Given that the threat posed by Iran in the Persian Gulf has been known for years, one would think that the USA has made preparations to counter that threat, wouldn’t you? If you had made that assumption, you would be wrong, according to the link below. The link reports that the USA has deployed only a few Patriot Missile batteries to the Mideast to defend US installations, personnel and assets in the region.
The report states that the Iranians already have deployed “over a thousand” missiles which can be aimed at the US personnel and assets in the region. If war breaks out, the Iranian missiles will “overwhelm” US missile defenses because the USA has so few anti-missile assets located in that region. Even if every US Patriot missile successfully shot down an attacking missile, there would be so many more attacking Iranian missiles than defending US missiles that the vast majority of Iranian missiles would hit their targets.
One also needs to consider that the US Navy has anti-missile assets that are not mentioned in this link. The US Navy has Aegis-equipped warships stationed in the Persian Gulf which could also shoot down some of the Iranian missiles in any attack. However, those naval Aegis-directed missiles may all be used to protect the US Navy’s assets so none may be available to protect any US land-based assets.
It seems to me that US war strategists have assumed that any warfare in the Persian Gulf will begin with an American or American-led attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Any such attack could not be limited to Iran’s nuclear facilities, however. Because of Iran’s stated intention to shut down the Straits of Hormuz in any such war, the USA would have to use its warplanes to attack the ground-based Iranian missile launchers as part of any initial strike. That would prevent some of Iran’s missiles from being fired at American and allied targets. However, what if American war strategists have made a major blunder in assuming that Iran will not attack first? There are reports that Iran’s leaders may see a war as the best way to rally the Iranian people to support its current leaders. If this is the case, Iran’s leaders may want a war and the chances of an Iranian first strike may be higher than America’s war planners have thought.
In World War II, the USA never dreamed that Japan would strike first so the Americans were utterly unprepared for the Pearl Harbor attack. Our nation’s enemies have read the history books, and they realize that the best way to attack the USA is via an unexpected first strike. Ezekiel 38:10-12 prophesies that the nations of the latter-day house of Israel (the ten tribes of Israel) will not be expecting an attack when a great war befalls them as a result of an unexpected attack by Russia, China, Iran and their allies. It is my sense that a Persian Gulf war, if one occurs, will not develop into the prophesied, age-ending Gog-Magog war, but it could be a preliminary war which would drive Iran deeper into the embrace of its Russian and Chinese allies. However, since Ezekiel 38 warns the Gog-Magog alliance will eventually strike first against the USA and the West at the end of this age, Iran could decide to strike first in a Persian Gulf war as well. As long as the USA neglects its defenses against Iranian cruise missiles, the USA is giving the Iranians a good reason to strike first while they have a strong missile advantage. Deterrence is a good policy, but the current US leaders seem unable to grasp that fact.
http://www.defpro.com/news/details/16744/
