U.S. Navy buildup came after Iran moves (Walsh speaks)

[lovuian]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gulf_us_iran

MANAMA, Bahrain -
Iran has brought its war games maneuvers over the past year into busy shipping lanes in the Straits of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass, the top
U.S. Navy commander in the Mideast said.



The moves have alarmed U.S. officials about possible accidental confrontations that could boil over into war, and led to a recent build-up of Navy forces in the Gulf, Vice Adm. Patrick Walsh said in an interview with The Associated Press and other reporters.

During maneuvers, Iranian sailors have loaded mines onto small minelaying boats and test-fired a Shahab-3 ballistic missile into international waters, he said.

"The Shahab-3 most recently went into waters very close to the traffic separation scheme in the straits themselves. This gives us concern because innocent passage of vessels now is threatened," Walsh said in the interview Monday on the base of the Navy's Fifth Fleet in the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain.
snip...
The additional U.S. firepower has ratcheted up tensions with Iran. But Walsh said the increase aims to reassure Arab allies in the Gulf and prevent misunderstandings that could escalate into outright conflict.

"That's certainly what we're trying to avoid, a mistake that then boils over into a war," said Walsh, who departs his command of the Fifth Fleet this month to become vice chief of naval operations at the
Pentagon, the Navy's No. 2 post.
more...

Walsh definitely sounds like a Bush man

[HuffleClaw]

1. BULLSHIT

utter fucking crap.

[oldtimecanuk]

2. I agree with Bullshit... and utter crap.... The US has been badgering...

Iran for sometime now trying to get them to respond and make a case for war..... Anyone who thinks differently, only needs to search for this topic on the Internet..... or perhaps read Dick Chenneys lips....

ww