http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17086418/site/newsweek/

Long detailed article, RUMORS OF WAR, about the mounting tensions between
Iran and the US...and less publicized efforts toward diplomacy. It paints
a worrisome picture.

This is the article that drops the bombshell about a 3rd carrier strike
group that is "likely" planned for the Persian Gulf op theater.

If this is true, and it is from a usually reliable news source, then it
means, almost certainly, that someone at the top echelons of the Bush
administration is planning to do more than militarily posture, or simply,
as Gates said, "send a message" unless the "message" being contemplated is
an aerial assault.

Analysts are discounting the possibility, considered remote in most
quarters, that the Bush administration plans any kind of ground invasion.

It is a strong indication of war being seriously planned on some scale, or
as support for Israel, if they chose to strike. It seems probable that an
"incident" of some type, similar to perhaps the Gulf of Tonkin (1964),
might be the "rationalization" for a large-scale "counter" attack by the
US.

However, the possibility that Bush will simply pre-emptively strike Iran
is not far-fetched, but from what I've read so far, analysts are thinking
that he wants a pretext, so as to garner UN/allied support...IF the
"incident" is manufactured, and considered suspicious, it could be the
death blow for this embattled administration. It is more likely the Navy's
heavy presence in the Gulf, and Iran's increased counter-presence, is
intended to deliberately up the chance for a "bump" to occur, as Sen.
James Webb mentioned (former Navy Sec.).

Docrodile