Kuwait activates emergency war plan as three U.S. warships steam towards Iran

Question

Has anyone seen this? And also does anyone know if this is true?

Answer 1

it could be an exercise in case the is a problem in the persian gulf

Answer 2

I doubt it is true, we always have war ship steaming towards Iran

Answer 3

Here's some relevant links from the main online newspaper for Kuwait:

(Btw, this is not "three warships".   This is three _naval battle groups_.  Carriers and marine assault forces (the marine assault vessels can launch a few harriers but they're not "aircraft carriers" the same way big floating cities like CVN Abraham Lincoln and CVN Ronald Reagan are)  I'm not positive if they're accidentally counting the British carrier group on route (their carrier is on the smallish side, might just be harriers only, iirc), either.  But the point is there are going to be _five_ naval battle groups of surface vessels.  This is an armada (in modern terms), folks.  

The only argument I've heard against it being "real" is "the military is better at hiding movements of its assets".  Digging up the references on the movements, but the one source makes it look like this group of ships en route was just finishing up an exercise that included shallow water invasions, Operation Brimstone.  Back later.  Good luck, God bless you all.

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php...

--> Aug 12, Kuwaiti foreign affairs commentator believes it is a given the Strait of Hormuz will be closed, and if it is opened, probably closed again, presumably [my interpretation] because Iran doesn't need too many resources to do so...and because the US will be reluctant to get too direct at Iran, at least at first.  Blockade, resistance, smack down of coastal assets some deep strikes, rinse repeat.  Someone could email the author and ask him why _he_ thinks the straits will close and reopen repeatedly.

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php...

--> Aug 11, debating new conscription law for Kuwait. Not imminent "...to be presented next parliament session.  Still, its "totally different from the existing law" though the differences mentioned are mostly about it being more efficient and fair.  

Middle of the article talks about the gov't still _discussing_ the plan, but emphasizes this is THE task occupying the gov't right now.

Lower down in the article it mentions an Iranian official "questioning if the Gulf Monarchies can survive"...he was talking in a sociopolitical context but still...

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php...

Aug 10, general discussion of Kuwaiti foreign policy positions by Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister (same person holding both offices).  Stresses the Kuwaitis really don't want to fight with Iran, tries to emphasize Kuwait's credentials as a good Arab-Muslim "international citizen".

(Yes, I know Iran is s**+'ite and pretty much everyone in North Africa/the Middle East aside from Iraq, Iran and parts of Lebanon (and weird fragments of Syria) is Sunni.  Still, there is consensus between both sects as to Things You Should and Should Not Do, like being anti-Israel and helping Muslims under attack by outsiders.)

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php...

Aug 9 --> Kuwait goes to high alert with its surveillance/patrol resources, some of which it is in the process of upgrading at the current time.

I'll put up the other links later.  But the trend I'm seeing is no, they haven't actually mobilized their armed forces or done anything that nations only do when war is literally imminent.._but_ they're on high alert and acting like they're sure they're going to NEED to mobilize soon.  And they're thinking _really hard_ about making sure all their strategic bases are covered. The fact they want this plan finished soon means hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of dollars, in rush-jobs and overtime.  That's not a casual bit of change to drop, especially to do it so quickly when normally, I'm sure there's lots of squabbling about a "fair share" of the gov't pork that gets handed out in the process.

Answer 4

Just caution, it also suggests things are serious and something is going on. The US Armada is serious it is heading towards Iran, for what purpose not clear yet.

In my opinion the conflict with Russia-Georgia and Iran are tied at some level.  

Answer 5

They haven't activated an emergency plan, they have simply finalized the plan (see link).  They would only activate the plan in the event of war between the US and Iran.  Let us hope it remains merely a contingency plan.