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U.S. Gulf exercise largest since 2003 invasion of Iraq

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, March 28, 2007

ABU DHABI — Four days after the abduction of 15 British sailors, the U.S. Navy has launched its largest exercise in the Gulf since 2003.

Officials said the navy began its exercise on Tuesday in the Gulf near the coast of Iran, Middle East Newsline reported. They said two strike carriers conducted naval and air maneuvers that included mock attacks on Iran.

"The exercise should reassure our friends and our allies of our commitment to security and stability in the region," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said.



The exercise was launched four days after Iran abducted 15 British Navy sailors during their patrol of Shatt Al Arab. Teheran accused the British patrols of entering Iranian waters for espionage missions.

"The potential ramifications of the incident are great," Simon Henderson, a leading analyst at the Washington Institute, said. "There is a danger that it could serve to regionalize the Iraqi conflict along the length of the Persian Gulf."

None of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states has been participating in the exercise, which includes air, anti-mine and anti-submarine components. On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates ruled out the use of its territory for any U.S. strike against Teheran.

"We have informed the Iranian brothers in a message carried recently by the foreign minister that we are not party to its conflict with the United States and will not allow our territories to be used for any military, security or intelligence activities against it," UAE President Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan told the London-based daily Al Hayat.

The United States maintains two out of the three naval strike groups -- with 15 ships and 100 combat aircraft -- in the Gulf. A French strike group, led by the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, has been operating at the edge of the Gulf.

"These two carriers have never operated together before," Whitman said. "This is the first chance they've had to operate together."

Since November 2006, Iran has held at least three exercises in the Gulf. The exercises were meant to demonstrate Iran's swarm capabilities of using fast patrol boats and mini-submarines to overcome the superior firepower of U.S. destroyers and frigates.

U.S. Central Command, headed by Adm. William Fallon and which oversaw a counter-proliferation exercise in the Gulf in October 2006, has drafted strike options against Iran that included a range of scenarios. The scenarios envisioned U.S. retaliation for an Iranian provocation in the Gulf or a mission to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons facilities.

"If there is strong presence, then it sends a clear message that you better be careful about trying to intimidate others," said Capt. Bradley Johanson, commander of the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier. "Iran has adopted a very escalatory posture with the things that they have done."

The Pentagon has overseen tests of an air weapon designed to destroy underground Iranian facilities. Boeing reported a successful static test of its Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in March.

"The weapon's effectiveness against hard and deeply buried targets allows the warfighter to hold adversaries' most highly valued military facilities at risk, especially those protecting weapons of mass destruction," Boeing program director Bob McClurg said.

The MOP, in a test conducted by the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, was designed for deployment by U.S. Air Force B-52 and B-2 bombers. Officials said the next test would mark an airborne demonstration of the 13,500 kilogram bomb.


Copyright © 2007 East West Services, Inc.

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