Some people think that the U.S. and/or Israel will soon bomb Iran. They suggest we look to see which of the following “tell-tale” signs are evident:

1. – The U.S. Navy stages a “surge exercise” and moves six carrier battle groups into the Indian Ocean.

2. – A “regularly scheduled exercise” moves Patriot Missile Batteries to Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. These exercises happen from time to time, but if they happen when other things are happening…

3. — Movement of B-52 and B1B bombers to the island of Diego Garcia (in the Indian Ocean).

4. — Deployment of F117 stealth bombers and F-22 fighters to anywhere in the Persian Gulf.

5. — Deployment of B-2 Stealth Bombers to Guam, where there are special facilities for maintaining these aircraft.

6. — Lockdown of Whitman Air Force Base (where most B-2 bombers are stationed) in Missouri.

7. — Increased delivery of Pizza to Pentagon

8. –Sudden loss of cell service near some air force bases (from which heavy bombers would depart). At the same time, there would be sightings of Middle Eastern looking guys around these bases, trying to get their cell phones to work, while being observed by what appears to be FBI agents.

9. Deployment of KC-135/KC-10 aerial tankers to Diego Garcia, Guam and the Persian Gulf.

10. America asks nations neighboring Iran for basing and over flight rights.

We’ll add #11 to the list:

11. Independent Sources moves to new headquarters located deep in an abandoned mine shaft and plans to stay there for the next 70 or so years.

Of course these warning signs are no secret, and intelligence officers regularly run down their check lists. As a result, nations will sometimes stage a false alert by deliberately performing many of the items on someone’s check list, with no intention of following through.

California Yankee cites the comments of Marine General Peter Pace, Joint Chiefs chairman, in his argument against the likelihood of a near-term bombing.

Update: I forgot this one:

#12. “Human shields” arrive in Tehran in old, rundown VW busses greatly increasing the administration’s motivation to attack.

h/t: Luke

technorati: iran

This entry was posted on Friday, February 24th, 2006 at 10:20 pm by Insider and is filed under War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.