US missile defense radar station in Qatar
War drums are beating.
The U.S. is building a missile defense radar station in Qatar. This is part of a series of U.S. actions designed to protect allies and U.S. facilities from an attack by Iran
The Wall Street journal reports that the base will be built in a secret location in Qatar. The facility will be just one part of a system meant to defend U.S. facilities and also its Gulf area allies against Iranian rockets according to anonymous U.S. officials.
The station is slated to be completed by the end of July. The base will house an AN/TPY-2 radar. This site plus two other sites in Turkey and the Negev Desert form an arc.
The three sites together can detect any missiles launched deep inside Iran from northern, southern or western Iran. The radar stations also link to interceptor batteries throughout the region and to U.S. ships that have high altitude interceptor rockets.
Qatar is home to the largest U.S. military base in the region, All Udeid Air Base. Together with another base a total of 8,000 U.S. troops are in Qatar. Qatar has often shared U.S.policy aims especially in Libya and now in Syria.
In response to an Al Jazeera reporter's question about the site, the Pentagon replied."We have a number of allies and partners in the region with whom we seek to build greater cooperation, and our goal is to address a wide range of US security interests there."
As mentioned earlier the U.S. has had a similar radar station in the Negev desert on Mount Keren for four years. The station in Turkey is part of NATO's missile defense shield. The anonymous U.S. officials claim the U.S. Central Command intends to deploy a THADD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system within the next few months. The system might be deployed in the United Arab Emirates.
Tension in the Gulf area has been increasing of late. Some Iranian officials threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in reaction to the severe sanctions imposed on the country over its nuclear program.
In response the U.S. together with 20 allies will hold a mine sweeping exercise in a number of areas in September although not in the Straits of Hormuz. The U.S. Central Command said the exercise would focus on a hypothetical threat to mine strategic waterways in the Middle East.
Israel is threatening a military strike on Iran and Hillary Clinton said recently while in Jerusalem.,
“we will use all elements of American power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
Iran has always maintained that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian power purposes.
High tensions in the region were underscored yesterday when a U.S. Navy vessel fired on a fishing boat off the coast of Dubai after it ignored warnings not to approach. The shooting killed one Indian fisherman and wounded three others.
The Pentagon also announced deployment schedules yesterday that will keep two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region until at least late-March. The U.S. is preparing for a possible attack against Iran and also to defend against any counter attacks.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/328838#ixzz2135QbDwz
Global Nuclear dis-armament will never be a reality. Original 5 nations will never give-up their Nuke weapons. You can't prevent other countries from acquiring Nuke tech. If not today may be in next decade or two countries like Iran, Egypt, South Korea, Japan, Saudi, Singapore, Australia will eventually join nuke club for so called "deterrence".
Our future generations will have to face this reality that they are living in a Nuclear hangover.
We'll just dig a very deep hole all the way to Australia :o)
brit, I hope you also have an idea as to where to deposit the nuclear waste!
mozaismyhero--good point.
I for one am a supporter for any and all countries being allowed to have nuclear capabilities.
I do agree though that the Iranian people need to get rid of the oppressive government and free themselves of the Ayatollahs.
That's what makes their plight all the more saddening. Many people today are blinded to Iran's past glories due to all the ongoing oppression and strife prevailing there.
I hope so to. Iran (Persia) has a wonderful history and culture but destroyed by the Ayatollahs in their version.
I certainly hope to God that you are right. And yes I pray that good will come to the Iranian people sooner or later. God knows they have suffered too long!
Fathima, I don't think there is any reason to be concerned. Iran will not start a war and the current situation of squeezing Iran through sanctions is starting to hurt.
Attack Iran and its people will be against the foreigners even if they hate their own government. However as life gets tougher for them and the corruption gets worse they will try again to bring down the religious dictators and make a bid for freedom.
Yikes...we certainly do! All we can hope then that those in power will do all they can to work towards peace and not war, because everything seems very scarily leading towards the latter at the moment!
Bachus I would disagree. If Iran is attacked and the religious leaders are driven from power then that would technically be bombing them out of the stone age.
Well we do have front row seats to any potential conflict (unfortunately).
I wish the Arabs would spend their money to buy a mainstream US tv network, to counteract the pro-Israeli propaganda that is all over US tv at the moment.
They already have patriot missiles on the U.S. military base in Qatar, so this is simply and elevation of that. Iran will not attack Doha, because if it did it would give the US and KSA the excuse to bomb Iran back to the stone age.
The thing countries worry about is Iran gaining nuclear capability. Then you don't have to be accurate with delivery, just resonably close to your intended target. The GCC worry about this a lot.
However if Iran and Israel did wipe each other out the world would be a much more peaceful place... maybe the world should sit back and watch.
If Romney wins in November I would be surprised if military action happens after the inauguration.
My prediction is Israel will kick things off before November. Israeli interests in the media will whip up panic and fear and demand the US gets involved, and Obama will be forced to launch some sort of strike.
