Show of Force

The US has gathered the largest armada of naval forces in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday began its largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by a pair of aircraft carriers and backed by warplanes flying simulated attack maneuvers off the coast of Iran.

The maneuvers bring together two strike groups of U.S. warships and more than 100 U.S. warplanes to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes.

The U.S. exercises come just four days after Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines who Iran said had strayed into Iranian waters near the Gulf. Britain and the U.S. Navy have insisted the British sailors were operating in Iraqi waters. (Full story)

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl said the U.S. maneuvers were not organized in response to the capture of the British sailors -- nor were they meant to threaten the Islamic Republic, whose navy operates in the same waters.

He declined to specify when the Navy planned the exercises.

This comes at a time when Iran still illegally holds 15 British sailors and Royal Marines who were captured from their small watercraft while patrolling within Iraqi waters.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is warning Iran that things are about to get interesting.

The US naval exercise is usually planned well in advance and it may simply be serendipity that it comes at a time when the Iranians decided to get frisky and seek to engage in encounters with the US or British forces in the region. However, unlike the Iranian military exercises, which have repeatedly been used by the Iranians for propaganda purposes to purportedly show off new weapons systems (and since shown to be exaggerated, bogus, or fall short of expectations), the US Navy has two aircraft carriers and hundreds of aircraft at its disposal. Such a military force is more than sufficient to ruin the the mad mullahs' day.

UPDATE:
EU Referendum asks the question that needs to be asked of the British Navy. Where was the vessel, the HMS Cornwall, from which the 15 Royal Marines and sailors were based when the Iranians launched their operation and captured them?

Not least, there needs to be an examination of the truth behind the story in The Sunday Telegraph, which alleges that British Intelligence chiefs were warned in January to expect reprisal attacks from Iran after America detained five suspected Iranian intelligence officers in Iraq. According to this newspaper, although the CIA alert led to the United States raising its official security threat level throughout the Middle East and elsewhere, Britain did not follow suit.

What has been exercising us, however – and we are far from being alone in this – is how a reported six Iranian vessels had managed to sneak up on the British craft, and why HMS Cornwall did not intervene.

Such a response was triggered by the classic boarding scenario, where the warship stands off but a short distance from the intercepted vessel – illustrated here with HMCS Vancouver (photo Canadian DND). A small boat is then detached, and the warship stays close, throughout the boarding, protecting the away team.

Clearly, this was not the case in this instance. HMS Cornwall may have been many miles away, acting more as a depot/command post than a guard ship, running several patrols from its location. Similarly, while its Lynx helicopter was available, it too seems not to have been covering the abducted boarding party. Yet, we see other pictures of the "classic scenario", this one (left) showing US personnel aboard a tanker with an Aegis class destroyer in the background, standing guard.

Was the success by the Iranian navy at capturing the British servicemembers the result of British forces cutting corners, lax rules of engagement, or a combination of factors? How could six Iranian vessels sneak up on the British force and was this a trap purposefully sprung on the British navy knowing that the rules of engagement favored the Iranians? There are more questions than answers - and no one appears willing to ask them of the British government.

UPDATE:
Hot Air has more background on the IRGN - the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy, which should not necessarily be confused with the regular Iranian navy. It seems that the IRGN is spoiling to act like the thugs they are as they're not above commiting piracy or being unleashed to throttle Iraqi oil exports through the Shat'al Arab.