AFGHAN WAR: LARGEST MILITARY COALITION IN HISTORY

"Ongoing Iran War Preparations? Arabian Sea: Center Of West's 21st Century War"

by Rick Rozoff, Oct. 25th, 2010

The monumental expansion of arms sales and the buildup of naval and air power in the Arabian Sea region are unprecedented. They are also alarming to the highest degree.

A quarter of the world's nuclear aircraft carriers will soon be in the Arabian Sea.

The Nimitz class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the region on October 17 to join the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, which in turn had arrived there on June 18 as part of a regular rotation.

The Charles de Gaulle, flagship of the French navy, the country's only aircraft carrier and the sole non-American nuclear carrier, will soon join its two U.S. counterparts. The U.S. possesses half the world's twenty-two aircraft carriers, all eleven supercarriers (those displacing over 70,000 tons) and eleven of twelve nuclear carriers.

(map)

Regarding the unscheduled deployment of a second American aircraft carrier to the region, a CBS News report stated:

"Air strikes in Afghanistan are up 50 per cent and now Defense Secretary Gates has ordered a second aircraft carrier, the USS Lincoln, into the fight.

"Two carriers operating off the coast of Pakistan means about 120 aircraft available for missions over Afghanistan. And that's not counting U.S. Air Force missions flown out of Bagram and Kandahar." [1]

(snip)

USS Lincoln and USS Truman are currently assigned to the Fifth Fleet's area of responsibility, which encompasses the Northern Indian Ocean and its branches and offshoots: ..., the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.

(snip)

The Fifth is the first fleet established in the post-Cold War period, recommissioned in 1995 after being deactivated in 1947. (Similarly, the Fourth Fleet, which is assigned to the Caribbean Sea and Central and South America, was reactivated two years ago after being decommissioned in 1950.)

It shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (CENTCOM) at Manama, Bahrain, across the Persian Gulf from Iran. ...

The Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command are jointly in charge of five naval task forces operating in and near the Arabian Sea which patrol several of the most strategic chokepoints on the planet: ...

(snip)

Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) was launched in January of 2009, operates in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin and covers an area of 1.1 million square miles. Twenty nations are scheduled to participate ...

Combined Task Force 152 (CTF-152) operates from the northern Persian Gulf to the Strait of Hormuz, between the areas of responsibility of CTF-150 and CTF-158, and is part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Combined Task Force 158 (CTF-158) operates in the northern-most part of the Persian Gulf, .... Its main tasks are to oversee Iraqi oil installations and to create an Iraqi navy under the Pentagon's control.

The U.S. has divided the world between six regional military commands and six navy fleets. The Arabian Sea is covered by three of the Pentagon's overseas military commands - Central Command, Africa Command and Pacific Command - to provide an indication of the importance attached to the region.

(snip)

Beforehand, shortly after entering the Mediterranean Sea in May, USS Truman engaged in joint interoperability exercises in Marseille with its French fellow nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. ...

(snip)

"The new mission of the ship is to join the fight against pirates that is taking place off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean [where a] NATO mission is ongoing." [4] Nuclear aircraft carriers are a curious choice for contending with piracy.

(snip)

When the French carrier arrives in the Arabian Sea this month it will be accompanied by two frigates, an attack submarine and a refuelling tanker, 3,000 sailors and 27 aircraft: Ten Rafale F3 fighters, 12 Super Étendard attack jets, two Hawkeye early warning planes and three helicopters.

(snip)

With USS Lincoln and the USS Truman carrier strike group, there will be three carriers, ten other ships, an attack submarine and as many as 150 military aircraft in the Arabian Sea. That is in addition to the five warships of the NATO Maritime Group 1 in theater, 14-15 ships with CTF-150 and perhaps dozens more with CTF-151, CFT-152 and CTF-158. A formidable armada covering the sea from one end to the other.

In the north of the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and into the Persian Gulf, on October 21 the U.S. announced a $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia for advanced fighter jets, helicopters, missiles and other weaponry and equipment," according to a Western news agency "the largest US arms deal ever." [7]

(map of 10 US bases surrounding Iran)

(snip)

The monumental expansion of arms sales and the buildup of naval and air power in the Arabian Sea region are unprecedented. They are also alarming to the highest degree.

The West, America and its NATO allies, are escalating military operations across the area, from Asia to Africa to the Middle East. The theater of operations has recently broadened from South Asia to the Arabian Peninsula with drone and helicopter attacks in Pakistan and air and cruise missile strikes in Yemen.

A war that started at the beginning of the century is in its tenth year and gives every indication of being permanent.

Much of what's omitted in the above excerpt of Rick Rozoff's article doesn't seem at all related to US militarism vis-a-vis Iran, but maybe I'm wrong about this.

"Largest U.S. Arms Deal Ever: $60 Billion In Weapons To Saudis"

by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Oct. 21st, 2010

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21565

US announces Saudi arms sale of up to 60 billion dollars

The United States announced an arms deal with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday worth up to 60 billion dollars that includes advanced fighter jets, helicopters, missiles and other weaponry and equipment, dpa reported.

The deal that will be implemented over 15 to 20 years is the largest US arms deal ever.

The deal proposes the sale of 84 F-15 fighters jets to Saudi Arabia and upgrades older 70 F-15s previously purchased by the Saudi government, Andrew Shapiro, the State Department's assistant secretary for political and military affairs said.

The helicopters included in the deal are 70 Apaches, 72 Black Hawks and 36 Little Birds, Shapiro said. Also in the package are an assortment of advanced missiles, bombs, radar and other equipment.

The Obama administration formally notified Congress of the sale, which is required under such a massive agreement.

The Obama administration decided to proceed with a deal after evaluating Saudi's defence needs and determining would would not diminish Israel's military edge in the region, and concluded the deal would promote security and stability in the Middle East.

The Obama administration clearly is not qualified to assess the defense needs of Saudi Arabia, for it certainly doesn't need anywhere near $60bn worth of war machinery. But the US MIC definitely will be glad.