posted on Jan, 6 2012 @ 04:16 AM
Here's a question for all of you general readers, and answer it honestly. There has been much adue about the Iranians (chasing the US fleet away)
...lol..., and their warnings of closing the Straits of Hormuz. It is thought that it could be done by sinking a tanker or two thus blocking the
Strait, at least MOST have been led to believe this the scenario the Iranians are talking about and Most Americans believe and fear. So is this
something you believe could happen? Do you think the Straights could be closed by an action like this? Answer honestly, it's only your internal
dialogue that you will hear as the answer. Now consider this...... Off the coast of Southern California is Catalina Island, and it sets some way off
of the coast. I remember deep sea fishing one year and navigating out to the Island on our run to San Nicholas Island, it was a portage for the night.
It sets about 22 miles off the coast off of Los Angles It is a pretty good distance if your on the water cruising along at only 15 knots, or about 10
miles per hour. After all this was a BIG 40's-50's era wooden 40' long and 12' wide boat with a large diesel motor, so it was built for power,
not speed, for fishing commercially. So what I'm getting at, it took about three hours to get to Catalina fighting against 6' seas (Pacific
rollers). Hopefully this will give you some perspective of the distance of that 22 miles from the coast out to the Island.
Bear in mind that the Strait of Hormuz is a narrowing, and considered he narrowest part of the southern end of the Gulf of Oman. It lays North-south
in a south, southeasterly orientation/direction until the Strait, where it makes an easterly turn and narrows out, then into a westerly direction and
then dumps out into the open seas. The narrowest point is thirty four miles wide, thats where it pinches to it's narrowest...... thirty four miles,
almost a third more than the distance between Catalina and Los Angles. Now how many of you thought it was just a narrow strait that could be blocked
with one or two sunken ships? I imagine a lot of you. In my ignorance of the topography, I mentally pictured it maybe a mile wide or so, something
like the Mississippi rivers width (which is considerable). My point here.... how many of you thought like I had, eroniously thinking that Iran could
close the straits? At thirty four miles wide, I think it near impossible to close the straits by sinking tankers or ships, five miles is a pretty good
distance, but almost seven times that? I think it's saber rattling mostly, and Any Buildup in Israel...... well lets see proof, lets see actual
forces. If Israel gets into it with Iran over their threat of closing the straight, it's merely smoke and mirrors and a big steaming pile of you know
what. It would be a fake excuse to attack, kind of like Bush's WMD excuse on Iraq. You see where I'm going with this.....