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Due Diligence
Neither Congress, nor Senate, nor media, nor editorial writers nor voters performed Due Diligence and as a result we have lost more than 3,000 service men and women and face certain defeat in Iraq. Yet now these same institutions that have the responsibility to thoroughly examine proposed military actions before they are allowed to just happen have again refused to do Due Diligence with respect to the deployment of more than 20,000 sailors and marines to the Persian Gulf.

The Iranians have Russian-made SS-N-22 Sunburn and more advanced SS-NX-26 Yakhonts anti-ship missiles which were designed to sink American aircraft carriers. Both the Sunburn and the Yakhonts are unstoppable killing machines. The Sunburn has a range of 90 miles and travels at Mach 2.5 nine feet above sea level. The Yakhonts has a range of 180 miles. The Sunburn and the Yakhonts both have air launched versions which can threaten U.S. naval forces in the Gulf of Oman and as far away as the American Navy base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The Iranians also have 300 NATO made Exocets. An Exocet destroyed the HMS Sheffield during the Falkland Islands war. The Iranians also have submarines and commercial freighters capable of firing Exocets. Additionally, they have Chinese Silkworm anti-ship missiles. What this means is that within minutes of any attack on Iran by either Israel or the United States we will lose 20,000 plus sailors and marines. Those who do not die immediately could be captured by the Iranians. Are we prepared to bargain with Iran for the release of a thousand or more sailors and marines?

The question none in the Senate and the Congress have dared to ask is, “Just what is their mission?” Are they to serve as another Pearl Harbor type incident to launch World War III? Hillary Mann, the former National Security Council Director for Iranian and Persian Gulf Affairs, has said the Bush administration policy is to provoke Iran into a response and to use that as an a pretext to conduct a limited air war against Iran.

Our 20,000 plus sailors and marines in the Gulf have no known military function. I repeat: They have no known military function which does not include their dying. They cannot attack Iran without being sacrificed. The press and the Congress should be asking if the President has sent them on a suicide mission. The administrations should be hounded until they tell us why so many our sailors are being deployed in the Gulf where they can all be killed in minutes. What is the reasoning behind this madness? If it is to provoke an air war as Hillary Mann has said , can the Bush administration guarantee that the Iranians will limit their response to just sitting there and taking a pounding as the Lebanese did last summer?

Can they guarantee that the 300 plus planes in the Iranian Air Force which face certain destruction will not be used in suicide missions? Can they guarantee that their F-14 Tomcats armed with advanced Yakhonts anti-ship missiles will not sink our aircraft carrier battle groups well outside the Gulf? Can they guarantee that 200 or more Iranian planes will not be used against American ground forces in Iraq? Can they guarantee that the 40,000 armed and trained suicide mission volunteers Iran already has recruited will not be used against American troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan? Can they guarantee that the cut off of supplies when the Persian Gulf shuts down will not seriously endanger our troops in Iraq? Can they guarantee that the Iranians will not cut the two roads from Kuwait into Iraq so our troops on the ground run out of munitions to defend themselves?

Can they guarantee that Iran has not deployed any of their 40,000 suicide mission volunteers in America? Can they guarantee the safety of metropolitan Houston which has two dozen major refineries and chemical plants that all can be destoryed in minutes by dedicated and trained suicide bombers? Can they give the same guarantee for all other American cities?

Can the Bush administration guarantee that the shutting down of the Persian Gulf will not send the price of oil beyond $300 a barrel and gasoline to $10.00 a gallon? Can they guarantee that the dollar will not collapse? If the dollar does collapse, can they guarantee that inflation doe not cut the value of pensions and savings by 40 or 50%? Can they guarantee that millions of Americans will not lose their jobs when gasoline hits $10.00 a gallon? Can they can guarantee that millions of Americans will not lose their homes in foreclosure?

Where is the Loyal Opposition? Where are the Republican Senators and Congressman who in the past have told us to support our troops? Where are the editorial writers who were negligent in examing the pre-Iraq war intelligence? Where are the voters, the informed electorate?

We must demand that the Senate and the House hold hearings on the deployment of so many men and women into harms way. They must perform Due Diligence before anyone dies — not afterwards as was the case in the Iraq disaster.

Daniel Fey
http://VowOfHappiness.Blogspot.com
The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie