Rumor Mill In Overdrive: Now US Will Be The One To Bomb Iran

[darrels joy]

Rumor Mill In Overdrive: Now US Will Be The One To Bomb Iran



As difficult as it is to believe, considering the perception that Obama will bend over backwards to give negotiations and talks a chance, there are rumors that the US is getting ready to bomb Iran themselves, rather than leave it to Israel.

That may make sense, considering the national mood--which is fed up with Iran:

A majority of Americans are skeptical that diplomacy with Iran will succeed and say the U.S. should use military action if necessary to prevent the Iranian government from developing a nuclear weapon.

A Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey released today found 61 percent of Americans would support a military strike. Twenty-four percent said it is more important to avoid conflict even if that means Iran will end up building nuclear arms.

Of course, if everything Obama does were to be determined by the national mood, then the direction of his economic policies would be very different.

Be that as it may, there is another indication that the US may be considering taking matters into its own hands. According to ABC News, the Pentagon recently sent a funding request to Congress indicating a priority towards building a Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 30,000-pound that is capable of reaching targets buried as deep as 200 feet below ground. ABC has also posted a copy of the Pentagon request online.

ABC notes:

This is not the kind of weapon that would be particularly useful in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it is ideally suited to hit deeply buried nuclear facilities such as Natanz or Qom in Iran.

Assuming that the US is considering this and that it can actually pull this off, it would have a number of positive effects--it would

• Put Iran in its place
• Serve as a warning to Syria
• Show that the US is willing to flex its muscles where it sees fit
• Actually curry favor with the Arab world--which views Iran's nuclear plans with suspicion
• Of course it would help out Israel.

And perhaps, by virtue of the fact that both the Arab World and Israel would mutually benefit from such an action by the US--Obama could claim that they owe him a debt, payable by sitting down and talking.

But let's first wait and see what--if anything--Obama is up to.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad


http://daledamos.blogspot.com/2009/1...s-will-be.html

[David]

MOP data

Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) - The Patriot...

[Boats]

DJ - I welcome these words only from the standpoint the rest of world thinks we've
become soft and unwilling to take at stand with the radicals. Just a word of the wise if
we go in it has to be understood their will be ramifications. We have to be ready and
make sure those who need to know are aware of this as the whole area will quickly
go up in smoke. The terrorist will quickly hit all the oil areas to retaliate the West
strong arm tactics. I won't be pretty but here again Iran has stepped over its
boundries by making these treats and then following through on them.

The rest of the world has to know that these people will use those weapons much
like North Korea. We are slowly but surely moving the A-Clock towards Mid-Night again.

Russia and the US came within minutes of destroying the whole world. We are moving
once more in that direction with these terrorist - they have to be shut down.

[82Rigger]

A question of interest to anyone who cares to pursue the answer:

What FOUR nations on earth have the largest oil reserves?

[darrels joy]

Iran is 3rd or 4th depending on what data you use.

Does this mean we let them do whatever they want, crash our economy or use our own oil?

[DeadlyDaring]

Top World Oil Producers, 2008 (thousand barrels per day)
Rank Country Production
1 - Saudi Arabia 10,782
2 - Russia 9,790
3 - United States 8,514
4 - Iran 4,174
5 - China 3,973
6 - Canada 3,350
7 - Mexico 3,186
8- United Arab Emirates 3,046
9 - Kuwait 2,741
10 - Venezuela 2,643
11 - Norway 2,466
12 - Brazil 2,396
13 - Iraq 2,385
14 - Algeria 2,180
15 - Nigeria 2,169


Top World Oil Consumers, 2008 (thousand barrels per day)
Rank Country Consumption
1 - United States 19,498
2 - China 7,850
3 - Japan 4,785
4 - India 2,940
5 - Russia 2,900
6 - Germany 2,569
7 - Brazil 2,520
8 - Saudi Arabia 2,297
9 - Canada 2,260
10 - Korea, South 2,175
11 - Mexico 2,128
12 - France 1,986
13 - Iran 1,755
14 - United Kingdom 1,710
15 - Italy 1,639



Top World Oil Net Importers, 2008 (thousand barrels per day)
Rank Country Imports
1 - United States 10,984
2 - Japan 4,652
3 - China 3,877
4 - Germany 2,418
5 - Korea, South 2,144
6 - India 2,056
7 - France 1,915
8 - Spain 1,534
9 - Italy 1,477
10 - Taiwan 947
11 - Netherlands 891
12 - Singapore 887
13 - Belgium 699
14 - Turkey 629
15 - Thailand 581


Top World Oil Net Exporters, 2008 (thousand barrels per day)
Rank Country Exports
1 - Saudi Arabia 8,485
2 - Russia 6,890
3 - United Arab Emirates 2,583
4 - Iran 2,419
5 - Kuwait 2,416
6 - Norway 2,246
7 - Angola 1,950
8 - Venezuela 1,883
9 - Nigeria 1,883
10 - Algeria 1,881
11 - Iraq 1,748
12 - Libya 1,602
13 - Kazakhstan 1,191
14 - Canada 1,090
15 - Qatar 1,078


Cheers
Deadlydaring

[DMZ-LT]

Thanks DD ,good info ! We can all make our own conclusions.

[Keith_Hixson]

Interesting Info. I have thought for years that we need to better than we in our oil consumption. Americans are so wasteful. We need to do better with mass transit, especially on the West Coast. We need to do better getting products to market, a better and more efficient freight system. Over haul the rail road system and make it much better for freight and passengers. However, we keep sucking down the oil and remain in subjection to the oil producers.

Keith

[revwardoc]

http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledee...to-be-in-coma/

This story has been floating around the net for the past day or so, but this report comes from a person who is in a position to know such things. As I know very well (having been gulled into wrongly announcing Khamenei’s death a while back), it is easy to be misled, and Khamenei has had previous medical emergencies in the past, and recovered, but the source is excellent. Nonetheless, it’s always smart to apply the Reagan Caution: Trust, but verify. I’m doing my best.

Here is what he/she says:

Yesterday afternoon at 2.15PM local time, Khamenei collapsed and was taken to his special clinic. Nobody – except his son and the doctors – has since been allowed to get near him.
His official, but secret, status is: “in the hands of the gods”.

Reportedly this collapse is natural. Many would like him to move to his afterlife but reportedly the collapse was not ‘externally induced’ [no poisioning]. The few insiders who know about the collapse see this development “as a gift from the gods”.

His condition had already seriously deteriorated over the last months, aggravated by his nervous condition due to his inability to solve the problems created by his manipulation of the election results and the refusal of [a large part of] the population to accept this, plus his loss of religious authority by means of the repeated condemnations of events by senior clerics.

Reportedly the principal aims of Khamenei of the last couple of weeks, if not months, were to ensure a positive reputation as his legacy and the physical survival of his family members and their wealth, reportedly now largely in Syria and in Turkey (remember the truck convoy of $8.5 billion in cash and gold that was seized by the Turks?).

Outlook is uncertain but speculation is – considering that he is in coma since more than 24 hours – that he may not come out of his coma and/or that he may die very soon.

If he dies it is expected that immediately a bloody clash will develop between the powers behind Rafsanjani, who will immediately claim temporary religious authority and overall control, and the powers behind Achmadinejad who will scramble in order to regain
control and ensure their survival.

UPDATE (Wednesday Oct 14th): According to a bulletin from the Greens (Moussavi/Karroubi et al), there are widespread rumors in the Tehran Bazaar that Khamenei has died. The Greens say they cannot confirm it, but that there is an “abnormal atmosphere” in the streets, which almost certainly means there are more security people than usual.

The bazaar will apparently be closed tomorrow, and perhaps Friday as well, pending developments.