Dolphins: Iran's weapon against the US?

[subsuelo]

Asia Times

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

The Pentagon, which has in the past tried to place its naval operations above US laws, has suffered a court reversal that is bound to have repercussions well beyond the California coast and impact the US Navy's global operations.

A federal judge in Los Angeles has imposed rigid limits on the navy's use of mid-frequency sonar off the coast of southern California. The sonar is suspected of causing disruption to whale and dolphin navigation systems.

The ruling, in response to a case brought by environmentalists, bans sonar within 12 nautical miles of the California coast, increases the navy's "shut down" zone for sonar use near marine mammals, and mandates the navy monitor for marine mammals one hour prior to sonar exercises as well as during them.

The court's finding, with "near certainty" that US naval sonic "mitigation schemes" are "grossly inadequate to protect marine mammals from debilitating levels of sonar exposure", has direct bearing on the navy's operations in the Persian Gulf, which include active sonar training "under actual conditions".

The navy's surface ships and submarines stationed in the Persian Gulf use sonar to detect Iran's Russian-made diesel submarines. And given the mass stranding of several species of whales following US naval exercises in, among other places, the Bahamas, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, North Carolina, Japan, Spain, Taiwan, and the US Virgin Islands, these operations could be called challenged.

The judge said in her ruling she wanted to balance "competing interests of national security and fleet readiness" with environmental protection. A US Navy spokesman said the navy is considering its options, adding that the order did not strike "the right balance between national security and environmental concerns".


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[Webster Green]

1. The U.S. Military does whatever the hell they want..

The ruling will change nothing.

The U.S. Military sucks. They don't give a fuck about the environment, and they won't answer to any judge.