Selected Perceptions of the U.S. 4th Fleet (Chavez Threatens to Sink It and Other Chaos)

Varying Perceptions of the U.S. Fourth Fleet's missions in chronological order:

Photo credit: Defense Industry Daily, LLC Stiletto Stealth Ships

Prior to formal formation of the U.S. Fourth Fleet ...

November 7, 2001 - Sources: Terrorists find haven in South America - ... Across the river in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, two more mosques are suspected of involvement in terrorist activity. Argentine intelligence documents obtained by CNN map out what the intelligence sources said are links between the mosques and a laundry list of terror groups. They include Egypt's Al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya and Lebanese Hezbollah, both identified by the U.S. State Department as terrorist organizations linked to Osama bin Laden, and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, linked to Iran's Imad Mughniyah, who is on the U.S. list of most wanted terrorists. ... Argentine and Paraguayan prosecutors have identified another man, Assad Ahmad Barakat, as the regional operative for the Shiite extremist organization Hezbollah.

December 14, 2005 - Americas Policy Program Special Report ... South America's Tri-Border Area (TBA)—where the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay converge and which hosts a large Arab population—took on a new prominence in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States. Although arms and drug trafficking, contraband smuggling, document and currency fraud, money laundering, and pirated goods have long been associated with this region, it also has been characterized as a hub for Hezbollah and HAMAS activities, particularly for logistic and financial purposes. At year's end, press reports of al-Qaida operatives in the TBA had been disproved or remained uncorroborated by intelligence and law-enforcement officials. 3

April 13, 2006 - Invade Venezuela M.E. said (LOL)...The first new fleet since prior to WWII will be Roman-numeralled 'IV' (as in the missing 4th fleet). In a departure from Arabic numeralled fleets, the IV fleet will be phonetically referred to as the IV Fleet (as in Invade Venezuela). There are no firm plans to overthrow Chavez or invade Venezuela, but Venezuelan water temperatures are conducive to relatively easy training, maintenance, and swim call activities.

Fourth Fleet Established ...

April 24, 2008 - Navy Reestablishes U.S. 4th Fleet - MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead announced today the reestablishment of U.S. 4th Fleet and assigned Rear Adm. Joseph D. Kernan, currently serving as Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, as its first commander.

May 24, 2008 - U.S. Fourth Fleet in Venezuelan Waters - With U.S. saber rattling towards Venezuela now at its height, the Pentagon has decided to reactivate the Navy’s fourth fleet in the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Aug. 4, 2008 - Chavez threatens to sink U.S. Fourth Fleet - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez boasted Sunday that his air force could sink the US Fourth Fleet in the Caribbean ... [registration required]

July 11, 2008 - Praetorianos said...
I live in Buenos Aires and i personally think they [the 4th Fleet] are here because of the natural resources (water).. I don't think their presence here is justified and should get the hell out of here. We are peaceful nations and if the US wants to fight drugs (as they say they do), they should pay more attention at home cos it s their children who use drugs. [emphasis added]

August 18, 2008 - Brazil has joined Canada and Russia in openly declaring it is beefing up its military to protect offshore energy reserves. The Brazilians have taken it one step further — they are in the process of acquiring the technology from France to build a nuclear-powered submarine.

August 19, 2008 - A Combatant Craft to counter the Asymetric Threat - Stiletto was designed with the needs of our special forces in mind. [SEALS]

August 19, 2008 - Hez[bollah] Submarines in South America? - 'In 2006, we were tracking ... around three of these,' said Admiral James Stavridis, southern Command boss, referring to the crude, four-man, fiberglass semi-submersibles that have become favorite tools of drug smugglers down south. 'In the year 2007,' Stavridis continued, 'it jumped to about 30. This year so far, in three months, we've seen about 30.' (British magazine Warships International Fleet Review reported Stavridis' comments in its latest issue.)

Submarines are always silent and strange.