[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '.')......Do you know where exactly the fleet is going? Which port?

[Newfie]

First - Can someone validate the story? Do a little fact checking? Is it true that the fleet has left? That's a lot of people on the move, someone will be talking if but to bitch about their husband being deployed.

Second - Let's assume it is true, the fleet has shipped out. What makes you think it is going to Costa Rica? Could that not just be a cover story? For all we know it could be going to North Korea. Or, it could be going to do an extraction. Get Americans or other friendlies out of harm's way, albeit extraordinary if that were to happen. Or perhaps there is some potential junta on the verge of taking place and we have a stake in the outcome. Or maybe Argentina is eying the Falklands once again (I like this one.) Or maybe Obama's just messing with someone.

Third - No need to speculate further until #1 is resolved.

[mcgowanjm]

Wayne Madsen is Another Voice in the Wilderness.

Like with Ruppert, Simmons, you have to read what they're putting out. The truth is instantly recognizable, while the
US Navy acts like bp.

No one believes a word the US Navy says.

http://www.globalpost.com/webblog/costa ... costa-rica

On July 1, 2010 the Costa Rica Legislative Assembly voted 31-8 to grant the U.S. military full in-country access through the end of 2010 to help fight drug trafficking. As of this writing the new administration of President Laura Chinchilla -- who was previously Costa Rica’s Vice-President, Justice Minister and Minister of Public Security -- has not commented in great detail as to what the U.S. troops will be trying to accomplish with their new right of entry other than to say there will be a combination of anti-drug and humanitarian operations. This type of deal is a growing trend in Latin American countries.

With Very Entertaining CT's:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'C')onspiracies are only theories until they come true … especially when history teaches us that governmental decisions too often are not made in the best interests of the public as a whole. That said, some of the conspiracy theories floating around this ‘military invasion’ are fairly interesting:

* Costa Rica is re-instituting their military to keep out Rush Limbaugh. [aka: The OxyContin Theory]
* The U.S. in maintaining the appearance of combating the flow of drugs is actually protecting established CIA drug trade routes by cracking-down on competing freelance operations that don’t pay the expected cuts or protection fees.
* The electricity went out again at Jurassic Park. [aka: The Jurassic Park was Really Filmed in Costa Rica Theory]
* The U.S. is borrowing money from China to fund military operations. China is an ally of North Korea and bedfellows with Russia, Iran, Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. China is attempting to influence Central American countries with financial advantages like Costa Rica’s 200 free police cars and new National Stadium. The U.S. has a large military presence sitting in the Pacific looking at China. Do the math. [aka: The “Renminbi” or “Yuan” Theory]

[Newfie]

I remain unconvinced that this is even happening. At least some refute it.

Fact checking by independent resources is needed before alarm is raised.

http://blog.usni.org/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')ast week, Galrahn and I separately discussed the power of rumor in US warship movements. Specifically, how the rumor of an eleven warship American fleet passing through the Suez channel might affect the behavior of certain Mideast states. This week, we have a second example of this type of rumor. Two days ago a Global Post blog reported that 46 US Navy warships and 7,000 Marines were on their way to Costa Rica. Yep, you read that right, 46 ships.

The truth is more mundane. There are Marines on their way south, but not to fight. The 600 Marines are part of Operation Continuing Promise 2010, which set sail with USS Iwo Jima on July 12. USS Iwo Jima will be home to 1,600 personnel conducting medical assistance, construction, and other assistance programs in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Panama, and Suriname. Why did the Global Post misreport the story? There are many possibilities: bad fact checking, sensational reporting, etc… However, my personal favorite comes from a commenter on Daniel Lamothe’s Marine Times Blog, Battle Rattle: “Well Dan,” the commenter says, “that’s because 1 marine is worth about 700 other military fighters”.

[timmac]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'F')irst - Can someone validate the story? Do a little fact checking? Is it true that the fleet has left? That's a lot of people on the move, someone will be talking if but to bitch about their husband being deployed.

Second - Let's assume it is true, the fleet has shipped out. What makes you think it is going to Costa Rica? Could that not just be a cover story? For all we know it could be going to North Korea. Or, it could be going to do an extraction. Get Americans or other friendlies out of harm's way, albeit extraordinary if that were to happen. Or perhaps there is some potential junta on the verge of taking place and we have a stake in the outcome. Or maybe Argentina is eying the Falklands once again (I like this one.) Or maybe Obama's just messing with someone.

