AIPAC/Clean Break/PNAC
The Stick
"US pushing UN on Iran Sanctions" by David Stringer/Associated Press November 3, 2007
LONDON - U.S. officials said Friday that Russia and China were keeping the U.N. Security Council from moving quickly enough toward a third set of sanctions over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said there was an urgent need to ratchet up pressure over the issue, despite agreement Friday among the five permanent Security Council members, plus Germany, to come up with a new sanctions resolution if November reports by the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency do not show improved Iranian cooperation.
Burns: "The U.S. believes very strongly there is a need to accelerate the diplomacy, to strengthen the sanctions."
The Bigger Stick
"Navy Starts Exercises In Gulf Waters"
MANAMA (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy began a series of exercises in the Gulf and wider Gulf waters on Friday involving a U.S aircraft carrier and two expeditionary assault ships.
The five-day crisis response exercise involved amphibious, air and medical forces, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, said in a statement.
Commander Jay Chambers, of Combined Task Force 59: "The scenario is challenging but prepares us for a real-world event."
Like this?
The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
The start of the exercises coincided with world powers agreeing at talks in London to push ahead with a third round of sanctions against Iran. Washington has not ruled out military action against Iran.
Fifth Fleet spokesman Lieutenant John Gay said the exercises had been planned for months and were not related to specific events, instead outlining only humanitarian assistance and natural disaster scenarios for the maneuvers.
Beware the false-flag, America and Iran! WE WILL KNOW!
Gay: "Our primary goal is to enforce maritime security including the free flow of commerce through the Gulf for all regional partners ... We are committed to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open to ensure that there is a free flow of commerce throughout the region."
The United States has launched several war games at Iran's doorstep in recent years. In June, the largest U.S. military flotilla to enter the Gulf since the 2003 Iraq war wound up two weeks of war drills off Iran's coast and near the Strait of Hormuz, a major channel for oil shipments from the Gulf.
But that's all right!
AmeriKa is allowed to be threatening and belligerent like a "terrorist," but that 's O.K.!
The navy said the exercise inside the Gulf was led by a task force that includes the Wasp, an amphibious assault ship. The vessel, which looks like a small aircraft carrier, carries Marine corps helicopters and landing craft.
The navy also said the aircraft carrier Enterprise and its strike group and the Kearsarge expeditionary strike group had begun training in wider Gulf waters.
The Kearsarge is another amphibious assault ship equipped with helicopters and landing craft. The U.S. Marine Corps operates from the ship, which is designed for rapid deployment.
The U.S. Navy said: "Multiple strike groups are capable of executing a broad range of operations."
Yeah, we already know all that, Navy!
