Reply #17: They don't want a shootdown just yet.

[BillZBubb]

What they are doing is recon. They fly near-to or into Iranian airspace and get their radar installations to light up. Then we know where their air defenses are. There probably have been U2 overflights as well looking for nuclear facilities (or something that Condoliar can go to the UN and claim are nuclear facilities).

I would suspect all this intel will end up in Israeli hands if they coordinate a bombing strike.

If they want to create a casus belli incident, they'll be a little more subtle than this. Maybe a sort of "Persian Gulf" incident involving the Iranian navy. The Iranians last year seized a British vessel and took the Brits captive. No doubt the neo-con criminals latched onto to that incident and filed it for further use.