WE MUST NOT AVERT OUR EYES – AT 10:25 A.M. ET:  You'll be seeing that warning more and more at Urgent Agenda.  As we enter the main months of our election campaign, let us not forget that enemies of this country will not be resting.   They will use the time to build their forces, and plan their next moves.  As Arthur Miller wrote, attention must be paid.  From the Washington Post:

Iran is rapidly gaining new capabilities to strike at U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf, amassing an arsenal of sophisticated anti-ship missiles while expanding its fleet of fast-attack boats and submarines, U.S. and Middle Eastern analysts say.

The new systems, many of them developed with foreign assistance, are giving Iran’s commanders new confidence that they could quickly damage or destroy U.S. ships if hostilities erupt, the officials say.

Although U.S. Navy officials are convinced that they would prevail in a fight, Iran’s advances have fueled concerns about U.S. vulnerabilities during the opening hours of a conflict in the gulf.

That is a critical point.  What if Iran opened the hostilities?  The aggressor has the advantage of surprise and maneuver in the first hours.  Many forget that there were more than 50 American warships in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  There were many American fighter aircraft on the ground at nearby bases.  Yet look at the damage the Japanese inflicted in the opening minutes.  The battleship Arizona was sunk in the first ten minutes of the attack.  Planes were destroyed on the ground.  

Increasingly accurate short-range missiles — combined with Iran’s use of “swarm” tactics involving hundreds of heavily armed patrol boats — could strain the defensive capabilities of even the most modern U.S. ships, current and former military analysts say.

Correct.  Most of our weapons systems were not designed for this kind of warfare.  Our Navy is primarily an ocean-going force. 

In recent weeks, as nuclear talks with world powers have faltered and tensions have risen, Iran has repeated threats to shut down shipping in the oil-rich gulf region. Its leaders also have warned of massive retaliation for any attacks on its nuclear facilities, which the United States believes are civilian covers for an Iranian drive to acquire a nuclear-weapons capability.

Last week, Iran’s Foreign Ministry declared that the presence of U.S. warships in the gulf constituted a “real threat” to the region’s security.

COMMENT:  This is very serious stuff.  Very knowledgeable people have written that the Iranian dream is to take out an American aircraft carrier, which would be a grievous, humiliating blow to the United States. 

Iran is a historically able nation, not to be underestimated.  We now know that Iranian warships have entered the Atlantic.  Yes, Iran has a small fleet, but massed vessels, including patrol boats, in a narrow body of water, can inflict enormous damage.

As Iran builds, we continue to "negotiate."  We have "negotiated" for years, with no result.  Either Iran will get its nuclear bomb, or there'll be some kind of confrontation.  I can't think of any third, realistic possibility.  But too many Americans are averting their eyes.

July 27, 2012