Spain withdraws frigate 'Mendez Nunez' from the US combat group in the Persian Gulf

[Ghost Dog]

Last edited Tue May 14, 2019, 08:19 PM - Edit history (6)

Source: El Pais

Spain does not want to be involuntarily dragged into a conflict with Iran. The acting Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has ordered the temporary withdrawal of the Spanish frigate Méndez Núñez (F-104), with 215 sailors on board, from the combat group headed by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the face of the escalation of tension between Washington and Tehran. The fleet has already crossed the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, which links the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean, and is heading for the Strait of Hormuz to enter the Persian Gulf, but it will traverse the strait without the Spanish vessel... (my translation)



Read more: https://elpais.com/internacional/2019/05/13/actualidad/1557772789_530388.html

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The acting Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, has justified this Tuesday in Brussels the withdrawal of the 'Méndez Núñez', which was scheduled to accompany the US aircraft carrier 'Abraham Lincoln', because the United States has changed the original mission. According to the minister, Spain had agreed two years ago with the United States the presence of the frigate in this mission, as a practical exercise and to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation].

"The mission to which the 'Abraham Lincoln' is destined was not planned at the time, we respect that decision and when we return to what was planned with the Spanish Navy we will continue with normality," said Robles... (my translation)

https://elpais.com/politica/2019/05/14/actualidad/1557832786_301418.html

Edit, for those curious and perhaps educationally-challenged, as regards the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation please see here, for a start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Magellan%E2%80%93Elcano_circumnavigation

... And, since this site screws up text and html containing international ASCII, the link to the ship is here, ffs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_frigate_M%C3%A9ndez_N%C3%BA%C3%B1ez

[saidsimplesimon]

1. Chicken Hawks preparing for

fireworks to start before rump's grandiose plans for a 4th of July party? Chicken Hawk Bone spurs and his equal in draft dodging fame Bonkers Bolton. The answer to Barbara Streisand's "Send in the clowns.".

[dchill]

5. "Send in the clowns."

Don't bother, they're here.

[lunatica]

2. It takes uterine fortitude to refuse to escalate tensions.

[patphil]

3. The latest Gulf War is planned to distract from Mueller's House testimony

Expect a "Gulf of Tonkin" type incident to get the ball rolling and generate a groundswell of patriotic murder and mayhem in Iran.
It's an old, but reliable, way to rally the people to the flag.

Patrick Phillips

[Pepsidog]

6. Exactly

[Five Ten Nineteen]

4. Coming Soon from the Dept. of Propaganda: Freedom Flu, Freedom Fly, Freedom Rice

And of course, a Freedom Inquisition!

France was right in 2003, and Spain is right today!

[Ghost Dog]

10. Perhaps I should point out that this Spanish frigate is a very capable warship.

Last edited Tue May 14, 2019, 07:50 PM - Edit history (2)

The Álvaro de Bazán class (also known as the F100 class of frigates) are a new class of Aegis combat system-equipped air defence frigates entering service with the Spanish Navy. They are being built in the Spanish factory of Navantia in Ferrol and are named after Admiral Álvaro de Bazán. In February 2018, it was announced that a design based on the class was selected as one of five finalists for the U.S. Navy's FFG(X) program.

The ships are fitted with American Aegis weapons technology allowing them to track hundreds of airborne targets simultaneously as part of its air defence network. The F100 Álvaro de Bazán-class multi-role frigate is one of the few non-US warships to carry the Aegis Combat System and its associated AN/SPY-1 radar. Japan's Kongō class, South Korea's Sejong the Great class, the F100-derived Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen class of frigates also use the Aegis system. Lockheed Martin, Navantia and the U.S. Navy are conducting final systems integration.

The F105 will be the basis of the Australian Hobart-class destroyer (previously known as the "Air Warfare Destroyer&quot . The Australian government announced in June 2007 that, in partnership with Navantia, three F100 vessels will be built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) with the first due for delivery in 2014 ,however this was delayed until 2017 when lead ship HMAS Hobart was commisioned. She was joined in late 2018 by sister ship, HMAS Brisbane. This will be followed by HMAS Sydney in late 2019. The Australian Government also confirmed in April 2016 that a modified F100 class was one of three vessels shortlisted to replace the Anzac-class frigates currently in service with the RAN.[4] As of December 2017, it is one of three submitted proposals for Canada's Single Class Surface Combatant Project program.[5]In both cases the Type 26 frigate won the competition.

The Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates are the first modern vessels of the Spanish Navy to incorporate ballistic resistant steel in the hull, along with the power plants being mounted on anti-vibration mounts to reduce noise and make them less detectable by submarines. The original contract for four ships was worth €1,683m but they ended up costing €1,810m.[1] As of 2010 it was estimated that the final vessel, F-105 would cost €834m[1] (~US$1.1bn)...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_de_Baz%C3%A1n-class_frigate

[mountain grammy]

7. K & R

[rickyhall]

8. Repugs usual distraction is to kill thousands of people for good reason.

So what's new? Nothing, just the same old shit

[NCjack]

9. Political sponsors of Bolton are weary of waiting. They want action for the money they

gave him to get a hot war going with Iran. Looks like he is making the payoff.

[EX500rider]

11. Great allies who hit the bricks if trouble looks possible nt

[Scurrilous]

12. K&R

[Ghost Dog]

13. .

[Aristus]

14. The Spanish sailors said:

"Frig it! We're out of here!"

[Ghost Dog]

15. Yes. (After consulting with head office). Also:

... The Iranian ambassador to the UK has warned Europe it has 60 days to ease Iranian oil sales or else see the end of the nuclear deal as tensions rise with the US.

Hamid Baeidinejad claimed it was obvious for all to see that the US national security adviser, John Bolton, was bent on a military confrontation with Iran, and the only question was whether Washington would be caught in his trap.

Speaking five days after Iran announced steps to withdraw from the nuclear deal negotiated in 2015, which the US earlier pulled out of, the ambassador also insisted that Iran was not involved in the sabotage of two Saudi oil tankers in the Oman Gulf at the weekend.

“We do not know who attacked the tankers. It’s very serious for us. For hours after the incident, the United Arab Emirates declined to give any comment and then, all of a sudden, in a concerted effort, statement after statement was made that Iran or its so-called proxies were likely to be engaged. This is very dangerous and suspicious,” he said...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/14/oil-sales-nuclear-deal-iran

[scarletwoman]

16. ...the ambassador also insisted that Iran was not involved in the sabotage of two Saudi oil tankers

I do believe this. It's totally absurd that they would create so blatant an excuse for retaliation.

I hate to use the phrase "false flag" - since the right wingnuts have made such a hash of it - but I am far more inclined to believe that the Saudis themselves, or some other willing partner in getting this war on, did the damage in order to set up an excuse for war with Iran.

[Ghost Dog]

17. Washington informally signals to Madrid its discomfort regarding the frigate's withdrawal

... Robles stressed that what had been planned was a deployment to improve training and interoperability in the context of the fifth centenary of the world circumnavigation and that, if the US left that program, Spain could also do so...

... Military sources explained that the combat group's plan of navigation expressly included the Persian Gulf as one of the possible areas of operations, so entering it does not mean a breach of the program; what has changed, they admit, is the nature and purpose of the mission, now expressly directed against Iran, with a deterrent or even punitive character.

The Spanish frigate has headed to Mumbai (India), where it will wait for the combat group to leave the Persian Gulf. When the situation returns to normal, it should re-engage with Abraham Lincoln and continue the journey to San Diego (California), where its arrival is scheduled for October 13. Robles, however, admitted the possibility that the provisional withdrawal might become definitive. In that case, the Méndez Núñez would join the EU's Operation Atalanta to fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean, which has its headquarters at the Rota (Cádiz) naval base...

... The ministerial spokesperson, Isabel Celaa, justified the withdrawal as "caution and prudence" given the "unpredictability" of President Donald Trump; while vice president Carmen Calvo said that Spain "will always seek detente, all the more so in such a place", in allusion to the Persian Gulf. (my translation)

https://elpais.com/politica/2019/05/14/actualidad/1557856419_574691.html

[DFW]

18. Get ready for it, everybody:

Republicans in the House of Representatives will demand that Spanish Leather, Spanish Rice, and Spanish Harlem be henceforth known as Freedom Leather, Freedom Rice, and Freedom Harlem.