Sticks and warships will break my will?
Well, Kenneth Timmerman seems to think that the stick for the Iranians was the USS Nimitz “steaming” towards the Persian Gulf.
“Steaming” is a bit of an anachronism, but you get the idea. Timmerman’s sources for inside info about the workings of the Iranian government are unnamed, and I have no idea whether they are trustworthy or not. So, make of it what you will. But the scenario sketched is a plausible one.
[ADDENDUM: Charles Krauthammer excoriates the useless EU and Security Council. He points out that these institutions have made it more difficult, not less, to get together to solve such matters, by appearing useful (and necessary) when they are actually worse than useless. So, once again, it’s up to the US—and don’t expect a lot of thanks for it.]
Nit-picking a little… although nuclear powered, Nimitz’s reactors still produce steam to run the ship’s propulsion systems. So, “steaming” is still accurate and is, in fact, the term of art for ships underway.
To support your last point, a German poll taken this week found that 63% do not support the deployment of 6 recon aircraft to Afghanistan. Furthermore, the social democrats are trying to improve their polling numbers by accusing the US escalating a weapons race by planning to put anti-missle systems in Poland. See Davids Medienkritik for the latest.
After 9/11 I felt America would be alone, but now I feel disgust at the finger-pointing head-in-the-sanders.
I’ll second Oceanguy on the “steaming” part.
It’s actually interesting that a water/steam system is the most efficient way to transfer heat from a heat source (nuclear reactor, coal fire, or whatever) to a turbine (whether the turbine is driving an electric generator or a ship’s propeller).
No matter how high-tech the reactor end of things gets, as long as they’re trying to turn a prop I suspect steam will be used.
Then there was the little matter of coalition aircraft overflying Abadan refinery ( remarked upon in the Iranian press ) … Was it a mock bombing raid?
It certainly focused local minds upon their air defenselessness.
This particular refinery produces the bulk of Iran’s domestic output of gasoline. The loss of this would likely trigger the end of the mullahs.
Actually a Nuclear Powered ship uses the reactor to generate steam, which drives the ship.
So it is steaming to the gulf. (We have come full circle)
Oops, point already made.
One point that hasn’t been made though, is that the British press has picked up and is running with the news that Iran is also supplying weapons and explosives to the insurgents in Iraq. (Maybe the US press will start cover the story too).
This ought to, but probably won’t, make fools of the folks, mostly dems, who insist on subordinating our foreign policy and national security to supra-national organizations.
Was going to comment about the reactor making steam, but I see that Oceanguy and others have covered that pretty well. I agree with Richard, that this should make fools of the UN loving etc crowd but as usual, they will just shrug it off or more than likely try to make their ineffectiveness a “it’s the fault of Bush”.
Well you see Neo, nuclear reactors aboard ship heat water and converts into steam and…um, um,
Oh, I see its been covered already…
Nevermind.
[ADDENDUM: Charles Krauthammer excoriates the useless EU and Security Council. He points out that these institutions have made it more difficult, not less, to get together to solve such matters, by appearing useful (and necessary) when they are actually worse than useless. So, once again, it’s up to the US–and don’t expect a lot of thanks for it.]
Don’t expect anybody to pay a tax or a toll tribute to help maintain our gigantic Navy either.
Free ride people, ride it all the way to hell.
It’s actually interesting that a water/steam system is the most efficient way to transfer heat from a heat source (nuclear reactor, coal fire, or whatever) to a turbine (whether the turbine is driving an electric generator or a ship’s propeller).
It is not so much the most efficient way, as the only productive way to transfer heat to mechanical energy, through the use of hot air to move turbine blades.
The most efficient way would be almost theoretical, but technically it would be a Carnot Engine.
There are other gases you could heat up, say combustion engines with Wankel rotars or just piston chambers. But that explosion is incredibly fast, it burns very fast. Nuclear energy has almost limitless heat, so it goes back to the old technology simply because humans have no way currently to transfer direct radioactive energy or heat energy to mechanical energy or even electrical energy. We have to do two transfers. Heat to mechanical, and mechanical to electrical.
A lot of inefficiency going on there, a lot of wasted energy.
Sometimes I really hope that G W Bush would prefer to go down in history as a warmonger and “worst president ever” than take any chance on Iran deploying nuclear weapons, whether upon missiles or to bandits such as AQ. I too work in problem prevention, and as in foreign policy, the greatest successes are invisible, and only the mistakes make the news and history books.
This is the problem folks. The neocons supported blood for oil in Iraq, and now they want us to go into Iran just at the time the housing market is tanking. When gas goes to 7 dollars a gallon Bush will be overseeing the greatest economic meltdown in the history of the world. Push on neocons.
BTW, the neocons want Iranian oil traded in American dollars, as that is the real goal. You don’t see them getting bent out of shape about North Korea and their REAL nukes. Wake up neocon lovers. They are unamerican and greedy.
Thank the nazi alarm clock(Gary) for “waking us up”.