Rumors of War...

[NinjaNick]

so is this going to lead to World War III?

With todays technology we'll kill our species off. We're so fucking stupid. Why the hell just every country leave others alone instead of trying to constantly take over the fucking world.

[AOW]

because we, the USA, are so frick'n oil dependent.

[ReconRat]

Yeah, those items I said... doesn't mean much to North Korea. They believe they can easily win over South Korea, and that's all that matters. They have come close to attacking several times in the past. It's easy to tell when, they always take all the civilians and put them in shelters. When they do that, it's danger time.

And that USA oil need, too bad about the gulf rig blowout. There's enough oil there to last us 200 years. Not the "12 years till the world runs out". So the USA has basically 12 years to get it going. Yup, we'll pretty much be the new "owners" of the fuel supply everywhere. Not the Middle East and OPEC.

That new gulf oil is certainly strategic, in what is is worth to whoever owns it. There are some crazy rumors about North Korea sank it. Claims of satellite reconnaissance seeing a submarine near the drilling platform. Nope, a torpedo or attack from divers would have sank it right away, which it didn't do. It caught fire and burned quite a long time. And then sank...

Technically what happened is a gas blowout. The safety valves to prevent that failed. The gas is flammable, and flooded the area including the rooms with the winch and drill engines. Those inhaled the gases, which caused them to rev up and go boom. Which started a fire, in an area that was flooded with flammable gases.... oops... even bigger boom.

[The King]

because we, the USA, are so frick'n oil dependent.

Communist Korean's backed by Russians and Chinese tried to take over Korea after WWII.

It had nothing to do with OIL.

Furthermore, the entire world runs on OIL.............you know why? Because currently there is NOTHING BETTER.

I am so freaking tired of everyone complaining about OIL and then getting in their cars or climbing onto their bikes and riding off.

OIL is worth fighting for, it is what runs our planet.

[chevysoldier]

so is this going to lead to World War III?

That WILL BE the war to end ALL wars...and humanity.

Besides, the M1A2 SEP is current, not the M1A1.

.

Still the M1A2 but with some small changes. M1A3 is under development.

"M1A2SEP (System Enhancement Package): Has upgraded 3rd generation depleted uranium armor mesh with graphite coating (240 new built, 300 M1A2s upgraded to M1A2SEP for the USA, also unknown numbers of upgraded basic M1's and M1IP's, also 400 oldest M1A1's upgraded to M1A2SEP)."

Communist Korean's backed by Russians and Chinese tried to take over Korea after WWII.

It had nothing to do with OIL.

Furthermore, the entire world runs on OIL.............you know why? Because currently there is NOTHING BETTER.

I am so freaking tired of everyone complaining about OIL and then getting in their cars or climbing onto their bikes and riding off.

OIL is worth fighting for, it is what runs our planet.

There are alternatives but the technology is too expensive and is not efficient enough.

[The King]

There are alternatives but the technology is too expensive and is not efficient enough.

That was what I meant by nothing better...

[chevysoldier]

That was what I meant by nothing better...

Gotcha. Thought maybe you meant oil is the best fuel ever!

[ReconRat]

Anyone else getting the news that isn't news about Turkey? Apparently they are up for a fight with Israel, BEFORE the stuff happened with the ships at the Gaza blockade.

I'd repeat some of the rumors, but I'd like to see another source to back them up before I believe them. Although it would be difficult to deny the political changes going on in Turkey. And yes, the USA still maintains a base of operations there.

I do say this, Turkey used to be the Ottoman Empire, until they picked the wrong side in World War One. Didn't pick well in World War Two either. Prior to that the Ottoman Empire occupied and controlled most of the Middle East for a long long time. If it's anything that area fears, it's a return of the Ottoman Empire. They have long memories passed down through generations. What I'm saying, is that the Arab states probably are more than a little leery of Turkey's intentions.

[Casper]

What I'm saying, is that the Arab states probably are more than a little leery of Turkey's intentions.

And the fact that Turkey is US friendly probably doesn't help much...

[Fonzie]

And the fact that Turkey is US friendly probably doesn't help much...

Yeah... But the U.S is obviously Israel friendly too, so how do we stay Swiss in that little altercation?