Third - No need to speculate further until #1 is resolved.

[pana_burda]

Emmmm ....... could Venezuela be the final target?


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'V')enezuela rejects Colombia claim it harbours rebels The Chavez government calls Colombia's criticism "desperate" Venezuela has rejected Colombia's accusation that Caracas tolerates Colombian guerrillas on its territory.

The charge was "a desperate attempt" to undermine relations between the two countries, the Venezuelan foreign ministry said.

It later recalled its ambassador for consultations.

The Colombian government had said that it has clear evidence that five rebel leaders are sheltering in Venezuela.

The findings showed Venezuela's "continued and permanent tolerance" of guerrillas on its soil, Colombian Defence Minister Gabriel Silva said on Thursday.

He added that Bogota had video recordings and the exact grid co-ordinates not only of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) camps, but those of the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN).

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has denied supporting Colombian rebel groups.

[Newfie]

Sorry Timmac, those are pretty loose sources. The first one reports on a vote by the Costa Rican legislature, the second one is of no value.

But lets say it is true, 7,000 marines and some support ships to help stem drug trade.

23,000 killed in Mexico in the last 2-3 years due to drug trade.

Drug dealers now building fully submersible submarines to move mass quantities of stuff.

It all starts to sound like it is an appropriate scale.

7,000 marines means maybe 2,000 men "on-duty" on the ground at any one time. You gotta eat, sleep, and have tome off you know. Of the total force something like less than 20% are "combatants." The rest are cooks, and clerks, and officers, and other non-essentials. So 7,000 men means a presence of maybe 400 to 600 troops actively on patrol at any given time.

The 46 ships sounds like a lot but we don't know the consist yet do we? A carrier group? Or are we talking a amphibious landing group where one large ship has 10 or 20 smaller assault craft?

I'm not saying that this is what it is, I'm saying that this is what I assume they are talking about. I don't imagine some massive invasion force.

[pana_burda]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJXPiK-mc2g

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pana_burda', '[')url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJXPiK-mc2g[/url]

[pana_burda]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOrSOFKrbY8


Ohhhh ..... and this about just one out of the 45 other war vessels.


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')ame: USS Makin Island
Namesake: Makin Island
Awarded: 19 April 2002[1]
Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding[1]
Laid down: 14 February 2004[1]
Sponsored by: Mrs. Silke Hagee, wife of Michael Hagee
Christened: 19 August 2006
Launched: 22 September 2006[1]
Acquired: 16 April 2009[2]
Commissioned: 24 October 2009[3]
Maiden voyage: 10 July 2009[3]
Homeport: San Diego, CA[3]
Motto: Gung Ho
Status: in active service, as of 2010[update]
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Wasp-class amphibious assault ship
Displacement: 41,335 tons full, 28,333 tons light, 12,821 tons dead[1]
Length: 847 feet (258 m) overall, 778 feet (237 m) waterline[1]
Beam: 110 feet (34 m) extreme, 106 feet (32 m) waterline[1]
Draft: 27 feet (8.2 m) navigational, 28 feet (8.5 m) limit[1]
Installed power: 2 × 35,000 hp gas turbines (GE - LM 2500+) 6 × 4,000 kW diesel generators (Fairbanks Morse Engines)
Propulsion: Two shafts 70,000 shaft horsepower (52 MW) 2 × 16.5 ft diameter controllable pitch propellers (Rolls Royce)
Speed: 20 kn (37 km/h)
Range: 9500+ nmi. (17,600 km) at 20 knots
Boats and landing
craft carried: 3 × LCAC or 39 EFVs
Complement: (typical) Embarked ships company: 102 officers, 78 CPO/SNCO, 1024 crew Embarked Marine detachment: 174 officers, 64 CPO/SNCO, 1449 crew[1]
Armament: 2 × Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, 2 × NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts, 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, 3 × 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns, 1 × ceremonial gun
Aircraft carried: (typical): Assault: 4[citation needed] × CH-46 helicopters, Sea Control: 6 × AV-8B attack planes, 6 × ASW helicopters

[pana_burda]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pana_burda', '[')url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJXPiK-mc2g[/url]

[pana_burda]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')uring the attack, the U.S. unleashed a force of 24,000 troops equipped with highly sophisticated weaponry and aircraft against a country with an army smaller than the New York City Police Department.

But the mainstream media failed to uncover the hidden reasons for this internationally condemned attack.

The Panama Deception provides analysis of U.S. relations with Panama and a devastating critique of the mainstream media and its complicity with the official government line.

[mcgowanjm]

Anyone interested in how much offshore oil
Costa Rica might have?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')According to Emily Yozell, a lawyer working for ADELA, Costa Rica's Ministry of the Environment has stated that it does not have the resources to monitor offshore oil developments. Furthermore, recent oil developments run in opposition to the "development model [the Ministry of the Environment's] office has been promoting within the communities associated with the protected areas," said Yozell.

The right to drill is still tied up in the courts, and much hinges on the outcome of the recent presidential election in Costa Rica that resulted in a run-off scheduled for April 7. As Harken Energy and other oil companies look for new oil reserves around Costa Rica to meet worldwide demand, concerned local citizens join with other world citizens to question what impact new drilling would have on the environment and local culture.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') U.S. Marine Base for Australia Irritates China


President Obama and Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia after a joint news conference in Canberra on Wednesday.

CANBERRA, Australia — President Obama announced Wednesday that the United States planned to deploy 2,500 Marines in Australia to shore up alliances in Asia, but the move prompted a sharp response from Beijing, which accused Mr. Obama of escalating military tensions in the region.

The agreement with Australia amounts to the first long-term expansion of the American military’s presence in the Pacific since the end of the Vietnam War. It comes despite budget cuts facing the Pentagon and an increasingly worried reaction from Chinese leaders, who have argued that the United States is seeking to encircle China militarily and economically.

“It may not be quite appropriate to intensify and expand military alliances and may not be in the interest of countries within this region,” Liu Weimin, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in response to the announcement by Mr. Obama and Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia.

...

The United States will not build new bases on the continent, but will use Australian facilities instead. Mr. Obama said that Marines would rotate through for joint training and exercises with Australians, and the American Air Force would have increased access to airfields in the nation’s Northern Territory.

“We’re going to be in a position to more effectively strengthen the security of both of our nations and this region,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/world/asia/obama-and-gillard-expand-us-australia-military-ties.html

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Indonesia warns of 'distrust' over US troop deal

Indonesia echoed Chinese concerns about a US military build-up in northern Australia Thursday, with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa warning it could create tension and mistrust.
http://news.yahoo.com/indonesia-warns-distrust-over-us-troop-deal-000530096.html

[Shaved Monkey]

Last time I looked we are part of Asia 3.5% of the population has Chinese ancestory. Nearly 10% of Australians speak Mandarin
Most Australian school kids learn Mandarin as a second language our largest trading partner is China.
The only reason our economy is booming is because of China.
We opened diplomatic ties with China in the early 70s our former PM(current foreign minister) speaks fluent Mandarin and was a former ambassador there,his daughter still lives there.
Obviously this is the US trying to maintain its empire and remain top dog while trying to slow down Chinas eventual rise to the number 1 power.
Silly move really by Australia if it had a choice, which I doubt it did.
We could have just played the impartial mediator, instead of choosing to side with the eventual loser and potentially dragging ourselves into another stupid conflict with the US and hosting that conflict at our front door.

[dorlomin]

US troops routinely deploy to Australia and the listening post at Pine Gap has been a long term, ongoing US intelligence deployment.

Oh yeah and the US navy has had a long term permenant pressence in Exmouth WA.

This is a minor reshuffling of the pack. A beefing up of the permenant pressence that has been ongoing since not long after the Pearl Harbour attacks. I mean for god sakes the Aussies were being conscripted to go to Vietnam.

Little new.

There has also been the very long running accusations of CIA involvment in the legalistic coup d'etat against Gough Whitlam, though most seem to suggest the CIA may only have approved rather than been the mover behind it.

[Shaved Monkey]

US has been meddling in Australian politics for decades.
They funded the DLP which bought about the split of the Labour Party resulting in 23 years of continuous conservative rule among other things.and then were instrumental in bringing down that government

http://www.american-buddha.com/cia.australia.htm

[Blacksmith]

One way to get out a recession (depression?), worked for FDR.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Blacksmith', 'O')ne way to get out a recession (depression?), worked for FDR.