The U.S. Navy may order about a dozen ships equipped with surface-to-surface missiles from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea as part of preparations for a possible war with Iraq, U.S. military sources said Thursday. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could sign the order as soon as Thursday, sources said.
Ummm. does he mean today, or next week?
The ships then would begin moving through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea.
Anyone got the time it takes to transit the suez canal?
The ships include cruisers, destroyers and submarines, all of which fire satellite-guided Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles — precision weapons with a range of about 1,000 miles. Pentagon officials declined to say how many ships might be involved, but it is understood that 10 to 15 Tomahawk-capable vessels may shift position. Once the ships are in the Red Sea, any missile launched would fly over Saudi Arabia on the way to targets in Iraq.
My guess is the Persian gulf is so full of US Navy ships that you could walk from bahrain to iran without getting your feet wet. I would also think that they could park a couple in the gulf of aqaba to cut down on the overflight transit time, and allow overflight over Jordan.
The shift in position was required because of Turkey's refusal to grant overflight rights.
I knew that they were letting us have land based troops, but I didnt know we were going to get overflight rights. |