Someone emailed me a link to an Alex Jones piece about a buildup of naval forces in the Persian Gulf.
From the original article (8/12/08) Kuwait activates emergency war plan as three U.S. warships steam towards Iran :
The largest naval deployment since 1991 is unfolding as no less than three U.S. warships make their way towards the Persian Gulf in what observers are calling an "unprecedented" build-up, while Kuwait has activated its highest war alert in anticipation of a potential attack on Iran.
According to reports, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Iwo Jima are steaming towards Middle East waters to reinforce the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Peleliu which are already in the region.
They will be joined by a British Royal Navy carrier battle group and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine.
In a source article cited from "Press TV" (8/12/08) Kuwait on alert for war in Persian Gulf? :
Kuwait has activated its Emergency War Plan after an armada of US naval battle groups headed for the Persian Gulf, Middle East Times reports.
The move comes nearly a week after Operation Brimstone, which saw more than a dozen warships from US, British and French naval forces conduct war games in the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for a possible confrontation with Iran.
Another cited source who originally said that the ships are en route is "DEBKAfile", whose Google description says "Covers current events in Israel for the international user and updated four times a day. Published in both English and Hebrew". Their 8/12/08 article, Three major US naval strike forces due this week in Persian Gulf, says:
Our military sources postulate five objects of this show of American muscle:
- The US, aided also by France, Britain and Canada, is finalizing preparations for a partial naval blockade to deny Iran imports of benzene and other refined oil products. This action would indicate that the Bush administration had thrown in the towel on stiff United Nations sanctions and decided to take matters in its own hands.
- Iran, which imports 40 percent of its refined fuel products from Gulf neighbors, will retaliate for the embargo by shutting the Strait of Hormuz oil route chokepoint, in which case the US naval and air force stand ready to reopen the Strait and fight back any Iranian attempt to break through the blockade.
- Washington is deploying forces as back-up for a possible Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.
- A potential rush of events in which a US-led blockade, Israeli attack and Iranian reprisals pile up in a very short time and precipitate a major military crisis.
- While a massive deployment of this nature calls for long planning, its occurrence at this time cannot be divorced from the flare-up of the Caucasian war between Russia and Georgia. While Russia has strengthened its stake in Caspian oil resources by its overwhelming military intervention against Georgia, the Americans are investing might in defending the primary Persian Gulf oil sources of the West and the Far East.
So, is there anything to this? Are these sources familiar to anyone? Are they credible? Can anyone confirm any of this from another source? At the very least, I think we should keep our ears open...