11:59:40 - Steve Den Beste

11:59:40 - Steve Den Beste of USS Clueless discusses the naval force that's been setting out for the Gulf in the past few days. There's a great explanation of the types of ships and what they do (not that I needed it, being from the great maritime state of North Dakota).

But here was his salient statement:

All these ships can reach the Gulf in less than two weeks. This is no joke; this is real. This is no bluff. This isn't just posturing. You don't deploy these kinds of forces in this kind of numbers unless you're really serious. And you do not send a force like this to a theater to sit on its ass for six months and only then go into combat. In the ideal case, they get sent at the last possible instant both because that maximizes readiness and because it minimizes the window of risk to the men and ships from enemy air, missile or submarine assault.

They're really going to start fighting, and soon.

Hindrocket of Powerline thinks the threat of these ships, and the Marines on them, will be enough to resolve the situation.

I don't.

I think Den Beste's right - we wouldn't go to the expense, disruption and immense trouble of sending this huge armada halfway around the world to "send a message". And although I hate to admit it, I think the "peace movement" has a point - this war is going to happen no matter what. I think the strategic benefits of deposing Hussein outweigh even the imperative of removing weapons of mass destruction.

The Marines will take two weeks to get to the scene. I bet this thing kicks off in February.

Posted by Mitch at January 18, 2003 09:40 AM