Averny writes:
THE INEVITABLE reaction to the bombing of Iran will be the blocking of this Strait. That should have been self-evident even without the explicit declaration by one of Iran's highest ranking generals a few days ago.
Iran dominates the whole length of the Strait. They can seal it hermetically with their missiles and artillery, both land based and naval.
[...]
That's right.
Were I an Iranian strategist, my battle plan would start with a Strait-blanketing launch of my Russian made, P-270 Moskits (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-N-22_Sunburn>). Traveling at Mach 2.2 at low altitude and Mach 3 at high, these anti-ship missiles can wreak havoc on US naval forces. Counter-measures would (maybe) stop some but not before the US suffered the kinds of losses at sea last experienced during the Pacific War.
Remember how well the Russian built Metis-M's did against Isreali tanks during the most recent Lebanon invasion? Fired from up to a mile away, Hezbollah destroyed Merkavas almost with impunity.
Think of that, but at sea.
I'm sure USN planners know this and have informed the White House. Hopefully, they're breaking with the past and listening.
.d.