London Yank at The Daily Kos has been following military developments in the Persian Gulf closely -- maybe too closely, but I can hardly argue that his obsession is unreasonable, given the circumstances.

He notes that yet another Marine strike group -- this one led by the USS Boxer (like the Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship) has arrived on the scene, bringing the number of task forces to four, including two carrier task forces. Even for the U.S. Navy, that's a heap o' firepower.

The supposed reason for gathering all this floating steel in one place is to conduct training exercises -- interdiction and blockade exercises with the tiny navies of the puppet oil sheikhdoms, and amphibious landing exercises off Goa with Indian special forces, and I'm not talking about Chief Crazy Horse's warriors here.

The interdiction exercises are scheduled to start Oct. 31. The amphibious assault exercises are already under way, according to the Indian press. (What that might signal about India's possible role in a possible war with Iran I haven't a clue.)

One thing is clear: These kind of "training" exercises could provide perfect cover for the final preparations and fleet movements needed to get ready for war. Or, they may be exactly what they're billed as -- exercises, perhaps designed to intimidate the Iranians, but not to attack them, at least not yet.

We'll know soon enough which explanation is correct.