FOX Reporting Iran Ships Sent to Gulf of Aden

Just to make it all even more fun, FOX News is reporting that Iran has sent 6 warships into international waters and the Gulf of Aden.

Iran has sent six warships into international waters in a move security experts are calling a "muscle flexing" show of defiance following missile tests last week.

"Iran has dispatched six ... warships to international waters and the Gulf of Aden region in a historically unprecedented move by the Iranian Navy," Iranian Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told a gathering of armed forces officials, Reuters reported.

Sayyari said the ships were moved to preserve Iran's territorial integrity in its southern waters, but foreign policy experts are calling it an aggressive move targeted at a Western audience as much as for regional powers like rival Saudi Arabia.

The deployment is "a signal of military strength, resolve and continued defiance to U.S. and U.N. Security Council efforts to end the impasse over Iran's nuclear program," said Jim Phillips, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Heritage Institute. "What's very important here is the timing of this move — and this naval muscle flexing comes after Iran's missile test earlier this week, which was saber rattling that was meant to send the same signal as this naval dispatch."

Phillips said Ahmadinejad was using the opportunity to thumb his nose at the U.S. and U.N. to advance his own popularity in Iran ahead of the country's hotly contested June 12 election.

Iran's naval access stretches along the Gulf of Aden, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman. Iran has threatened to block the strait, through which about 40 percent of the world's traded oil is shipped, if it were attacked over its nuclear program. Nearly
20,000 ships pass through the Gulf of Aden each year, heading to and from the Suez Canal, Reuters noted. Seven percent of world oil consumption passed through the Gulf of Aden in 2007, according to Lloyd's Marine Intelligence Unit.

Ah... so this is "muscle flexing" and last week's missle tests were "saber rattling" and now the Evil Dwarf is "thumbing his nose". Thanks for clearing that up. So what are they going to call it if Ahmadhimmijerker decides to block the Strait of Hormuz, "bird flipping"?

UPDATE: Well, this just keeps getting better and better...

FOX is now reporting that the Evil Dwarf has challenged Teh One to a debate at the UN next month providing he, the ED, wins the upcoming Iranian election.

The NYPD is going to be so thrilled at this news...

An Aussie Solution!

Danger Room gives us a glimpse into a possible future option to the Somali conundrum:

What’s the best way to avoid Somali pirates? Well, if you’re traveling in a high-speed catamaran, it helps to hit the gas.

The wave-piercing catamaran Norman Arrow, built by Australian ship manufacturer Incat, recently traveled through the pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia en route to a new homeport in the United Kingdom. And while the ship did not encounter any pirates, the crew piloting the vessel was not taking any chances.

According to a company news release, the Norman Arrow boosted its speed from cruising speed to 30 knots — high speed, but not maximum speed — for the most dangerous sections off the Somali coast; the crew also secured the crew cabin, posted extra lookouts and gave small boats a wide berth. If the crew encountered pirate attack, said Captain Guy South, the plan was this: “All the crew would go to the electronics room, the fourth engine would be run up and we’d run away.”

While the crew of the Norman Arrow didn’t see any pirates, a ship sailing about four hours ahead on the same route was attacked with rocket propelled grenades. The crew also observed about half a dozen warships in the area, most likely belonging to the multinational Combined Task Force 151 operating in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.

Incat, which manufactures high-speed car ferries, has also seen a significant amount of interest in its ships for military missions. In recent years, the U.S. military has experimented with a number of high-speed ships; the HSV-X1 Joint Venture and the HSV-2 Swift, both manufactured by Incat, have already been used to support logistics operations in the Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia. The Swift also took part in relief operations in Indonesia and in the Gulf Coast region following hurricane Katrina. The Navy’s new budget request includes funds for two more high-speed vessels.

Aluminum-hulled high-speed ships are not meant to take a beating like a traditional naval vessel (I recall Rear Adm. Jay Cohen, former director of the Office of Naval Research, describing experimental ships as “things that go fast and sink when you punch a hole in them”), but their high speed and shallow draft make them ideal for delivering supplies to primitive ports.

Do you think Capt. Cartman would enjoy this vessel???