In other words, plans quickly being put into place.    You don’t say “no rush” unless you are rushing.   We know a rapid response naval “mother ship” is being retrofitted for special forces use in the Strait of Hormuz and we just found out a third, yes third, carrier group is headed to the gulf.  Probably the USS George HW Bush out of Virginia which pushed out two weeks ago.   This is unprecendented.   We have never before had 3 complete carrier groups in one region simultaneously.  

USS Abraham Lincoln had already entered the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Jan 22. She is escorted by a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers (USN), one British and one French warships.  Meanwhile, another US Navy’s carrier strike carrier group headed by USS Carl Vinson is stationed eastward the Strait of Hormuz, in northern part of the Arabian Sea washing southwest coast of Iran.

At present, the US has 15,000-men force deployed in Kuwait, expeditionary marine battalion, and amphibious landing group.

(The Hill) — The White House won’t be rushing to make a decision on Iran’s nuclear program, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday.

While Carney would not respond directly to questions about whether President Obama would have to decide within a year whether to use military force against Iran to stop it from obtaining nuclear weapons, he did say Obama’s policy is “clear.” […] (more…)

I have been reading reports for months waiting to read about such a move.   Believe it or not we have a serious weakness in our naval operations around the Strait of Hormuz.  The US may outspend the Islamic Republic nearly 90-to-1 on defense. But Iran, heir to ancient Persia’s naval innovation, has a well-honed asymmetric strategy designed to reverse that advantage.  A 2002 US military exercise simulating such a conflict proved devastating to American warships.

Iran has a fleet of small, fast, and highly maneuverable ships that can easily lay mines despite our presence.   In addition Iran has a fleet of 300 drone speedboats which can be used in attacks against larger warships and vessels such as oil tankers.   The goal of Iran doesn’t need to be “closing” the strait, they can do significant economic harm in just clogging up the traffic which flows through the strait.

(Washington Post) The Pentagon is rushing to send a large floating base for commando teams to the Middle East as tensions rise with Iran, al-Qaeda in Yemen and Somali pirates, among other threats.

In response to requests from U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, the Navy is converting an aging warship it had planned to decommission into a makeshift staging base for the commandos. Unofficially dubbed a “mothership,” the floating base could accommodate smaller high-speed boats and helicopters commonly used by Navy SEALs, procurement documents show. (more…)

I sense another strongly worded Obama memo coming their way ……

(Reuters) – Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo’s new military rulers stop “endangering American lives”.

Among those hit by travel bans – one of those targeted called it “de facto detention” – is a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, as well as other foreign staffers of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute, officials at the two organizations said. (more…)

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) – Hundreds of angry Libyans on Saturday stormed the transitional government’s headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi, carting off computers, chairs, and desks while the country’s interim leader was still holed up in the building.

Libyans have grown increasingly frustrated with the pace and direction of reforms in the country more than three months after the end of the civil war that ousted longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Those concerns spurred residents in Benghazi, where the uprising against longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi broke out in February, to begin protests nearly two weeks ago to demand transparency and justice from the country’s new leaders.

The melee at the National Transitional Council’s headquarters began after protesters broke through the gates using hand grenades and streamed into the grounds of the headquarters. They banged on the building’s doors and demanded officials meet with them.

In a bid to calm tensions, NTC chief Mustafa Abdul-Jalil tried to address the crowd from a second-floor window, but protesters began throwing bottles at him. (more…)

We need a press corp that will push the Administration to explain.   This is insufferable stupidity.   The Brotherhood has said they will put it up for a referendum vote, knowing full well the vast majority of Egyptians oppose relations with Israel, and will therefore have plausible deniability.   Then the Administration will hide behind ‘well, it’s their Democracy’…..

(JPost) — The Muslim Brotherhood assured the United States that it will not break the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty despite public statements to the contrary, a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.

The second most dangerous woman in the administration.  Samantha Power

“We have had other assurances from the party with regard to their commitment not only to universal human rights, but to the international obligations that the Government of Egypt has undertaken,” State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a briefing. (more…)

TEHRAN, Iran –  Iranian scientists have produced the nation’s first nuclear fuel rod, a feat of engineering the West has doubted Tehran capable of, the country’s nuclear agency said Sunday.

The announcement marks another step in Tehran’s efforts to achieve proficiency in the entire nuclear fuel cycle — from exploring uranium ore to producing nuclear fuel — despite U.N. sanctions and measures by the U.S. and others to get it to halt aspects of its atomic work that could provide a possible pathway to weapons production. (more…)

Considering we have been highlighting the al-Qaeda connection in Libya since March this comes as no surprise.  What is concerning however, is the fact the source states the U.S. has been aware of the leadership activity around the area of Benghazi and the Libyan/Egyptian border.   Not concerning from the perspective of a “surprise”, but concerning in that either:   a.) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton intentionally lied.  Or, b.) the State Dept. really did not know the information known by the CIA and U.S. military.

