MANAMA, May 23--Nine US military ships entered the Persian Gulf Wednesday for a rare daylight assembly in what naval officials said was the largest such move since the 2003 Iraq war.

The US Navy said the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz aircraft carriers and their strike groups entered Persian Gulf waters to support troops in Iraq and conduct
training exercises.

US Navy officials said Iran had not been notified of plans to sail the vessels, which include two aircraft carriers, through the Straits of Hormuz.

The narrow channel off Iran's coast is a major artery for global oil shipments.

Most US ships pass through the straits at night so as not to attract attention, and rarely move in such large numbers.

But on May 25th. The Gulf of Hormuz incident happened.

The Gulf of Hormuz incident was an attack by naval and ground forces of Iran against a USS Destroyer which was escorting the battlegroup at midnight on Friday 25th. May 2007.

The outcome of the incident was the immediate attack on Iran by all US forces in the region and the granting to President Bush, by Congress, the authority to assist any Sunni Middle Eastern Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "Shia Islamic aggression".

The resolution also served as Bush’s legal justification for escalating American involvement in the region.

And you also see coalition forces concentrating thier heavy assets in the south of Iraq, so as not to get cut off when Bush's handlers attack Iran. Don't want important equipment getting stuck in the central part of Iraq. Solders, that is another story. They can, for the most part, be air lifted south when things get hairy in northern areas.

Coalition leaders sure like to telegraf thier intent. It is so clumsy, that Iranians must think it is posturing for an attack.