World Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran (karma: 2)
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By TexanForever  Comments: 19255, member since Thu Jun 10, 2004On Mon Jan 23, 2012 08:54 PM
... As if two carrier groups is not enough, a new Spec Ops team is in the area. Look for "strange" things to start happening. 
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Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran
By Spencer Ackerman Email Author January 19, 2012 | 1:34 pm | Categories: Shadow Wars
Photo: U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ashley Myers
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are at a high point, as the Islamic Republic threatens to close off a vital waterway and two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups sit in the seas off the Iranian coast. But across the Persian Gulf, the U.S. has a previously unacknowledged weapon in reserve: a new special operations team.
Danger Room has confirmed with the U.S. Special Operations Command that a new elite commando team is operating in the region. The primary, day-to-day mission of the team, known as Joint Special Operations Task Force-Gulf Cooperation Council, is to mentor military units belonging to the U.S.’ oil-rich Arab allies, who collectively are known as the Gulf Cooperation Council. Those Arab states consider Iran to be their primary foreign threat.
The task force provides “highly trained personnel that excel in uncertain environments,” Maj. Rob Bockholt, a spokesman for special-operations forces in the Mideast, tells Danger Room, and “seeks to confront irregular threats.” The U.S. military has not previously acknowledged the existence of the team, known as JSOTF-GCC for short.
The unit began its existence in mid-2009 — around the time that the Iranian leadership rejected President Obama’s offer of a new diplomatic dialogue and underwent a serious internal challenge to its legitimacy from Green Movement protesters. But whatever the task force does about Iran — or might do in the future — is a sensitive subject with the military.
“It would be inappropriate to discuss operational plans regarding any particular nation,” Bockholt says about Iran.
There is no direct evidence that JSOTF-GCC has been involved in offensive action against Iran. It is unlikely, for instance, that JSOTF-GCC killed Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan last week, an assassination the U.S. has firmly denied any role in and for which the Israelis, reports Eli Lake of Newsweek, are all but openly taking credit.
Some special-operations veterans — who did not wish to be identified or quoted — downplayed the significance of the new task force, expecting it to primarily advise Gulf nations on how to train their own forces, and speculated that its actual role against Iran was indirect at most. Col. Tim Nye, the chief spokesman for the U.S. Special Operations Command, says the task force is responsible “for coordinating all SOF [Special Operations Forces] engagements and training with Gulf Cooperation Council nations.”
The special operations forces of those nations have shown a notable improvement over the past year. Qatari commandos quietly traveled to Libya ahead of Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall to prepare Libyan rebels for the successful capture of Tripoli. The United Arab Emirates, another close U.S. ally, has also made its elite forces a priority, even hiring Blackwater’s founder to bolster their training.
Not many details are available about the task force. It’s built around Naval Special Warfare Unit Three, one of the elite Navy SEAL teams. But the “Joint” in the task force’s name signals that it draws from the special-operations forces in the Army, Air Force and Marines as well. Its commander is a Navy captain or equivalent in a different service.
Officials would not identify missions of the task force, its leadership or its headquarters, citing the safety of the personnel involved and the success of those missions.
Even if JSOTF-GCC is primarily a training team, it represents another military option for the U.S. in the region during at a time of escalating rhetoric with Iran. The Iranians are threatening to close off the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane through which a fifth of the world’s oil travels, as two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups float nearby. And when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the U.S. could reopen the waterway by force, there might be an elite commando team nearby to help do it.
www.wired.com . . .
. 9 Replies to Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran |
 re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran en>fr fr>en
By lookanlearn Comments: 5372, member since Sun Jun 10, 2007On Mon Jan 23, 2012 08:59 PM
Gotta hope the managers back in the Pantagon have their shit in order.
January 22, 2012
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: Diapered U.S. soldiers There have been startling reports in the different blogs and websites and media release circulating around gdiaper scarcityh or gthe US-NATO troops in diapersh over the past couple of weeks.
Few days ago, I came upon an amusingly newsworthy report under the title gdiapered soldierh or so that Ifd kind of like to share with you.
According to the newspaper reports, the US authorities have quietly and unofficially requested the Pakistani authorities for the immediate provision of the tissue paper and pampers in the recent times....
theunjustmedia.com
Dodgy web site. |
 re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran en>fr fr>en
By LTKilling Comments: 7468, member since Sun Aug 14, 2005On Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:08 PM
THEY STAND NO CHANCE against the warriors of Iran |
 re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran (karma: 1)
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By I_brake_4_camels Comments: 13610, member since Thu Feb 13, 2003On Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:03 AM
LTKilling wrote:
THEY STAND NO CHANCE against the warriors of Iran
{sigh} We've heard this before. "Mother of all battles.." blah blah. |
re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran en>fr fr>en
By lookanlearn Comments: 5372, member since Sun Jun 10, 2007On Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:07 AM
It is true; USA does only attack smaller weaker countries.
Well done. |
 re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran (karma: 1)
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By Fearless_Leader Comments: 20221, member since Thu Dec 09, 2004On Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:19 AM
LTKilling wrote:
THEY STAND NO CHANCE against the warriors of Iran
your sphincter stands no chance against the warriors of iran. however, if necessary our military is more than up to the task of dealing with some persian homos who couldn't even conquer iraq in 8 years for fuck's sake, a task we accomplished in about 3 weeks |
 re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran (karma: 2)
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By Nappybonesapart Comments: 15644, member since Fri Aug 27, 2004On Tue Jan 24, 2012 04:42 AM
It is true; USA does only attack smaller weaker countries.- be really hard for them to attack a more powerful country |
re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran (karma: 1)
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By Nappybonesapart Comments: 15644, member since Fri Aug 27, 2004On Tue Jan 24, 2012 04:47 AM
thx for explaining Baltic's absence |
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 re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran (karma: 1)
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By Richard1 Comments: 1195, member since Sat Sep 05, 2009On Tue Jan 24, 2012 04:55 AM
Nappybonesapart wrote:
thx for explaining Baltic's absence
Baltic is currently serving with 666th heavy quilting regiment.
"The screaming needles". |
re: Exclusive: New U.S. Commando Team Operating Near Iran (karma: 1)
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By Nappybonesapart Comments: 15644, member since Fri Aug 27, 2004On Tue Jan 24, 2012 05:06 AM
they are natural born quilters |