[AOW]

Yeah... But the U.S is obviously Israel friendly too, so how do we stay Swiss in that little altercation?

the Corps has a method for this..... "kill'em all and let god sort'em out"

[ReconRat]

It's worse than I thought, Syria is now best buddies with Turkey, all of a sudden. And Iran promises to send at least three ships to bust up the Gaza blockade when Turkish aid ships try again. One Hospital ship that will probably hide over in Egyptian or Lebanese waters near Gaza. One ship with aid supplies, and one ship feared full of Revolutionary Guard Marines. I expect the Iranian Marines to attempt to land in Gaza and stay, if they go at all. That part might be a big bluff. Iran says all three ships are aid ships. Iran plans to send two now, and one a few days later.

And Iran supposedly has had one or two submarines in the Mediterranean operating out of Turkish ports. I suppose so, since the USA supposedly has one to three submarines in the Gulf off shore of Iran. How many submarines does Israel have and where are they?

Any threat of a clash between these players is going to cause the stock market to take a big hit. But it can't stay out of the news forever, if it's actually happening. Right now it's barely in the news. No one is paying much attention.

And rumors being what they are, somebody thinks they know where Osama has been hiding...

What I actually suspect... The Kurdish between Iran and Turkey are going to be in big trouble. They need to scoot back across the borders into Northern Iraq.

[chevysoldier]

Gonna re-up for the action Tom?

[ReconRat]

Gonna re-up for the action Tom?

Nope, these fools are on their own. Plus it will all be over before anyone will decide how to react. If and when. The Euro market will freak, of course.

And North Korea, will throw a fit with all the attention going elsewhere, and do something stupid soon.

[RSVDon]

I like this line...

or simply that a single USN submarine is independently capable of destroying the entire country of North Korea all by itself.

[ReconRat]

Here's what I hope happens (or doesn't happen), if and when a showdown happens at Gaza.

Nobody wants a mess in the Mediterranean. NATO steps in with a show of force. USA, British, French, Spanish, Italian, German, etc ships show up in force. Basically just whoever is available and able to get there in time. NATO can give orders to Turkish NATO ships.

So when the little dogs go to fight, the big dogs are there to discourage them. This usually works. Worst case, amphibious NATO troops land on shore to handle "aid delivered to Gaza". If it sounds implassible, think of how many times it's already happened in Lebanon.

[RSVDon]

Wait. Why is this in ranting and raving?

[Cheech]

It's worse than I thought, Syria is now best buddies with Turkey, all of a sudden. And Iran promises to send at least three ships to bust up the Gaza blockade when Turkish aid ships try again. One Hospital ship that will probably hide over in Egyptian or Lebanese waters near Gaza. One ship with aid supplies, and one ship feared full of Revolutionary Guard Marines. I expect the Iranian Marines to attempt to land in Gaza and stay, if they go at all. That part might be a big bluff. Iran says all three ships are aid ships. Iran plans to send two now, and one a few days later.

And Iran supposedly has had one or two submarines in the Mediterranean operating out of Turkish ports. I suppose so, since the USA supposedly has one to three submarines in the Gulf off shore of Iran. How many submarines does Israel have and where are they?

Any threat of a clash between these players is going to cause the stock market to take a big hit. But it can't stay out of the news forever, if it's actually happening. Right now it's barely in the news. No one is paying much attention.

And rumors being what they are, somebody thinks they know where Osama has been hiding...

What I actually suspect... The Kurdish between Iran and Turkey are going to be in big trouble. They need to scoot back across the borders into Northern Iraq.

That reads like a Tom Clancy novel. Time to bring back Sean Connery. In all seriousness though, if the Iranians land on Gaza that's going to give Israel carte blanche to do whatever the hell it wants, with international support. The US can't help but be dragged into it, if not for the obvious ties to Israel then due to our already sizable military presence in the area (Iraq). Complete agreement about the Kurds, they were rocking out pretty well in Northern Iraq, I think they need to regroup there and call it a civilization.

NK never misses an opportunity to fire off some weapons-grade stupid, so expect them to throw some kind of tantrum.

[ReconRat]

Wait. Why is this in ranting and raving?

I picked a forum home base at random, sort of...

It's politics and/or religion, or could be. So far it's not.

