TWO WARS ON THE BOIL

While not one but maybe two wars seem in the making, the cable news channels have scarcely mentioned either, focusing instead on John Edwards career going down the tubes. And I find myself wondering if this is Bush’s big play to overturn the election and seize permanent power while the world is supposedly watching the Olympics. (But it also reads like the first ten minutes of a post-apocalyptic sci fi movie.)

"Massive US Naval Armada Heads For Iran
Operation Brimstone ended only one week ago. This was the joint US/UK/French naval war games in the Atlantic Ocean preparing for a naval blockade of Iran and the likely resulting war in the Persian Gulf area. The massive war games included a US Navy supercarrier battle group, an US Navy expeditionary carrier battle group, a Royal Navy carrier battle group, a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine plus a large number of US Navy cruisers, destroyers and frigates playing the "enemy force".
The build up of naval forces in the Gulf will be one of the largest multi-national naval armadas since the First and Second Gulf Wars. The intent is to create a US/EU naval blockade (which is an Act of War under international law) around Iran (with supporting air and land elements) to prevent the shipment of benzene and certain other refined oil products headed to Iranian ports. Iran has limited domestic oil refining capacity and imports 40% of its benzene. Cutting off benzene and other key products would cripple the Iranian economy. The neo-cons are counting on such a blockade launching a war with Iran."

And if that wasn’t bad enough we also find that…

"UPDATE 8 August 2008 ~ War has broken out between Georgia and South Ossetia. At least 10 Russian troops have been killed and 30 wounded and 2 Russian fighter jets downed. American Marines, a thousand of them, have recently been in Georgia training the Georgian military forces. Several European nations stopped Bush and others from allowing Georgia into NATO. Russia is moving a large military force with armor towards the area. This could get bad, and remember it is just a strategic diversion....but one that could have horrific effects. FURTHER UPDATE ~ Russian military forces in active combat; now total of four Russian fighter jets reported downed. ADDITIONAL UPDATE ~ Georgia calls for US help; Russian Air Force bombs Georgian air bases. DEBKA, the Israeli strategy and military site, states that Israeli military officers are advising the Georgian armed forces in combat operations and that 1,000 Israelis are in-combat on the side of Georgia at this time." (Click for the full story)

The secret words are Duck and Cover

The coded message is
57686963682077617920746f2043616e6164613f
(for decoding instructions, scroll back to Thursday)

Added Later -- With no word of the naval build-up in the Persian Gulf in The New York Times, I have to wonder if the first part of this post is fanciful disinformation. I keep an open mind , however.

Later Still -- This would be some kind of confirmation.