of President Bush, but they think even less of the members of Congress. Or at least that's what several thousand random Americans told several different polling organizations between late March and mid-April. I posted links here at the time.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-05-12 18:09|| 2007-05-12 18:09|| Front Page Top

#15 Trailing Wife, those polls are not jiving with the "etched in stone" elections last November. Don't be surprised when the other shoe drops in November 2008! A definite indication of that will come in November this year when the Republican 'Coat Tails' will take a beating for their "W" support. Another St. Valentine's Day Massacre in the works!!

Posted by smn 2007-05-12 23:24|| 2007-05-12 23:24|| Front Page Top

23:58 Rob Crawford
23:57 Rob Crawford
23:52 Mike
23:41 Lee
23:24 smn
23:15 OldSpook
23:13 OldSpook
23:11 Sonar
23:10 OldSpook
23:02 Chuck
22:50 Old Patriot
22:31 Zhang Fei
22:25 Zhang Fei
22:22 Zhang Fei
22:17 OldSpook
22:14 Pappy
21:55 wxjames
21:44 anymouse
21:42 anymouse
21:33 wxjames
21:32 wxjames
21:32 Natural Law
21:26 Baba Tutu
21:21 Steve White