Bahrain (AP) — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East is pressing Arab allies to form a more united front against Iran, seen by Washington as the region’s long-term threat.
At military compounds and royal reception halls across the Persian Gulf, Adm. William Fallon is delivering personal appeals to Arab leaders to counter Iran’s ambitions to expand its regional influence and move ahead with its nuclear program.
Fallon has carefully avoided publicly discussing any war contingency plans or making any direct threats against Iran, which sits in his sphere of operations. As head of U.S. Central Command, he oversees forces in Central Asia, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
His current 10-day trip, which began Saturday in Bahrain, was more about seeking to quietly galvanize Gulf leaders while letting others sharply escalate pressure on Tehran. On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the world should prepare for war if Iran obtains nuclear weapons.
“We are not looking for a new NATO-type alliance against Iran,” Fallon told The Associated Press after talks with Bahrain’s defense minister, Sheik Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Khalifa.
But the U.S. wants that “when they (Iran) look to the Gulf, they see a group united in response to Iranian hegemonic behavior,” Fallon said.
That’s not such a simple task.
Many of the small Gulf nations, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, have deep cultural, historical or business ties to Iran and increasingly look to Iran as a crucial source for oil and gas as their own fields begin to dwindle in coming decades. They also worry about angering local Shiite communities with affinity to Shiite heavyweight Iran.
In May, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was allowed by authorities in Dubai — the economic dynamo of the Emirates — to lead a rare anti-American rally a day after a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney aimed at countering Tehran’s influence.
Still, strong forces pull Gulf states in Washington’s direction.
The Gulf’s main power, Saudi Arabia, worries about its regional rival Iran increasing its influence among Shiite Muslims, who form a majority in Iraq and have significant communities among the Sunni-dominated nations of the Gulf.
Washington also has forged close military alliances across the Gulf with about 40,000 U.S. troops on land bases — including Kuwait as a key staging ground for Iraq and an expanding presence in Bahrain as host of the U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters.
“These governments realize that they cannot make an enemy of Iran because they have to live with Iran right across the Gulf. On the other hand, they don’t want to harm their ties with the United States, which has many interests in the neighborhood,” said Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington. “It’s a very difficult spot.”
Fallon carries the message that the Gulf states are an important front-line deterrent to Iran, which controls the entire northern coastline of the Gulf and could threaten critical oil tanker routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Military officials with knowledge of Fallon’s meetings also suggested that pressure from Gulf nations could dissuade Iranian naval forces from challenging U.S. and allies watching over Iraqi oil platforms and shipping lanes into Kuwait and Iraq. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
They said small vessels of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard — operating independently from the regular Iranian navy — have apparently been increasing patrols just inside Iran’s maritime borders near Iraq’s tiny Gulf coast. This is the area where 15 British soldiers and marines were seized in March and held for 13 days by Iran, which claimed the Britons strayed into its waters.
The United States and other nations, led by Britain and Australia, currently have more than two dozen ships in the Gulf region, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and two amphibious ships with their strike groups.
The Enterprise arrived last month shortly after the departure of two carriers, USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz, which had been in the Gulf since February in a show of force against Iran.
Fallon’s predecessor, retired Gen. John Abizaid, said in Washington on Monday that U.S. forces have the power to “deter Iran should it become nuclear.”
“We want to send Iran a message that there are no cracks between the U.S. and its allies here,” Fallon said.
His views have the ear of some of the top members of the Gulf’s royal families.
In Bahrain, Fallon expressed support for a possible $300 million upgrade for the nation’s F-16 fleet and met with Crown Prince Sheik Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, who also serves as commander in chief of the nation’s military forces.
Fallon was in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday. Later in the day, he headed to Oman, and his tour will also take him to Qatar, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.
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So much for any hopes that Fallon opposes a war against Iran; looks like he jumped ship after all – VS
How much do you know about Fallon, other than his erstwhile seemingly-heroic stance against military action against Iran? I’m pretty ignorant of his history, and I don’t know how much of a neocon crony he’s been in the past.
I’m just wondering whether you think he really “jumped ship,” or if he may have decided to stay on this ship for a while to try to have influence (all the while learning absolutely nothing from the fate of Colin Powell).
I think we can assume that in any case, if Fallon did not come out and start toeing the line on Iran, he would be going the way of Lawrence Lindsey or General Shinseki, never to be heard from again, except perhaps on various blogs.
So–you got any schooling for me on any of this?
A couple of Fallon posts on a right wing Navy blog to the effect that Gareth Porter (who is the source of the Fallon as resister narrative) didn’t know what he was talking about:
http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com/2007/09/fallon-chimes-in.html
http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com/2007/09/nice-job-chap.html
I confess I think Porter is way more credible than the swabbies let on (and said so in one of the comments threads there) but FWIW.
I don’t think any 4 star is going to do much but salute when word comes down from on high. Jeff Huber over at Pen and Sword (who is a retired Navy Commander, a fly-boy) is scathing about this point.
John:
Thanks for that.
Just so you know, when you posted the links the tail got cut off, but I did find the posts you were referring to.
I liked the part where the right wing Navy blogger pointed out that pieces like the MoveOn.org anti-Petraeus ad are NOT sedition because Congress did not declare war on Iraq.
I like being reminded again and again–from all sides–that we are in a perpetual war-crime state, with our leaders consistently and flagrantly (and many times proudly) ignoring the law of the land set forth by the Constitution. Hey–I can be anti-war and pro-America all at once!
-I can be anti-war and pro-America all at once!
Of COURSE you can! In fact, I woud submit that the latter mandates the former!
Are you familiar with Arundhati Roy’s quotes on this issue?
“What does the term “anti-American” mean? Does it mean you are anti-jazz? Or that you’re opposed to freedom of speech? That you don’t delight in Toni Morrison or John Updike? That you have a quarrel with giant sequoias? Does it mean that you don’t admire the hundreds of thousands of American citizens who marched against nuclear weapons, or the thousands of war resisters who forced their government to withdraw from Vietnam? Does it mean that you hate all Americans?”
To call someone ‘anti-American’, indeed, to be anti-American, (or for that matter anti-Indian, or anti-Timbuktuan) is not just racist, it’s a failure of the imagination. An inability to see the world in terms other than those that the establishment has set out for you: If you’re not a Bushie you’re a Taliban. If you don’t love us, you hate us. If you’re not Good you’re Evil. If you’re not with us, you’re with the terrorists
How about this one:
The battle…has to begin here. In America. The only institution more powerful than the U.S. government is American civil society. The rest of us are subjects of slave nations. We are by no means powerless, but you have the power of proximity. You have access to the Imperial Palace and the Emperor’s chambers. Empire’s conquests are being carried out in your name
Tom,
Sorry about that. I pasted in the whole address but the system won’t take that. Cuts it off. Other places leave the whole thing but hidden. (If you start to copy the line, the whole address gets copied even though you can’t see it). I’m a techno-peasant and don’t know how to make a hyper link.