Sunday, October 28, 2012

Obama October/November Surprise?

From the San Diego Times Union: Amid mounting concern over Iran’s nuclear program and violence elsewhere in the region, U.S. Central Command quietly dispatched a Marine fighter jet squadron from San Diego to an undisclosed country in the Middle East, U-T San Diego has learned.
The deployment follows threats by the U.S. and Israel of military strikes if needed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
At the same time, the conflict in Syria is threatening to drag Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan into war, Iraq is beset by renewed violence, and terrorist groups hoping to capitalize on political upheaval in the region covet Syria’s chemical weapons and Libyan arms.
Against this tense geopolitical backdrop, aviation spotters tracked a dozen jets from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, an F/A-18 Hornet squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, en route in late September through Europe.
The heavily armed jets — capable of firing 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs, cluster munitions, air-to-air missiles and a six-barrel 20 mm gun — are used for a variety of missions, including ground attack, escort, enemy air defense suppression, reconnaissance and close air support of ground forces.
U.S. Central Command and the Marine command in the region declined to say which country the squadron deployed to or to comment in detail on its mission, citing political and security sensitivities of the host nation and its neighbors.....
 Meanwhile, the U.S. is also maintaining two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region longer than planned and deploying additional units such as the Miramar fighter squadron as both deterrent and potential response if Iran comes close to developing nuclear weapons or threatens oil supplies, analysts said.
Stratfor, an intelligence and geopolitics news service, noted the deployment of VMFA-314 and reported that an Air Force F-22 Raptor squadron had deployed earlier this year to the Persian Gulf. Given “the fluid conflicts in North Africa, Syria and Afghanistan, as well as the current tensions with Iran,” Stratfor concluded that “the United States ... could simply be positioning military assets in a region that is rife with conflict and that may eventually require rapid military intervention or action.”
Can we say "Wag The Dog"?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wag_the_Dog

No comments:

Post a Comment