US bases encircle Iran
Dozens of US and allied forces' military installations dot the region, from Oman, UAE and Kuwait to Turkey and Israel.

Doha, Qatar - US military bases continue to form a strategic envelope around Iran, although the American withdrawal from Iraq at the end of 2011 may have changed the regional balance somewhat towards Iran's favour. While US forces are scaling back in many parts of the globe due to budget cuts - and have begun a gradual depature from Afghanistan to be completed by 2014 - their international presence remains vast.

From an active-duty force of 1.4 million soldiers, the US has deployed some 350,000 troops to at least 130 foreign countries around the world. Some are at Cold War-era installations, but many are in or near combat zones in the Middle East. At more than 750 bases internationally, private contractors and third-country nationals also form a large percentage of the staff, in addition to military reservists and civilian employees of the Pentagon.

US military installations in the Middle East serve to keep an eye on Iran, but their regional footprint was significantly expanded well before Iran became the most publicly cited foreign "threat".

There were three reasons why the US sought a presence across the Middle East, says Mehran Kamrava, Director of the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Qatar:

"Securing oil resources, guaranteeing the security of the state of Israel and combating threats to American interests" were the initial priorities of US military activity in the region prior to the first Gulf War, Kamrava says.

"Subsequently, direct military presence wasn't in the form of impositions, but the [security umbrella] was a conscious policy decision on the part of the Persian Gulf states."


See second map and full story.

This Could Be Part Of The Reason Iran Is So Darn Defensive...
This map from Democratic Underground puts a star on every U.S. military base in the region, and aside from the Caspian area to the North, American forces pretty much have Tehran surrounded

You conveniently left out Russia and China.

Neither can afford for America to control all of the oil in the middle east.

Game on!

You people are tyrants.

What has Iran done to deserve to be destroyed? Seriously?

Israel is the aggressor. Iran has done nothing to us or Israel.

chris999  Wrote:

You people are tyrants.

What has Iran done to deserve to be destroyed? Seriously?

Israel is the aggressor. Iran has done nothing to us or Israel.

I have nothing bad to say about the Iranian people. The leadership are crazy caliphate hungry lunatics that want to bring back the 12th imam. You don't have a problem with that?

Well it's lucky for us some "terrorists" with box cutters pulled off 9/11, otherwise we wouldn't have our latest enemy surrounded.

SexualChocolate  Wrote:

chris999  Wrote:

You people are tyrants.

What has Iran done to deserve to be destroyed? Seriously?

Israel is the aggressor. Iran has done nothing to us or Israel.

I have nothing bad to say about the Iranian people. The leadership are crazy caliphate hungry lunatics that want to bring back the 12th imam. You don't have a problem with that?

Well our country has been threatening Iran for 30 years. Do you expect them to roll over and beg us to at least lube them up first?

They dont want war... but they are willing to defend their country. The most powerful military in the world is threatening their home, and they will do anything they can to defend it.

They wouldnt be talking about a 12th Iman if the Neocons and Isreal were not acting all apocalyptic themselves.

chris999  Wrote:

SexualChocolate  Wrote:

I have nothing bad to say about the Iranian people. The leadership are crazy caliphate hungry lunatics that want to bring back the 12th imam. You don't have a problem with that?

Well our country has been threatening Iran for 30 years. Do you expect them to roll over and beg us to at least lube them up first?

They dont want war... but they are willing to defend their country. The most powerful military in the world is threatening their home, and they will do anything they can to defend it.

They wouldnt be talking about a 12th Iman if the Neocons and Isreal were not acting all apocalyptic themselves.

then you have no idea what the 12'ers in Iran are. They were seen as so dangerous that the first Ayatollah banned them. Then the second mullahs came in and now they are led by these fringe 12'ers that want the Prophet to return. Christians would call this the anti-Christ. They celebrate death and believe they can bring about the coming. That is some serious scary shit, anyone that would say they are harmless innocent people (the leadership not the regular Iranian citizen) are deluded, in denial or both and should prepare to live on their knees under Sharia and plan on converting to Islam now.