Wikileaks names Strait of Gibraltar in a list of 'strategically important' sites to US Government

GIBRALTAR (GibChronicle/Photo of USS Harry S. Truman coming through the strait, by strategypage.com) The Strait of Gibraltar was included in a secret list of global industries and assets that the US regards as critical to its global strategic needs, says today's Gibraltar Chronicle. The list detailed hundreds of pipelines, telecommunications cables, factories and transport chokepoints around the world that would cause most damage to US interests if destroyed. In 2008, US diplomats were asked to identify non-military sites “…whose loss could critically impact the public health, economic security, and/or national and homeland security of the United States.” The focus was on physical link points for energy and telecommunications; goods and services important to US needs, including raw materials and finished products; and critical supply chain nodes. The Strait of Gibraltar falls into this last category and its presence on the list is not a surprise as it is one of the world’s busiest maritime waterways and has already been targeted by terrorists in the past, though that plot was foiled by Moroccan security forces. (Read the whole article here.)