Tensions High, US Warns Iran Not to Block Shipping

[Rhiannon12866]

Source: ABC News

Tensions rising by the day, the Obama administration said Friday it is warning Iran through public and private channels against any action that threatens the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. The Navy revealed that two U.S. ships in and near the Gulf were harassed by Iranian speedboats last week.

Spokesmen were vague on what the United States would do about Iran's threat to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz, but military officials have been clear that the U.S. is readying for a possible naval clash.

That prospect is the latest flashpoint with Iran, and one of the most serious. Although it currently overshadows the threat of war over Iran's disputed nuclear program, perhaps beginning with an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear structure, both simmering crises raise the possibility of a shooting war this year.

"We have to make sure we are ready for any situation and have all options on the table," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, addressing a soldier's question Thursday about the overall risk of war with Iran.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/tensions-high-us-warns-iran-block-shipping-15357452

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The Republican primaries seem to have eclipsed more serious news...

[No Elephants]

1. Our media has very odd priorities. Then again, we keep them in business.

Sorry, I have to go now. I think I see something shiny and I just can't resist it.

[NCarolinawoman]

2. Exactly....

......the media feeds into, and exacerbates the short attention span of the American people.

[No Elephants]

3. Yes, but it also fails in its responsibility to direct our attention to certain things.

For example, I remember how stunned I was about how little I heard about the counts of the wounded and dead in the earlier days of the Iraq War--after capture of Saddam--and the Afghanistan War. And then, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend arrived and I thought to myself, well, today, at least, they will focus on the troops and the wars.

So, I turned on the start of the Today Show and Matt Lauer was shouting above the whirring of a heliocopter. Turns out he was above some U.S. highway, giving a first person traffic report for holiday weekend travelers! While we had troops fighting two (that we knew of) wars!

And yes, at some point during the show, they had tapes of a few members of the military sending optimistic greetings to their families back home. And that was it.

So, did they feed into my short attention span with their almost non-existent war reporting, or did they simply fail--I would say deliberately-- in their own responsibility as journalists?

Heck, hardly anyone even claims to be a journalist anymore. Everyone's a commentator.

I wish we had a footnote to the First Amendment to cover today's crap media.

[DainBramaged]

4. The media is hiding the tensions purposely

you don't want people thinking we're getting in a shooting war in the Middle East again do you?

This will put the economy over the edge if this happens......

[Rhiannon12866]

5. The American people want us out of the wars we already have

They certainly would never support another one, especially one of the "Bush* Doctrine" kind. :grr: :hi:

[No Elephants]

7. With enough propaganda of an effective kind, the American people will support almost anything.

That has been proven time and again.

Besides, the American people wanted out of Iraq and Afghanistan long ago. No one listened. We got out of Iraq--mostly, but not totally out- on Bush's timetable and, AFAIK, we don't even have a timetable for Afghanistan.

[No Elephants]

6. Is the media hiding tensions--or helping to create them in order to

justify our actions if we "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran?"*

I realize neither of us can possibly know the answer for certain, so my question is intended only as raising a possiblity.




*I wonder how Brian Wilson feels about McCain?