With an apparent eye toward continuing the Pentagon’s seemingly endless naval buildup off the coast of Iran, officials and analysts are fretting over what they see as Iran’s growing “retaliation capability,” saying it would put those US ships in the Persian Gulf at risk if they started attacking Iran.
Unlike America’s enormous fleet of huge warships, cost and practicality has led to a very different sort of navy in Iran, one which is planning to rely almost entirely on small speedboats and a quick deployment of sea mines to fend off the invading leviathans.
Incredibly, officials and analysts suggest this strategy may actually work, as Iran’s large number of tiny ships can use “swarming” tactics in defending the Iranian coast, and that huge US ships, mostly built with an eye toward fighting other huge ships, would be at a marked disadvantage trying to contend with so many smaller targets.
“The outcome would never be in doubt when you’re dealing with the most powerful military in the world,” insists former Pentagon adviser Michael Eisenstadt, but the idea that Iran could fend off a naval invasion, even if only for a few hours, has Pentagon officials convinced of the need to throw more ships at the region.
Whether this is just the Pentagon trying to cash-in on a newly perceived “threat,” the practical matter is that the addition of even more ships will add to the serious upkeep costs of leaving a naval attack force looming off the coast of a nation on the other side of the planet. Entirely unconsidered by US officials is the wisdom of keeping such a costly force there at all. Since Iran’s tiny ships are meant for very short range defense (i.e. their own coast) the US could avoid the Iranian naval threat entirely by not attacking Iran.
As a matter of fact the US build up, with all that ships, small and large and the enormous ones in Persian Gulf makes it easier for the Iranians to close the Gulf by targeting few of the biggest one and few of the smaller one, if not that then when the first bullet or missile is fired I think the gulf would close itself, because no insurance company in the world would want to insure in and out going cargo ships. I wonder if white house or the black house in London have think of it.
Do not presume the Iranians want to close the straits, all they want is to be left alone with no US/isreal aggression.
Unmentioned is the "threat" that Iranian air defenses could pose to attacking aircraft.
Or the "threat" that Iranian militia could pose to invading soldiers.
Somehow all this seems related to the hypothetical "threat" the non-existent Iranian nuclear weapons program might someday pose to US Mideast hegemony.
Too bad the Iranian proposal to have arms/proliferation control and restrictions for ALL nations in the Mideast is so 'unreasonable' (the USA and its allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia would not be satisfied).
Guess the only 'reasonable' way to remove all those Iranian "threats" is war.
Or is it … hmm?
I thought Iran was no threat. So, leave them alone and quit threatening them and they will not be a threat.
here are many problems for the US and Israel OTHERWISE they would have already attacked, there is a huge pronlem in that they have a fully functioning Military that can build its own weaponry,
Indigineous Aircraft, missiles, torpedoes Noting that they can make 200 MPH torpedoes,
Iran is not Iraq and they sure as hell are not Hezbollah they CAN shoot antiaircraft weaponry, Israeli Pilots will ahve to worry about BOTH a full suite of Anti Aircraft weapons as well as Aircraft, not great aircraft but aircraft with full fuel tanks and the ability to make the Israelies to use fuel! Can Israel afford to be painted by Tomcat radar? Have the Iranians reverse engineered and then built missiles that can shoot down out to 54 miles.
No The US knows that if it attacks Iran they might eventually win war, but they could in fact lose Capital ships including Carriers, then they will need three or four times the ground forces than what they had for Iraq.
"the US could avoid the Iranian naval threat entirely by not attacking Iran."
The simplest answer is always the best.
“The outcome would never be in doubt when you’re dealing with the most powerful military in the world,” insists former Pentagon adviser Michael Eisenstadt
Hey, Mike, there was this guy, I think his name was Dave, he was really overmatched when he got into a fight one time and…oh, well, it was just in some book I read…you probably wouldn't believe it.
And don't let anyone tell you different, the NY Jets can NEVER beat the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl…nor can Appalachian State beat Michigan in Ann Arbor…
All for the sake of the zionist on stolen palestinian lands.Will it work we all know that it would not.
I can imagine a situation in which both the US and Iran start hostilities. The US navy would launch its cruise missiles and the carriers their fighters all of which would bring terrible destruction and suffering to the Iranian people. Iran's armed forces on the contrary would try to defend themselves with their small boats which would heroically face the huge ships opposite. The outgunned Iranian air force would fly as many sorties as it could against the F-14s, F-18s and F-35s. This would be a terrible, uneven and extremely violent clash between two extremely asymmetrical forces. After 36 hours of pounding the coasts of Iran and having practically wiped out the entire Iranian air force, the remnants of the once proud greatest armada ever assembled in this part of the world would leave completely defeated never again to return. The Iranians despite having received terrible punishment were able to sink one carrier and several ships to mines and damaged another carrier beyond repair. The attempt to invade Iran by a division of marines failed miserably in the absence of sustained air support.. Hundreds of dead bodies from invaders are scattered on the beaches witnessing the foolishness and hubris of reckless leaders. The loss of almost a whole fleet stuns America and several groups start to rebel against the government. In Afghanistan whole units mutiny and the Pentagon fear the loss of its armies in the whole Middle East. Seeing in what direction the wind blows, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain demand US forces to vacate their bases.