United for Peace of Pierce County, WA - We nonviolently oppose the reliance on unilateral military actions rather than cooperative diplomacy.

On Monday, Iran's Press TV called attention to a report on an Israeli web site asserting that the U.S. is sending a flotilla of warships toward the Persian Gulf in a movement that may be linked to Georgia's decision to stage an attack in South Ossetia.[1] -- The report, which appeared on the web site Debka, which has links to Israeli military and intelligence circles but which is also used at times to circulate disinformation, is posted below.[2] -- It asserts not that "three more warships" are en route, as the Press TV account has it, but that three "strike forces" involving "more than 40 carriers, warships and submarines, some of the last nuclear-armed, opposite the Islamic Republic, a concentration last seen just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003," will arrive in the Persian Gulf region this week. -- Debka commented: "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." -- For recent official Navy accounts of the movements of the ships named, see here, here, and here. -- Claude Salhani, the editor of Middle East Times, cited "informed sources" (based on the information, these seem to be Debka's sources) and indicated that he found the reports credible. -- In response to this news, "Kuwait has activated its Emergency War Plan," Press TV reported Tuesday, citing a Middle East Times by the same author (a well-respected journalist) as its source.[3] -- Middle East Times said that "Telephone calls to the Pentagon were not returned by publication time."[4] -- Al Jazeera has also called attention to the reports of large-scale U.S. naval movements....

Three more U.S. warships are reportedly heading towards the Persian Gulf amid ongoing tension in the region.

DEBKAfiles -- an Israeli web site with alleged close links with the regime's military and intelligence sources -- claimed that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Iwo Jima are sailing towards the Persian Gulf to reinforce the U.S. strike forces deployed to the region.

The report said the expedition could be linked to a conflict between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Citing military experts, the web site reported that through sending more strike forces to the Persian Gulf, the U.S. is tightening its grip on oil resources in the Persian Gulf, after Russia extended its control over Caspian oil resources.

The report added that the U.S. fleet could also support Israeli forces in case of any attack on Iran over the country's nuclear activities.

According to the Israeli web site the expedition can also be considered as a sign of preparations by the U.S. and its allies to impose partial naval blockade on Iran outside the framework of the U.N. Security Council, and to keep the Hormuz Strait open in case of a conflict.

Israel has been calling on the U.S. to take a hard line in dealing with Iran's nuclear issue. The pressure by hawkish Israeli politicians, however, has met with a cold response by many U.S. military and political figures, who see the outcome of any military attack on Iran disastrous.

DEBKAfile’s military sources note that the arrival of the three new American flotillas will raise to five the number of U.S. strike forces in Middle East waters -- an unprecedented build-up since the crisis erupted over Iran’s nuclear program.

This vast naval and air strength consists of more than 40 carriers, warships, and submarines, some of the last nuclear-armed, opposite the Islamic Republic, a concentration last seen just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

1. The U.S., 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.

2. 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 U.S. naval and air force stand ready to reopen the Strait and fight back any Iranian attempt to break through the blockade.

3. Washington is deploying forces as back-up for a possible Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear installations.

4. A potential rush of events in which a U.S.-led blockade, Israeli attack, and Iranian reprisals pile up in a very short time and precipitate a major military crisis.

5. 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.

DEBKAfile’s military sources name the three U.S. strike forces en route to the Gulf as the USS Theodore Roosevelt , the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Iwo Jima. Already in place are the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea opposite Iranian shores and the USS Peleliu which is cruising in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Kuwait has activated its Emergency War Plan after an armada of U.S. naval battle groups headed for the Persian Gulf, Middle East Times reports.

The report comes after DEBKAfiles claimed on Monday that the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the USS Ronald Reagan, and the USS Iwo Jima are sailing toward the Persian Gulf to reinforce the US strike forces in the region.

The deployment is believed to be the largest naval task force assembled by the United States and its allies in the region since the Persian Gulf war in 1991.

The move comes nearly a week after Operation Brimstone, which saw more than a dozen warships from U.S., British and French naval forces conduct war games in the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for a possible confrontation with Iran.