[ReconRat]

Ok, a little digging and I found that Israel has 5 German made submarines, and they currently station in the Persian Gulf off shore from Iran (not all at the same time). That's a recent decision. The first three made were supposedly nuclear cruise missile capable. The last two made supposedly are not.

[ReconRat]

French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, departs for 6 month stay in the Persian Gulf.

[Cheech]

French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, departs for 6 month stay in the Persian Gulf.

don't worry, it'll be back in 2 weeks after they run out of wine and cheese.

[ReconRat]

British newspapers are reporting that the USA has authorized the use of American Special Forces inside Iran, in preparation for an attack against Iran's nuclear facilities. Nobody has any clue what the CIA might be doing.

Taliban troops are reportedly receiving training in remote areas of Iran. Osama bin Laden also is reportedly hiding in a remote city in Iran. Iran drops hints about starting two more secret nuclear plants.

Saudi Arabia has again announced permission for Israel or USA to use Saudi airspace to fly attacks on Iran. (Saudi Arabia does not like Iran.) Permission to use airspace has been offered in various troubled times in the past. This offer supposedly made it into the British papers, but I can't find it.

US politicians admit to having plans A, B, C, or D for Iran. They also estimate that Iran will be nuclear weapons enabled in one to three years. UN still arguing about investigating the first Gaza flotilla fiasco, and more or less ignoring everything else. Some American politicians currently saying it's too late to stop Iran from having nuclear weapons.

USA is forward basing the necessary weaponry for use in Iran, at the airfield in Diego Garcia.

Iran tests improved version of the Sejil-2 missile. 1200 mile range with greater accuracy. That puts American bases in range. Israel in range. South-East Europe in range. Iran rumored to be working on a trigger for a nuclear weapon in 2007.

Iran ships bound for Gaza have unknown location and unknown ETA to do whatever. Same for the Turkish excursion to Gaza - part two. Turkey is forward basing even more troops of all types in Cyprus.

Egypt pretty much drops most all inbound limitations at Gaza border crossings, mostly hoping to defuse the situation a bit. American aid and funding of the border barrier being built at the Egypt - Gaza border suddenly stops completely and all engineers have left. (Most didn't like it there anyway, they got shot at from the Gaza side frequently.)

NATO is dead quiet about their renegade member Turkey. Bad news for NATO and European Nation. Technically this would have to be called an Euro civil war. Pakistan initially offers support of Turkey. India has no response. China, Russia, and India might be the only influence on Turkey and Iran. They also have the veto power in the UN security council. Edit: Turkey never joined the European Nation. They are still waiting. But now, Turkey is announcing they are officially not European.

Arab nations, including Syria, mostly freaked by sudden alliance of Turkey and Iran. Since there is nothing they can do about it, most are hoping somebody else somewhere else will do something about it.

I find it worthy to note that the US has forward bases in most of the ten or so countries bordering Iran.

Turkmenistan (or did previously)

Afghanistan

Pakistan (secretly)

Oman

United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia

Kuwait

Iraq

Turkey

not in Armenia (rumored to be trying to set something up)

not in Azerbaijan (rumored to have tried but was refused) edit: US troops are there, moving supplies into Afghanistan.

[jnor]

I think i've read about all of these things in a book......a very old book...

[ReconRat]

An estimated one trillion USD worth of minerals discovered in Afghanistan.

This will eventually make Afghanistan a neo Saudi Arabia.

This would take the combined efforts of all the world's major countries to develop.

China really needs the copper, and is already cornering the mining deals and market for that.

The USA wants the lithium for the electric car batteries we don't have yet.

(There isn't much lithium in the entire world...)

Yes, somebody will think this is worth fighting for, and the Taliban might just crank it up...

There are rumors that the Taliban might just be winning in certain areas of Afghanistan...

Apparently somebody is giving them MANPAD weaponry. (man-portable air-defense systems)

That would be shoulder launched surface to air missiles used to attack aircraft.

And there are rumors that the Taliban are being secretly directed by the Pakistani military.

Here's now it works... Pakistan is a underdeveloped country unless some other country pumps a lot of money into it. The USA did for a while, and Pakistan was a boom town. That stopped, until the Afghanistan war started, and then the money flowed in again. So, nobody in Pakistan wants that money to stop. Therefore, nobody in Pakistan wants the Afghanistan war to end. Therefore, they are making sure it doesn't....