Two weeks ago, I traveled to the Persian Gulf, and made the transit through the Strait of Hormuz to the Arabian Sea. My host was the U.S. Navy, and the ride through the Strait was aboard the mighty USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft carrier that is part of two carrier strike groups on
patrol in the region. This was my 8th visit to an aircraft carrier, and doing an 'arrested landing' never loses its thrill. The C2 Greyhound came in at 140 mph, its tailhook connecting with one of the steel wires stretched across the deck. Imagine landing any plane. Then imagine that the runway appears from above to be the size of a postage stamp and is located in the middle of a churning sea. Oh, and often it's dark out and raining. The movie Top Gun did not exaggerate the abilities or cool demeanor of naval aviators. But this was no movie set and the threat the Navy faces is unfortunately all too real.
Here's an important point, though: While the war drums may be beating in Jerusalem and in some corners of Washington, there's no war mongering among the crew members I spoke to. Military men and women are the last people who want conflict. But if a regional war breaks out and the U.S. is drawn in, the 5,000 men and women of the Vinson will be the tip of the spear for any U.S. response.
Surrounded by a destroyer, a missile cruiser and several Seahawk helicopters, we were hardly inconspicuous as we transited the Strait. And that is the point. The Navy wants to send the message to an increasingly bellicose Iran that closing down the Strait -- whether via mines or missile attacks -- will not be tolerated. Hormuz is one of the most vital waterways in the world... 20 percent of the world's oil sails through here, en route to Asia and the West. Any disruption, even temporary, could send oil prices soaring.
Admiral Thomas Shannon is the commander of the carrier strike group. From the glass bridge of the ship, Shannon and his team keep an eye on the unmanned aerial vehicle and the airplane that Iran has dispatched to monitor us. Shannon told me, "I would hope... that most would realize that a closure of the Strait of Hormuz would not stand. And, working together with a lot of friends, we'd get it open and we'd get that oil flowin' again."
The oil must flow and making sure it flows has frequently put the United States in a bind between its strategic needs and its democratic ideals. That's what we found in Bahrain, a tiny island Kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia that the Navy's Fifth Fleet calls home. The
United States considers the Sunni royal family there to be a 'major non-NATO ally," and the Navy base in Bahrain provides a safe harbor from which to keep an eye on Iran. For years, the United States has sold Bahrain helicopters, humvees, and lots of teargas. But there is turmoil
in the Kingdom. The Shiite majority has taken to the streets, for more than a year, in a violent and under-reported uprising. Riding the wave of the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, the Shia took to the streets in February, 2011 demanding more freedoms, including the right to elect their own Prime Minister. The crackdown was instantaneous and brutal. But the Shia keep demonstrating, and have frequently been attacked with teargas stamped "Made in the USA."
(Our cameraman attended a funeral that turned into a clash with Bahrain authorities. Watch an interview with Mark Laganga about his experience below.)
Whose side is the United States on? The editor of Bahrain's only independent and non-sectarian newspaper, Al-Wasat, is a man named Manoor Al-Jamri. Al Jamri put it succinctly: "I think the issue of the flow of oil, stability of the Strait of Hormuz, is the predominant concern for the United States, for the Pentagon... policy makers. There's oil that must flow. Everything else is details, and has to be... dealt with at a lower level."
Al Jamri has tried to be an intermediary between the Sunni rulers and the Shia majority. But his voice of moderation is being drowned out by radicalized young men who have been shot at and brutally attacked for a year. The United States' short term goal may very well be to keep a lid on things and throw its weight behind in the King. But observers say that in the long term, unless the U.S. uses its leverage to negotiate for reforms, we run the real risk of driving an increasingly restive Shia population into the very arms of the one country we fear the most right now... Shia-dominated Iran.
Dan Rather Reports airs Tuesdays on HDNet at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. This program is now available on iTunes. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
I get the feeling that war is a lot less appealing when you're the person who actually has to do the fighting.
Oil is JUST a business…. PEOPLE are a separate and the CRITICAL issue!
Remember an Iraqi defector named "Curveball"? Well he is going on BBC TV tomorrow to relate/confess his role in the WMD "story" that was the basis of our invasion of Iraq and says he made the whole thing up. Read more about it here....
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30953.htm
What would happen to global commerce if this waterway is also targeted? This article is from last December, but is still very relevant as tensions heat up with Iran and Syria.
May it NOT be the lives of OUR troops!
For example, how far are you from the nearest US border? And how far are you from the nearest Iranian border? Among all the countries in your close proximity, which country has general parliamentary and presidential election and therefore closer to be seen as more democratic than others? Is that country one of beloved ally? Why we had to fear Iran? Have we done anything bad to her in the past?
www.raceforiran.com
www.ifamericansknew.org
We should pull all our forces out of the Middle East and bring them back to this country. That would defuse tensions there by a great deal. if our military-industrial establishment was not constantly starting wars so they can sell more weapons we would live in a much safer world.
however reporting from an active mission in a possible conflick does not sit well in my books , if the game was on that would be of a lesser concern than this. i point to the hms sheffield for the answer to my view , when the pot could be stiring there is no need to apply greece .
this entire region is a flash point and the last thing anyone needs is a spark .