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US-Iran-”Harassment”: The Hulk That Roared
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by Daniel Neun | January 8, 2008 at 12:17 pm
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and provoked” three U.S. Navy ships early Sunday in international
waters, the U.S. military said Monday, calling the encounter a
“significant” confrontation. Well - actually that´s what CNN reported
(1).
But there were other reports at the beginning: “Citing unnamed military
officials in Washington, CNN, NBC and other news outlets reported today
that one of five Iranian
ships came within 200 yards of a group of three U.S. naval vessels
Saturday night in international waters within the Strait of Hormuz, the
narrow passage through which much of the gulf’s oil reaches the world.”
(2)
The “L.A.Times” quoted that. First. Then they changed their story to this:
“A group of small Iranian boats charged and threatened three American
warships just outside the Persian Gulf, military officials said Monday,
elevating tensions and illustrating how easily a military confrontation
could develop between U.S. and Iranian forces. The five Iranian
boats approached the warships Sunday as they passed through the Strait
of Hormuz on their way into the Persian Gulf. U.S. officials said the
Iranians dropped objects in the water around the American ships and
threatened to blow them up.” (3)
And now have a look at this mouse (source: stratfor) and only one of the involved USS warships, the USS Hopper ( foto).
They gotta be kiddin..
sources:
(1)
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/01/07/iran.us.navy/index.html
(2)
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20080107_iran_and_navy_play_chicken_in_the_gulf/
(3)
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran8jan08,0,7610536.story?coll=la-home-center
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (5)
at 13:27 on January 8th, 2008
was the "
They gotta be kiddin.." comment supposed to imply that the the 'mouse' of a boat was not a threat?
if so, please look into the USS Cole incident (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cole_bombing, to get you started)
That, coupled with the 'reported' transmission of "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," the threat was real, and in the cirucmstances the restraint of the US navy not to immediately repsond with firepower is almost surprising.
Of course one could question any one of the smaller details to tilt the story on way or any other.
I take all of it with a grain of salt.
at 16:14 on January 8th, 2008
As you can read in that Wikipedia story about the Cole Bombing it is still (officially) unclear who executed that terrorist attack. So it wasn´t clear who to hold responsible for this. But if an Iranian vessel would attack an USS Navy ship the consequences should be quite obvious. And here is the question: why would they do that?
A few weeks ago the NIE became (finally) public. All US intelligence services excluded an Iranian nuclear program. So there is no rational reason to take on that country. Why should they - surrounded by unfriendly forces - escalate the situation right now, while US President Bush is in Israel - by chance?
The USS Cole was attacked in the port of Aden, not in a combat or security mission on their way "into the Persian Gulf". Actually it is the US military that is threating Iran, not the other way round. They are there, not the Iranian Navy heading for New York.
But to make sure that you don´t mistake me as an unfriendly fire guy:
On the day the Cole bombing was carried out, NSA produced a top secret
intelligence report warning that terrorists were planning an attack on
an American target in the Middle East. But the NSA report was not
dispatched until several hours after the bombing. The report, according
to officials who were familiar with the top secret intelligence, stated
that unidentified terrorists were involved in "operational planning"
for an attack on U.S. or Israeli personnel or property in the Middle
East. One official said the warning was specific as to an attack in
Yemen. Congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican and a senior
member of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed that the NSA
report was specific. He investigated the NSA warning and told me that
the warning "related specifically to Yemen." But other officials
claimed the NSA's intercept was more general and referred to the
Persian Gulf region. Either way, it was accurate. The intercept stated
that a member of a terrorist group had been tracked to Dubai and Beirut
and was planning terrorist operations. (author:Bill Gertz, source:abledangerblog.com)
Check it out, there are lots of reports about pre-intel of the Cole Bombing in very different medias, NY Times, Neewsweek, and so on.
All I say is: a mouse don´t roar if it´s bound to lose the fight. It is more likely that someone is playing dirty games with good people here, and all over the world by the way.
Yours truly,
at 16:20 on January 8th, 2008
Oh, yeah, I forgot the USS Liberty story. And if you don´t trust the Chicago Tribune, trust the NSA. And if you don´t trust them, then trust yourself.
at 11:51 on January 9th, 2008
yep. (I know the Gulf of tonkin incident, didn´t see the other post before when I answered).
at 21:37 on January 8th, 2008
youre missing the point Daniel.
in the case of USS Cole, a small boat, did a lot of damage to an armored warship. nevermind who it belonged to.
so merely pointing out the 'mouse' size of the effending vessels signifies nor deminishes nothing.
aggresively approaching boats with the transmission that was reportedly made, was more than enough grounds for an alert and note worthy as aggression. regardless of what countries either 'fleets' belong to (officially or not).