At the exact timeframe this report describes, Treepers were just getting to know rebel leader, and former Libyan Justice Minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil.  We suspected from the outset he was connected to Radical Islamist Jihadists and potentially al-Qaeda operatives within the Muslim Brotherhood elements crossing the border from Egypt to help train, arm, and fight against Quackdaffy.   Looks like our suspicions, and the interpretations we were piecing together from internal reports were correct.   Check it out:

(CNN) – Al Qaeda’s leadership has sent experienced jihadists to Libya in an effort to build a fighting force there, according to a Libyan source briefed by Western counter-terrorism officials.

The jihadists include one veteran fighter who had been detained in Britain on suspicion of terrorism. The source describes him as committed to al Qaeda’s global cause and to attacking U.S. interests.  The source told CNN that the al Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, personally dispatched the former British detainee to Libya earlier this year as the Gadhafi regime lost control of large swathes of the country. (more…)

The primary support for Syria comes from Iran.  Period.  This is no secret.  In response to criticism over the failure of Obama to support the Iranian “green movement” uprising President Obama specifically said in 2009 he wanted to extend his unclenched fist to Iran and work on better relations.  To prove his point Obama watched Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shoot his opposition in the street and stood silent.   At the same time Hillary Clinton called Syria’s Bashar Assad a “moderate” and a “reformer”.

However, now that attacking Iran’s nuclear ambition -to improve his “gutsy caller” image- becomes a process of Obama’s re-election strategy, you can expect a complete change in tone and approach to Assad.  It’s less about Syria, and much less aboout Assad or his brutal dictatorship, and more about Obama re-election optics.

(Foreign Policy) As the violence in Syria spirals out of control, top officials in President Barack Obama‘s administration are quietly preparing options for how to assist the Syrian opposition, including gaming out the unlikely option of setting up a no-fly zone in Syria and preparing for another major diplomatic initiative.

Critics on Capitol Hill accuse the Obama administration of being slow to react to the quickening deterioration of the security situation in Syria, where over 5,000 have died, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Many lawmakers say the White House is once again “leading from behind,” while the Turks,  the French, and the Arab League — which sent an observer mission to Syria this week – take the initiative to pursue more aggressive strategies for pressuring the Assad regime. But U.S. officials said that they are moving cautiously in order to avoid destabilizing Syria further, and to make sure they know as much as possible about the country’s complex dynamics before getting more involved. (more…)

U.S., Israel Discuss Triggers for Bombing Iran’s Nuclear Infrastructure  – The Obama administration is trying to assure Israel privately that it would strike Iran militarily if Tehran’s nuclear program crosses certain “red lines”—while attempting to dissuade the Israelis from acting unilaterally. Eli Lake reports exclusively.

When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta opined earlier this month that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities could “consume the Middle East in a confrontation and a conflict that we would regret,” the Israelis went ballistic behind the scenes. Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, lodged a formal diplomatic protest known as a demarche. And the White House was thrust into action, reassuring the Israelis that the administration had its own “red lines” that would trigger military action against Iran, and that there is no need for Jerusalem to act unilaterally. (more…)

The “no-way” knee jerk reaction one would normally have to reading such an incendiary headline is unfortunately tempered by reality.  Yes,… sadly;  Way.  

To understand this article outlining how the Obama administration could possibly even fathom to use Al-Qardawi, the spiritual leader for the Muslim Brotherhood, to negotiate with the Taliban, you must first remember the comment from Vice-President Biden that drew jaws to the floor like 10G magnets under a mouth full of fillings.  

Biden said two weeks ago “the Taliban were not our enemy“, remember that?   Obviously there was considerable backlash from those who are indeed connected to reality, and who do actually recognize that bullets being shot, and IED bombs being deployed to kill U.S. forces in Afghanistan, are being fired at us and set by the Taliban.  But I digress.

So here is an interesting article outlining the motive that Joe Biden would have to begin to change the narrative:  (Via IPT) Radical Islamist cleric and longtime Muslim Brotherhood spiritual guide Yusuf al-Qaradawi serves as a “key mediator in secret talks between the U.S. and the Taliban,” according to unnamed government sources referenced in a report published late Wednesday in The Hindu.

In early December, the report said, “Qaradawi helped draw a road map for a deal between the Taliban and the United States, aimed at giving the superpower a face-saving political settlement ahead of its planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.” The United States is expected to begin pulling out of Afghanistan in 2014. (more…)