(Commentary) J. E. Dyer - Iran has been working hard over the last six months to undermine America's ability to conduct military strikes on the Iranian nuclear program by denying us our use of regional military bases for the attack. Of the bases we use in the Persian Gulf region, the most significant to an attack campaign are in Bahrain and Qatar, which host, respectively, our fleet headquarters and a very large facility at Al-Udeid Air Base. For security operations in the Strait of Hormuz, we also rely on airfields and ports in Oman. These are the nations Iran has been concentrating on. In Bahrain, where a majority of the Arab population is Shia, the foreign minister announced in August that Bahrain would not allow its territory to be used as a base for offensive operations. Last week, Qatar hosted a visit by three Iranian warships and a military delegation. In August, Oman signed a defense-cooperation agreement with Iran and is now more likely to deny the use of its airfields and port refueling facilities to American forces. The writer is a retired U.S. Naval intelligence officer.
2010-12-29 08:37:57Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive