Josh Kilbourn: Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike

Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.

Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the world’s petroleum traded by sea.

A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf.

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Phi Beta Iota:  We consider it highly unlikely that Iran would attempt to block the Straits of Hormuz, not least because it would have a catastrophic effect on Iranian experts first.  If the US and UK were genuinely intent on stopping an Israeli attack on Iran, they would remove ALL of their forces and make it quite clear to Israel that nothing will be done if it gets into a war with Iran.  Since the election has not occurred yet, the military show of force at US taxpayer expense may be more about wooing the skeptical Jewish voters in the USA, with the attack already agreed upon for after the election and ideally after re-inauguration.  The Jewish vote is especially important in light of the clear and documented preparations by the Republican Party to steal the 2012 election while bribing the Democratic Party and its incumbent President into accepting the theft and being within the bounds of “reasonable dishonest.”  Lost in all this are intelligence and integrity as well as the voice of the citizens.  Manipulating the near term oil futures that are coming due for Wall Street, which placed bets on oil being higher than it is, are also a factor.