US beefs up Military Bases on Iranian Border

Recent reports document a decision to set up new U.S. military bases, made during Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Kabul last December. The United States has put up nine new bases in Afghan provinces to Iran's east to coordinate with bases in Iraq, to Iran's west.

Will the Black Hawks fly over Iranian skies sometime this autumn?

Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted the Pentagon's decree but in reality he had no other choice: U.S. intelligence is of the view that he will not be able to hold on to his seat beyond June 2005, unless the U.S. Army can speed up training of a large number of Afghan army recruits and protect Kabul.

According to observers, the base expansion is part of a U.S. global military plan calling for small but flexible bases that make it easy to ferry supplies and can be used in due time as a springboard to assert a presence far beyond Afghanistan.

Meanwhile Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed to defend the country's nuclear energy program, warning the United States of great defeat if it decided to attack the Islamic republic. "Brave Iranians, disregarding the yells of the White House and arrogant media, will not hesitate for a moment in pursuing their objectives in various fields including nuclear energy," said a statement from the Revolutionary Guards. "With alertness and iron-like will, (Iran) will inflict serious and repeated defeats on the Great Satan's camp," the statement added.

The Natanz nuclear facility in Iran where uranium is being enriched surreptitiously – will Natanz, Bushehr and other Iranian Nuclear facilities be targeted by the US or Israelis is the only question

The United States claims that Iran is covertly developing an atomic weapons program, and it didn't rule out using military force against Tehran. The Islamic republic denies the U.S. allegations and insists that it nuclear plans are strictly for the peaceful generation of electricity in spite of having one of the largest oil reserves. The catch here is that you cannot make atom bombs with oil, but you can with enriched uranium!.

In another statement to coincide with Friday's Islamic Republic Day, which marks the 1979 referendum that established the Islamic republic, the Revolutionary Guards also vowed that they will "not disperse in the face of threats from the world's arrogance (the United States)."