isn't this something that was announced months ago? Typically, these groups aren't prepared to just "go" on a minutes notice.
Posted by T2 at March 30, 2007 01:33 PMDoes anyone know how long a Navy ship deployment - like a carrier group - is assigned on station, especially like the current Iraq war?
The Nation has an article noting that the Eisenhower group was assigned and deployed between Sept 21, 2006, and Oct 1 that year, to it's current post in the Persian Gulf. So it's only been on station since late Oct.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061009/lindorff
Looking at the wiki - 6-8 months on station for the Ike is about normal under the current Navy leadership.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Dwight_D._Eisenhower_(CVN-69)
Posted by idiosynchronic at March 30, 2007 01:34 PMMaybe 2 1/2 weeks to deploy from San Diego, an ex-Navy officer colleague tells me. And then you factor in refueling for the support group, as well as the topping off resupply for the entire group.
Don't you think maybe too much crap is going to hit the fan in DC before Bush can position the distraction?
Posted by Danton at March 30, 2007 02:09 PMVery likely.
I have a reader from a community near Camp Pendleton, CA who says the deployments have been underway for 2 weeks to the Persian Gulf.
Not a good sign unless you think Bushco is qualified to launch another war.
Posted by Christopher at March 30, 2007 02:10 PMthe Russian says D-day is April 6. Thats 7 days away. Don't think that's quite enough time to get there and stage up.
Posted by T2 at March 30, 2007 02:30 PMWell it would be only appropriate for the 'Christian nation' to launch a war on the muslim Iranians on Good Friday.
Posted by snark at March 30, 2007 02:38 PMThe danger is that the build-up could spark an accidental war. Iranian officials said on Thursday that they had tested missiles capable of hitting warships in the Gulf.
Why do I think this will be no accident...or that the British soldier capture was pre-planned....weren't the captured Israeli soldiers actually in Lebanon before the July Israeli fiasco??..4years into the Iraq debacle and still the average American is shopping instead of fretting...once the Iran nonsense starts and the genie is out of the bottle there will be no quick turnaround for some time....does this administration really believe that the GOP wil win anything in 08 if this scenario gets out of hand??..which it will!! Am I missing something here? The presnit making jokes at the Press dinner as if this is one big fcuking joke....IMPEACHMENT is too light.
Posted by Goyo at March 30, 2007 02:43 PMWell it would be only appropriate for the 'Christian nation' to launch a war on the muslim Iranians on Good Friday.
Friday was always Bush's favorite day of the week as Tejas governor because that was the day the executions were carried out at Huntsville Prison, TX.
Posted by Christopher at March 30, 2007 03:03 PMaccording to a website, named debka.com, some people have been told that they should leave Bharian, and the hotels are full of American military personnel.
Something is afoot.
Posted by mje at March 30, 2007 04:56 PMFirst of all, who really thinks that bush cares what ANYONE else thinks? No one, right? So then, bush doesn't need to be at full strength to hit Iran. After we ( yes, I have to use the "we") disable Iran's air defense and long-range attack weapons, bush can sustain a bomb plan until the world rebels.
He could ramp up for a month after achieving superiority. The world will yell, but ...
Posted by Richard W. Crews at March 30, 2007 06:08 PMThis is like some bad episode of 'The Twlight Zone' - it's friggin' surreal ...
A few weeks ago the Iranian son or grandson of a minister for the Shah told bush f2f that one bomb would instantly radicalize 70 million people. bush said 'I know.' The Iranian asked 'Does cheney know?' bush smirked and walked away.
If this happens, impeachment is the only response.
Posted by Jim Faith at March 30, 2007 09:22 PMI hope people are paying attention what the price of oil has been doing this week because of the mere threat of instability in Iran due to this hostage thing. To me, this IS the beginning of the end if the world economy collapses because of gas prices. Every nation is complicit in letting this get out of hand. Iran must be dealt with, but not with military escalation.
Posted by bujeeboo at March 31, 2007 12:11 PMi have a bunch of questions:
will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back and causes financial and political meltdowns?
will the iranians block the Strait of hormuz, will oil shipments from the persian Gulf come to a halt?
will there be mayhem in Iraq and a regional war? or will it all be over quickly as the US delivers a powerful first strike and knockout? will the fucking zionists i mean the peace loving israelis join in?
will anyone use tactical nukes?
how will the arab and moslem world react? what will the europeans do? will the people of america just sit around the tube and watch 'the shock and awe show'? will it even be televised? do the demoRats have any responsibility in all this after puling the amendment to the iraq war bill and essentially giving bush a green light? is this all just a game of chess and saber rattling by the US or is this the real mccoy about to begin? can the US possibly make the world any worse off than it already is?.....
It is hubris that will be the undoing of this administration. They can't stop to reflect; and they simply feel entitled to pursue a set of political objectives to a conclusion without regard for immediate or future consequences. If they expect Congress or the nation to rally around a transparent act of aggression, they could be in for a bitter surprise.
Posted by Copeland at March 31, 2007 08:28 PM