But let's wait and see. Perhaps common sense will prevail (but I doubt it).
My worry is if one of loosened Iranian missile misses the target, or passes defense shield and hit me in Muntazah, :)
Wait for Jan-13, with new US president on board-Republican most probably, US & allies will attack on Iran in the names of some funny jargon,
..but that’s my guess!!
what do you think of this piece of news......Qatar & Iran joint drilling activities.....
http://www.albawaba.com/business/qatar-iran-oil-drilling-434492
thru Qatar Airways...
Oil is easier to send through alternative routes than gas.
How will Qatar export any LNG if Iran tried to block the Straits of Hormuz?
the preparation for war are well on their way.
last week saudi arabia, and UAE opened pipelines diverting 3.5 Million barels of oil per day from the gulf and Hormuz straight. saudi toward the red sea, UAE toward fujairah on the indian ocean.
of the 17 Mb/day produced for export in the gulf, 6.5 Mb/d now have been diverted to other routes than HORMUZ.
more are coming on the way:
kurdistan, basorah, and koweit may transit their oil through syria and lebanon toward the mediterranean. limiting iran's threat of closing hormuz.
Can you please remind me when the Iranians last started a war ?
Yes Fubar that is a different story. If attacked then the Iranians will rally round to defend the homeland against the foreigners. They may hate their leaders but Iran is their home.
If the Iranians aren't in the mood to start a conflict, do you think they would hesitate to press the button if they themselves were attacked?
The Iranians will not start a war. The Religious Dictators (a clerical number of 12) who actually run Iran, (Its not the President he is just a puppet and has no real power) have no intention of starting a war. They have seen what has happened in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and now Syria and if the people of Iran get a sniff of freedom they could overthrow their religious overlords. They tried a couple of years back and the protests were brutally crushed.
So no war from Iran, it would cost the religious dictators their jobs and most probably their lives as well.
I dont think that the Iranians are dumb enough(yet) to press the FIRE button....they will be firing at their own people, so to speak...
Iran is nowhere near to having decent misile guidance systems. The media and especially the Pentagon overplay their capability in order to ensure public support.
The US can take out Iranian defence capabilities any time they like.
The Iranians claim that their missiles, like the Fajr 3, can avoid detection and are accurate.
I wouldn't buy either of those claims. But if on their 2,000km journey to Qatar they stray by just 30km they would hit West Bay (assuming the US doesn't intercept them).
That's a scary thought.
Did anyone else see the attack on the Israeli tourists yesterday, with Israel blaming Iran?
Is this the start of the provocation, which will end with the Iranians hitting the FIRE button?
must be a 12 year old on holiday....i heard the schools closed last week... lol
I think he attempting to silence me but getting the Mods confused and he hopes they delete my account....
this retard keeps trying so hard.... LOL
Yes QR it is very flattering. He thinks I am a fan of the Pope which is odd. if he had read my other comments he would find I am very much not a fan of the Pope or the Vatican.... good to have fans though. Seems my message is getting through.....
The capabilites of Iran's military are well known. In a conventional war the US and its allies could roll them over in 2/3 months if not sooner. They have developed short range missle capability but its not good. Developing rockets to fire a payload is one thing, getting them to hit a target accurately 100, 200 or 1000km away is another. They could fire a lot of rockets at the US base in Qatar but maybe only 5-10% would hit their target, the others would miss in varying degrees. That is a concern for the people of Qatar.
If you go back to the 1st Gulf war when Iraq fired Scuds at Saudi Arabi, a large number missed their targets and some landed in Qatar....
I think you have a fan and almost the same name as moza(without is)myhero :)
I'd be surprised if the USA is footing the whole bill for the missile shield.
Al Udeid was built at Qatar's expense so that the US would be stationed here.
And mimh has just returned after conducting a thorough inspection requested by Iran govt to obtain a 3rd party certification on their missile program ;)
Well Congress met yesterday to discuss the budget cut and the military spending especially in Afghanistan, apparently the missile radar in Qatar is not on their list :)
True that could be one possibility... add to it the possibility US antimissiles also falling inside Doha due some failure...
Funny how this news were never seen anywhere in the Qatari newspapers at least those in Arabic.
Also:
1-Where is the transparency?
2- Don't they know that people can read English, therefore they can get the news elsewhere ? :)
The United State is broke but still building these things.......when will Uncle Sam learn?
Contrary to all popular beliefs, the destruction of the US will not come from outside but from inside. It was not from want of legions that the Roman Empire collapsed, it was from bankruptcy and political infighting that rotted the core.
Please elaborate :)
flexicode, Lol...
Threats worked for Iran, US Radar system is here now..
Whats next?
Well they will probably hit Bahrain.
What if Iran aims at the US embassy? That's in the heart of Doha.
Only one problem for the people of Qatar. Iran has missle technology but its useless. Missles aimed at the American base could land in Doha