Kuwait, located on the coast of Persian Gulf, has placed its military on 'war alert' to avoid being caught off-guard by any possible conflict in the region.

"Kuwait was caught by surprise last time, when Iraqi troops invaded the small emirate and routed the Kuwaiti army in just a few hours," a former U.S. diplomat to Kuwait told the Middle East Times.

Washington and allies accuse Iran, a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing a military nuclear program and have threatened to launch military strikes on Iran should the country continue its uranium enrichment.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency, has confirmed that Iran's uranium enrichment does not exceed 3 percent and is therefore within the limits of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The military build-up in the Persian Gulf comes amid speculation that Israel is lobbying to push the Bush administration to launch a joint attack on Iran before President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009.

The small oil-rich emirate of Kuwait -- situated between Iraq, Iran, and an un-enviable geographic hard place on the northern end of the Persian Gulf -- has reportedly activated its "Emergency War Plan" as a massive U.S. and European armada is reported heading for the region.

Coming on the heels of Operation Brimstone just a week ago that saw U.S., British, and French naval forces participate in war games in the Atlantic Ocean, the object of which was to practice enforcing an eventual blockade on Iran, the joint task force is now headed for the Gulf and what could easily turn into a major confrontation with Iran.

The naval force comprises a U.S. Navy super carrier battle group and is accompanied by an expeditionary carrier battle group, a British Royal Navy carrier battle group, and a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine.

Leading the pack is the nuclear-powered carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its Carrier Strike Group Two; besides its 80-plus combat planes the Roosevelt normally transports, it is carrying an additional load of French Naval Rafale fighter jets from the French carrier Charles de Gaulle, currently in dry dock.

Also reported heading toward Iran is another nuclear-powered carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan and its Carrier Strike Group Seven; the USS Iwo Jima, the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and a number of French warships, including the nuclear hunter-killer submarine Amethyste.

Once the naval force arrives in the Gulf region it will be joining two other U.S. naval battle groups already on site: the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Peleliu; the Lincoln with its carrier strike group and the latter with an expeditionary strike group.

This deployment is the largest naval task force from the United States and allied countries to assemble in the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf since the two Gulf wars.

The object of the naval deployment would be to enforce an eventual blockade on Iran, if as expected by many observers, current negotiations with the Islamic republic over its insistence to pursue enrichment of uranium, allowing it, eventually, to produce nuclear weapons yields no results.

Adding to the volatility is the presence of a major Russian navy deployment affected earlier this year to the eastern Mediterranean comprising the jewel of the Russian fleet, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov with approximately 50 Su-33 warplanes that have the capacity for mid-air refueling. This means the Russian warplanes could reach the Gulf from the Mediterranean, a distance of some 850 miles and would be forced to fly over Syria (not a problem) but Iraq as well, where the skies are controlled by the U.S. military, and the guided missile heavy cruiser Moskva. The Russian task force is believed to be composed of no less than a dozen warships as well as several submarines.

However, Russia is unlikely to get involved in a military showdown in the Persian Gulf, particularly at this time when it is engaged in a major confrontation with the Republic of Georgia in South Ossetia.

For Iran however, a naval blockade preventing it from importing refined oil would have devastating effects on its economy, virtually crippling the Islamic republic's infrastructure. Although Iran is a major oil producer and exporter, the country lacks refining facilities having to re-import its own oil once refined.

Iran's oil -- both the exported crude as well as the returning refined product -- passes through the strategic Straits of Hormuz, controlled by Iran on one side and the Sultanate of Oman -- a U.S. ally -- on the other. The strait is about 30 miles wide at its narrowest point, making it easy to control, but at the same time placing Western naval vessels within easy reach of Iran's Revolutionary Guards fast moving light crafts that could be used by Iranian suicide bombers.

Although Kuwait is on the opposite end of the entrance to the Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz, Kuwait City is less than 60 miles from Iran -- and with good reason to worry.

"Kuwait was caught by surprise last time, when Iraqi troops invaded the small emirate and routed the Kuwaiti army in just a few hours," a former U.S. diplomat to Kuwait told the Middle East Times.