In that recent post Dredd Blog pointed out a U.S. buildup in the Persian Gulf area, which is the province of MOMCOM's USCENTCOM.
This year we saw increased climate change effects in the form of destructive weather in the U.S. and abroad, caused by fossil fuel use:
By many measures, 2011 was the most extreme weather year for the United States since reliable record-keeping began in the 19th century -- and the costs have been enormous. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2011 set a record for the most billion-dollar disasters in a single year. There were 12, breaking the old record of nine set in 2009. The aggregate damage from these 12 events totals at least $52 billion, NOAA found.(One Earth). Nevertheless, we see increasing tensions in the ongoing oil wars for control of the fossil fuels that are bringing climate change disasters:
(Iran threatens to block Strait, emphasis added). Clearly, if the Iranians do in fact attempt to block the strategic strait, it would cause an immediate military response.
Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned that "not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz" if sanctions are widened.
Iran's navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayari later said closing the strait would be "easy".
The Strait of Hormuz links the Gulf - and the oil-producing states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - to the Indian Ocean. About 40% of the world's tanker-borne oil passes through it.
Thus the behavior of oil addicted civilization mirrors the behavior of gangs who fight over drug turf, over the right to peddle the drug in a particular geographic turf.